Briscoe’s Youthful Americana-Pop Gains Traction

Many hats: Philip Lupton (l) and Truett Heintzelman, the redheads behind Briscoe (photo by Philip Lupton)

Dave Matthews' voice bellows from the canyon valleys of Washington's Gorge Amphitheatre.

"I hope you all have a nice afternoon with Briscooooooe."

Matthews rocks two thumbs to the Austin quintet as bandleaders Philip Lupton and Truett Heintzelman grin, gripping their saxophone and guitar before a howling crowd of thousands.

"It just struck me again," Heintzelman recounts of the surreal September 2023 career peak in an interview nearly two months later. "Wow. That's just incredible."

The band has also landed major roots-realm opening spots for Noah Kahan, Ruston Kelly, and Zach Bryan amid touring to fests like Bonnaroo.

When Texans Lupton and Heintzelman met as two redhead teens at a Christian summer camp, they didn't know a decadelong journey to traction gaining Americana-rock band Briscoe sprawled ahead. After duetting "Paradise" by John Prine at the camp talent show, the new friends ignited a spark. As summer ended the boys kept in touch, bonding over shared tastes from Simon & Garfunkel to modern country/bluegrass purveyors like the Avett Brothers.

"We had a lot of overlap," recalls Heintzelman.

Their growing folk affinity and multi-instrumental brickwork, paved back in middle school, soon led to songwriting. By 2019, high school senior Lupton had launched Briscoe to channel his own tunecraft. Heintzelman soon joined ship, and the harmonizing guitar banjo duo set sail.

Why Briscoe? "I thought it would be a cool name for a band," says Lupton, who borrowed the title from his grandfather's middle name. "We just went with it, and it ended up sticking."

Briscoe spilled into college where the two buckled down on their music while pursuing degrees at the University of Texas, a demanding journey.

"They literally said yes to every single thing," says Diana Rivers, Lupton's fiancée.

Yes to networking, weekly practice, and country club gigs – even when just their parents and Rivers filled the seats. Persistence paid off. By graduation, the duo had grown to a band of five, rocked sold-out shows across Antone's and the Continental Club Gallery, and recorded their debut full-length, West of It All.

The record arrived on ATO Records, home to acts like Black Pumas, Alabama Shakes, and My Morning Jacket. In further career alignment with Austin's biggest recent breakout, the Pumas, Briscoe is also managed by Austin-based firm Ten Atoms. The album marked Briscoe's evolution from their self-titled debut EP, which splashed soul, jazz, and saxophone over a folk base, to their present-day Americana-rock roots sound, sprinkled with pop.

For Heintzelman, the Briscoe EP, tracked across two studios and polished by 2021, reminds him of a younger self.

"You're like, 'Oh, man, that was a fun time,'" he says. "However, you can see the ways in which you've grown up and matured."

Their coming-of-age shows. Released in September to a capped crowd at Austin's Scoot Inn, the 10 fresh tracks of West of It All sew youthful wisdom between Hill Country metaphors and softly synced harmonies.

"Are you satisfied when the well runs dry?" Lupton and Heintzelman's shared vocals ponder as banjos and tambourines cheerfully echo the query. Boogie basslines wiggle through road trip jam "High on You" as cold howls harmonize acoustic-fist-pump "Coyotes."

While the blended folk-pop album pulses at a lively pace, it breathes on calmer tracks too. Lullaby "Easy Does It" echoes the steel guitars and swaying progressions of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon." Somber "Sparrows" nods to faithless themes of Steinbeck's East of Eden. Fingerpicked "Scattered Mind" quietly observes the slowness of a sweetheart's presence.

"They don't write songs that need to be covered up," says producer Brad Cook, known for his collaborations with artists like Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. The North Carolina producer tapped Vernon collaborators in drummer Matt McCaughan and multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook (Megafaun, Hiss Golden Messenger) to play on West of It All. According to Cook, wordsmithery is Briscoe's gem.

"[The descriptions] feel specific and nuanced in a way that I feel like most kids don't write," says Cook, who worked intentionally with Lupton and Heintzelman to illuminate their lyrical and vocal strengths through tasteful arrangements.

Missing from those arrangements, however, is the saxophone stamped throughout the Briscoe EP. While the woodwind instrument flashes a gleeful solo on electrified salvation closer "Hill Country Baby," it stays silent on the nine other tracks.

"I wasn't ready to accept the saxophone as a primary character in this thing yet," explains Cook. "I felt like it needed to be all about their voices."

If the brassy character hides on the album, it materializes on stage as a magic wand, casting an authentic spell. Vibrating the Hill Country venue Buck's Backyard last November, Briscoe impressed a nodding crowd with sonic richness and nimble finger work. However, it wasn't until Lupton pulled out his golden sax that the band's true personality finally unfurled.

Bending like an elephant trunk, Lupton blew buzzy funk as he tossed a tambourine across the stage, landing in keyboardist John Clover Brown's single-hand snatch. Bassist Eric Loop strutted in time as Heintzelman belted country soul into his near-swallowed mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are three people on stage right now who none of this would have been possible without," the singer said with a motion to drummer Andrew Read, who grinned back with kid-like joy. Offstage, Heintzelman says the group stays grounded in their shared faith.

"We believe, full and well, that the good Lord has his hand in everything that we're doing, especially Briscoe," he remarks. "We pray before every show. It's just a good way to put everything into perspective and express gratitude for all the people helping us get to where we are."

The Buck's show marked the last stop of Briscoe's first headline tour, towing the live act across North America by van. Percussionist Read says the gang's live energy stems from years of cultivated friendship offstage: "You kind of can't manufacture that [...] We all kind of get to look back and just ask ourselves how we got here. Even if it ended tomorrow, we'd be happy as ever."

Wrapping up, however, isn't on the young band's horizon.

"A lot of people still have no idea who we are. I mean, so many people," explains Heintzelman of spring tour dates, which brought the band to Dead Ahead Fest in Cancún last week. "We just want to get in front of people and keep playing."