Welcome back to the Wide Open Country Podcast. My guest today is Kathryn Legendre, one of my favorite up-and-comers here in the Austin.

If you want a slice of what this city’s young country music scene is like, Legendre is a good place to start. Her tastes are rooted in traditional country and folk music, yet are progressive in both form and substance.

She performs regularly in town with her band, which includes her partner Brian Broussard (lead guitar, vocals.) You can, and should, catch them every other Monday night in Austin at the White Horse, a must-visit venue for honky-tonk music in the Capital City.

In 2013, Legendre released a promising debut LP, Old Soul — that should give you a hint about her character. Last year, she dropped Don’t Give a Damn, a five-track EP that shows her progression as both a writer and musician. The stand-out track is “Tug River Valley,” a song inspired by pictures of rural Kentucky she saw on the blog The Bitter Southerner. The recorded version impressed the photographer so much he cried when he heard it.

Legendre is originally from the small town of Helotes, just north of San Antonio. Helotes is home to the legendary Floores Country Store, the venue where Willie Nelson used to sleep on a cot in the green room. Legendre spent many watching music there during her younger years. It’s safe to say the country music spirit that haunts the joint has left an imprint on her. We talk more about her origins and where she’s going in our conversation today.

At the end of our talk, you can hear Legendre and Broussard perform three songs, “Tug River Valley,” “Sit Here and Cry” and “Build My House.”

You can watch them perform those songs in the videos below.

“Tug River Valley” and “Sit Here and Cry”

“Build My Home”

You can see a full list of upcoming tour dates here.

More Austin artists on the WOC Podcast:

Whitney Rose

Brennen Leigh

The Derailers

Reckless Kelly 

Redd Volkaert

Whitney Rose

Mike & the Moonpies

Shane Smith & the Saints

Carson McHone

Now Watch: The New Texas — William Clark Green

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