Houston Blues: Jonathan Terrell

Jonathan Terrell is a Texas singer-songwriter who was born in a trailer in East Texas to parents who had just left Europe after decamping from a cult called Children of God. While in Europe, his parents were part of the church's music ministry, but things got extremely weird. Clearly, Jonathan Terrell is a documentary in the making. He could also be a novel, and he would fit nicely into my new book of short stories, Waylon County, were his life to be fiction.

I heard Jonathan Terrell open for the Band of Heathens in Fort Worth on Friday, and I really enjoyed his set. There is grit and honesty in his sound. "Houston Blues," which was released a couple of years ago, could not have been more poignant or timely. A new song he wrote with David Ramirez, who was recently featured in Texas Monthly, was another highlight of the set.

Here is Jonathan Terrell's "Houston Blues." The steel guitar is reminiscent of Marty Rifkin's work on Bruce Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad" album, which I have been known to listen to twice in a row.