“There's a lot of Cajun music, swamp pop, and New Orleans flair down there,” says songwriter and recording artist Pug Johnson of his southeastern Texas hometown. “There's Mexican music, Texas swing, and honky tonk, too. It's a real vibe.” Known as a Country singer first and foremost, Johnson listened to the world around him when writing his latest album, El Cabron, reshaping his influences into something brand new and finding room for Tejano, barroom boogie-woogie, and southern soul, too. The songs on El Cabron are simple yet three-dimensional, offering vivid glimpses into the stories and thoughts of characters who all tend to run on pure instinct, unable to escape their own depravity, all the while displaying a deep sense of self-awareness. Intertwining personal stories with fiction, Johnson explores themes of corruption, desire, perseverance, love, loss, and then love again.
Out now on Break Maiden Records/Thirty Tigers, fans can stream or purchase El Cabron right here. Earlier this week, Johnson released the official music video for album track “Waxahachie.” Watch the video, directed and animated by Efrain Cintron of Coastal Lane Studio, at this link. A full list of tour dates and more can be found at pugjohnson.com.
El Cabron Tracklist:
Big Trains
El Cabron
Buy Me A Bayou
Waxahachie
Believer
Hole In Me
Thanks To The Cathouse (I’m In The Doghouse With You)
Pipeliner Blues
Last Call (With Apologies To Terry Allan)
Change Myself Today
Time Well Wasted
About Pug Johnson: Pug Johnson is a Texas-based country artist whose songs reach far beyond the genre's borders. Raised on the outskirts of Beaumont, Texas, he grew up listening to a multicultural soundtrack of Cajun music, swamp pop, Tex-Mex, and honky tonk. Those influences have resurfaced on solo records like Throwed Off and Glad and El Cabron, shaping a wry, witty songwriting style praised by Lonesome Highway for "exploring life's darker side in places… with high spirits and wicked humor." A road warrior who has shared shows with Steve Earle, Midland, and Hayes Carll, Pug Johnson nods to his Texas roots while writing universal songs about the American everyman.
