Texas Hippie Coalition. Formed in Denison, Texas by vocalist Big Dad Ritch and former bass player John Exall, the band plays a brand of music they they call "Red Dirt Metal". Imagine if you will, that bands could get together and have a Rock n Roll Love Child. Figuratively speaking if ZZ Top, and Pantera were to get together they would have for sure bred something sounding a lot like Texas Hippie Coalition. Texas Hippie Coalition has been on a consistent run of putting out an album every two years since 2008. Pride Of Texas (08), Rollin (10), Peacemaker (12), Ride On (14), Dark Side Of Black (16) have all been very consistent in sound, flying the flag high for Texas and that "Red Dirt Metal" sound. The song "Hands Up" showed up on a Spotify recommendation list for me, and since Spotify had done such a great job in the past with its recommendations for me, I was game to hit play and I'm glad I did. In that song, I heard a larger than life arena rock anthem with southern attitude and heavy guitar aggression, I had not heard since my last spin of a Pantera album. They are not near as "Thrashy" as Pantera, but I think that southern flair mixed with the heavy guitars is what makes me think Pantera a little. Guitarist Cord Pool, Nevada Romo, and Drummer Tim Braun, along with vocalist and founding "MC" Big Dad Ritch, flood the speakers and stages of the world with a "get up and break some shit" attitude. This is what initially attracted me to the band, and why I set out to find out more about this band of outlaws, I knew very little about other than the name which I had heard in circles previously. I reached out to have that conversation with Big Dad Ritch and find out more about this "new to me" band, I had embraced and wanted to share with the Growin' Up Rock audience. What I found in this interview was a dude who is absolutely dedicated to his music and his fans, which in this day and age is refreshing. All bands say they love their fans, but as you will find out THC practices what they preach in making it feel like one big sweaty rock n roll family. BDR and I talk about the upcoming tour, keeping on track with putting out a new album in 2018 and some fun memories and stories about growing up in Texas, his dedicated fans, and a brush with greatness that included the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn and Dimebag Daryl.   Help us fund the Rock N Pod Expo 2 this year in Nashville. August 25th - Hopefully you can come but if not, please consider being a VIP and making a donation to make this happen. Use the link below. Rock N Pod 2 Go Fund Me Everyone’s got a Rock N Roll story to tell, so tell us yours @ growinuprock.com Like us and leave us a review on our FaceBook page - @ growinuprock Follow us on Twitter @growinuprock Subscribe to our Podcast at the platform of your choice and leave us a review You can help out the Podcast by doing all of your shopping at Amazon using our link below. Click on the Amazon banner below and it takes you to the Amazon site where you shop as normal. It coast you exactly the same, but the podcast gets a very small fee as a partner which help us pay to get our shows out each and every week. Support Music / Artist / and Your Favorite Podcast Growin’ Up Rock Amazon Store Texas Hippie Coalition Music Texas Hippie Coalition Website