[LINK] The Bryan-College Station Eagle
September 6, 2007

The Gougers change lineup, instruments to find new life
By GREG OKUHARA
Eagle Staff Writer

Every band goes through a transformation at some point in its career. Members come and go, and musical styles shift. Since forming in 2002, The Gougers (formerly known as The Sidehill Gougers) have emerged from a storm of changes to find the weather much to its liking. What started out as an acoustical duo has transformed into a five-piece group with electric instruments.

Shane Walker, The Gougers' co-principal singer/songwriter, said the group's new album (A Long Day for the Weathervane) is a culmination of the metamorphosis that has taken place over several years.

"When you're talking about creativity, the point is to start over," Walker said. "It doesn't do any good to explore ground that you've already charted. If there's an ounce of a relationship between things you're trying to create and the lives that you're living, then you need to always try to go somewhere."

On paper, The Gougers hardly resemble the band that formed in College Station more than five years ago. Walker and Jamie Wilson, who shares songwriting and vocal duties, started as a duo specializing in original folk songs based on the likes of Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris or Townes Van Zandt. Before recording Weathervane, the group hired Keith Gattis to produce the record. Walker said Gattis, who used to play lead guitar for Dwight Yoakam, is a songwriting guru, and the band was ready to follow his lead. That meant adding a new element to The Gougers' respected sound: electricity. Weathervane includes five songs from the band's original EP, Gone to Seed, that were re-recorded with electric instruments.

"It was great to see our music put into a new context," Walker said. "It was very eye-opening as to the kinds of music we could be playing, what doors were actually open to us. "I have to be honest with you. The record turned out sounding a lot different than I thought it would. It gave all these old songs a fresh new feel for us to go out and play each night. And I think it makes it a lot more accessible to ... younger people. When you do something with a little more rock feel - a little more salt on it, you know?"

Perhaps not as noticeable is the songs's theme on the new album. A Long Day for the Weathervane, a fitting title for the collection of songs on the album that, Walker said, reflects a stormy and tumultuous time in the band's history. The lyrics deal with break-ups, family members in prison, sadness and death. Walker said The Gougers' intention wasn't to produce a depressing album. The songs were chosen because of the subject continuity and to show the band's new mature attitude. "The record is a good story about our band in regard to where we came from and where we want to go," he said. The changes, both to the songs and lineup, also were born of necessity. Walker said playing the same songs for four years gets cumbersome and would have driven him crazy had they not decided to give them a facelift. The word "change" could mean revamping a setlist or dropping a song altogether from live performances, he said.

By reworking old songs with electric instruments and adding drums, Walker said songs have taken on a different meaning for him. That, he said, should translate to a different experience for original fans and help attract new ones. "When you take something out of context and put a new light on it, it can give it a totally different meaning," Walker said. "Some of that is really apparent when you put the songs side by side and compare version one and version two. [The song] Manheim Station is a completely different than the original version in 2003. If I get into it, I'm not thinking about it the same way. Now I would think of it as a testament about trying to break out creatively whereas before it was simply a song about missing my girlfriend and being stuck in college. Now it's about the growing path that the whole band has taken, a maturation process."

The word "mature" comes up several times when Walker talks about The Gougers. It not only applies to his and Wilson's songwriting, but also to the group dynamic. For instance, Walker said he and Wilson cooperate when penning songs rather than trying to "out-write" each other. Instead of competition, there's collaboration. That, in turn, has led to better songs and unison among the group. "We're just a lot more grown-up," Walker said. "Not to say we're grown-up, but we're more grown-up. And I would hope that shows up in the way that we perform. But we're still fledgling and young, and we still have a lot of jelling left to do." But for all the changes The Gougers have gone through, the core remains the same. Walker and Wilson's musical connection is essential to the band. Walker said one couldn't do it without the other.

He calls The Gougers' songs "poems set to music" that wouldn't be the same if he wasn't writing with Wilson. Cody Foote (bass) and John Ross Silva (drums) complete the picture and are a tremendous asset, Walker said. (Gattis contributed his lead guitar skills for Weathervane.) Even though Foote and Silva have been with the band for less than a fourth of the group's existence, their presence has helped the transition from a fledgling folk duo to bona fide rising stars among musicians in the state of Texas. "When you're writing a song, you don't have anything to do with the inspiration that comes to you," Walker said. "The only thing you can do with it is you get to pick what you keep and what you throw away. To have a group around you that has history together, love to be together and a tattoo together, it's just a much more nurturing environment when you're picking the inspiring moments you choose to keep. "As long as Jamie and I are playing together, the creative or artistic core will be there. If Jamie were to leave or if I were to break my finger and couldn't play or lost my voice, The Gougers would stop being The Gougers."

Greg Okuhara's e-mail address is greg.okuhara@theeagle.com.