We were stoked when they contacted us about a full band gig coming to Houston in February.  Come to find out “The Wide Open moniker” more than lived up to the band in more ways than one!

The LaGrange, Texas based band showed up with the dynamic married duo of Season Ammons on acoustic/electric and Allen Rayfield on blues blasting mouth harp/acoustic leading the way. This couple wears their love for one another on their sleeves and it is an infectious vibe for sure.  Season left no stones unturned giving the background of their getting together and that was a part of the Wide Open reference early on.  The lady is a people person big time. The words honest and personal come to mind very quickly around TWO.  The band they fronted consisted of another married duo of Scott Rockwood on scorching electric and Shawn Hartung on keys, Heriberto Moreno thumping bass, and Roberto Padron pounding drums.  The band evolved as is thru St.Louis to the Florida tourist/music scene in 2011 and beyond. The story is a winding one and better read on the TWO site. The Wide Open – About.

 What happened the rest of the night was a wide open array of blues, rock, feel good ballads, and just bad ass Americana!  Playing tunes from their first album, “We’ll Get By”, plus the new one, “Long Road Home”, they mixed it up and let it rip!  Stellar numbers included “Happy Song” which says it all about Season’s demeanor, “Hate the Way I Love You”, “Shut Your Mouth” and rolled into solo touching “I Never Knew” about when the couple first met.  Early on it was a kaleidoscope of musical arrangements!  “Walton County Jail” unleashed the blues major followed by the killer “No Good Reason Why” which stretched the barriers of Americana to pure foot stompin’ funk. The all over the board feel was refreshing and welcome to this first time reviewer of their full band talents.  New Orleans classic, Busker”, with lyrics “we are all art pieces walking around with a suitcase full of dreams.” Cool beans.