At some point in 1988, 14 year-old me was doing homework in my suburban basement bedroom in Plymouth, Minnesota, listening to KEEY, “The FM Country,” K-102. Radio was my constant musical companion. Although I could read endlessly about country music in industry magazines, radio was really the only place where I could actually easily listen to it. WDGY 740, offered an AM country alternative on the country dial in the Twin Cities. Beyond that, as far as access to country music went, it was my mom’s record collection, the Twin Cities’ public library system, and my own slowly growing collection of 8-tracks, vinyl, and cassettes.
I was at the mercy of program directors for my musical education. Thankfully, K102 had a great one in Wayne Elliot. He ran the evening show from 7:00 pm to midnight, Monday to Friday. He had been working in country music radio for over ten years, and in a column he wrote for Tune-In, a free, country music monthly newspaper distributed at local gas stations, he said, “…I have gained enough knowledge to offer some intelligent answers to some excellent questions.”
Long story longer, I had an excellent question burning a hole in my head. I wrote the station a letter, in pencil on lined school paper. In it, I asked why we didn’t get the chance to listen to a new act out of Austin, Texas made up of four musicians, all in their early to mid twenties. Somewhere along the way, I had read either a record review or feature profile on them. I got hold of their 1988 A&M debut album Stout & High, and I thought it just might be the best thing that had ever happened to me.
My question to Wayne Elliot was, “Why wasn’t there room on his playlist for The Wagoneers?”
I want to pretend now that the letter then was inspired by their punkish energy, or that I connected with their cooler-than-cool retro-rockabilly sensibility. Truth was I didn’t know a single thing about the music or ethos of either cultural touch point, though I could connect with the familiar sounds of their traditional country music. What really mattered most, however, was that I was better able to see myself in their music. It mattered that the members of the band were closer to twenty-years old than thirty as was the case with Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, and Lyle Lovett. That group still registered as adults. The Class of ’86 was certainly younger than the older stars who had previously dominated country radio in the ’80s, but The Wagoneers were that much closer yet to me as a young teenager. The thrill of that kinetic closeness was magnetic. Physics be damned, the energy of their potential was electric. I felt I could see, hear, and almost touch the future of country music.
DJ Elliot didn’t get the same charge from the youngsters. After the thrill of hearing my letter read on air, he took the wind from my sails when shared his belief that young country was a fad, even though Hank Williams, Jr. had just run a single titled “Young Country” to #2 on the charts that year. Elliot kept to his guns that country music was a genre for adults, despite the 1988 Bocephus’s video for “Young Country” enduring as a wonderful testament to the young stars who would dominate and define country music come the following decade. It was the perfect forward-looking video response to George Jones’s 1985 backwards-looking lament “Who’s Gonna’ Fill Their Shoes?”
Despite not getting traction at radio, The Wagoneers actually charted three singles from Stout & High. Their debut single “I Wanna Know Her Again” was their most successful, climbing as high as #43. “Every Step of the Way” would reach #52. “Help Me Get Over You” stalled at #66. More significant was the inspiration they provided other young artists ranging from Raul Malo of The Mavericks to Jeff Tweedy of Uncle Tupelo. The Wagoneers were pioneers of alt-country, Americana and Texas/Red Dirt country. And the Emory Gordy Jr. album is still as cool as the other side of the pillow on a hot Texas night.
Monte Warden was the creative centre of the quartet. He was the dynamic lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the band’s primary songwriter. Brent Wilson played lead guitar and provided vocals. Craig Allan Pettigrew played bass. Thomas Lewis Jr. played the drums. In the album sleeve each of them looked as mysterious as cowboys walking down the streets of Laredo. The album is simultaneously pretty and driving. It ripples with crashing waves of intensity and energy. The drums roll and gallop. The twangy guitars are moody and atmospheric. The harmonies ring. It is a clean sounding and sparkling collection of songs. Emory Gordy Jr’s powers as producer didn’t let this devolve into the messiness we often associate with this spirit and drive.
I can’t imagine a world where Chris Knight was not aware of the murder ballad “Please Don’t Think I’m Guilty, “ or where Mark Collie wasn’t listening to the carefree joy of “All Night” from a classic car with its top down. The title track is a spectacular historical ballad about the battle of the Alamo, an “El Paso” for my generation that would make Mary Robbins proud. It listens like a movie, full of narrative detail, Herb Albert’s trumpet, and dramatic pacing, complete with the crazed cry, “Great God! They’re in the wall!”
I have a soft spot for the more tender ballads like “So Many Mistakes” and “It’ll Take Some Time.”
There isn’t a blank or misfire in the entire eleven-song, fully loaded gun-belt of an album. The cover photo of the band on Stout & High could be a stand in for a Sons of the Pioneers album from fifty years earlier. The entire production is cowboy cool through and through.
A second excellent album would follow this in 1989 , but the band later disbanded after a fight in a Detroit hotel room.
This debut album matters. It still sounds beautiful, exciting, and excellent, standing defiantly Stout & High this many years later.
…fair enough, April 7, 2026 may be “delulu day” for the preppers of this world – particularly their middle eastern chapter – from now on, but this is still no reason to call out the greatest, greatest king and drama queen rather subversively “stout & high” the next day. nor would it be fair to cancel ashley mcbryde for “what if we don’t” like some voices from israel may already favour. what times we’re living in: a few years ago you got almost crucified for whistlin’ “dixie”, now you better not get caught showing some sympathy for brains. or being a member of the general cain’s staff having “please don’t think i’m guilty” on the spotify playlist.
then again, one should be quite thankful to the potus and his apocalyptic fever dreams: is there a better reason to shag your brains out “all nite” one more time (you were a true pioneer britney!) than now that the end is nigh (regularly)? aj was soo right, “too much of a good thing” is a good thing, particularly so frequently. the first lady, however, may beg to differ on that issue. perhaps a little too stout & high about himself the prospect.”So many mistakes”…
I’ve read this three times and still can’t figure out what it has to do with the Wagoneers.
…it’s not the wagoneers, it’s the tracklist/titles of their album, which is another nice find by mr. saros actually, coinciding spectacularly – some may say accidentally – with the chain of events in the real world. the unintended, i suppose, synchronicity is just remarkable to mind boggling.
when you get up at easter with all the news in the “districts” full of the tirades of the slightly off-balance person in high office near you, ahead of an impossible ultimatum he’s set himself for only two days later, then waking up the next day learning that the stout & high fool – which is a rather beautifully appropriate and well-timed way to describe that loose cannon in your capitol (pun, not spelling mistake) one may be inclined to think that the absurd and bizarre is trying to max itself right now.
to top the current absurdity, i have to listen to tucker wetmore’s debut album and chart toppers in preparation of reviewing his zurich gig tonight thereby trying to figure out why on earth these doldrums could become so successful. if it wasn’t for carter faith opening, it would be one of these moments one wouldn’t mind a bus with a sleepy driver coming from behind…
quite remarkably and in a sometimes amazing synchronicity your blog/blogs comes up with almost unbelievable moments these days. go back to your “every no. 1 singles” feature on toby keith’s “courtesy of the red, white and blue from a few months ago and compare that with the reality of today. what a timing to bring that one back to the table. or just read again the regular commenter “mark form minnesota” describing some moments when he came across one or the other of those hits highlighted in that feature at the time – next thing you learn is the ice-news from minneapolis. the govenor of minnesota famously saw the “weird” coming, i seem to remember.
of course, one might find this all has nothing to do with the wagoneers (half-true) or country music as such – along comes lee brice on youtube with “when the kingdom comes” (charlie kirk tribute)…
the prepper pun actually stems from the fact that we here have atomic shelters in the basement of our houses (it’s the law since after world war II) but it’s been already a long time that we considered them useful – other than for storing wine at pretty perfect temperature. with the stout & high one in washington this carefree view is somewhat shifting again, hence that little excursion of the mind on a quite memorable spring day of postponed obliteration and major backlash for the asskickers.
Just want to add to the conversation here how much I loved Monte Warden’s solo single, “Give My Heart a Break.” That was my first exposure to his music and eventually to the Wagoneers.
Love this piece and how you keep creating space for artists so worthy of rediscovery in the streaming era.
Thank you, Kevin. It is beyond fun to do. My biggest challenge is balancing mainstream artists with alt-country (whatever that is) artists from the late eighties and nineties.
I want to emphatically echo that Monte Warden’s solo 1993 eponymous debut, “Here I Am (1995),” and “Stranger to me Now (1999)” are all excellent in their own right and well worth discovering.
Thank you for bringing them to my attention! I’m planning to check them out more. Coincidentally, The Wagoneers were on the Opry last night. I wasn’t able to listen when they were on, but they played a Monty Warden song on the pre-Opry show on WSM and I really liked it.
LeeAnn, they released a new single to radio as well for the first time in many years, “Doghouse Flowers.” Keep an eye here for a review of it.
As for both the studio albums by The Wagoneers, you will have a blast listening to them. As much as “Stout & High” blew me away as a young fan, I might like “Good Fortune” even more, but ask me again tomorrow and I will probably change my mind. Those albums were so hugely important to me.