Xochilt Garcia
Editor in Chief
“My name is Hudson Westbrook, and I’m gonna play some country music,” the fresh-faced singer-songwriter promised a cheering crowd at the start of his set during the Austin City Limits music festival Friday afternoon.
A newcomer on the honky-tonk scene, Westbrook released his first single “Take It Slow” only earlier this year. Even so, Westbrook took the Honda stage of ACL and delivered just the right mix of undistinguishable mainstream bro-country with a hint of folksy grassroots.
Westbrook is set to perform again during Weekend Two of the Texas-based festival ACL. But, is he worth a second round?
Westbrook only has five songs released on Spotify, and the crowd at his show was riddled with finance bro-esque figures wearing ¾ shorts and ill-fitting golf polos, but don’t let those two details fool you.
Westbrook’s first song was “Johnny Walker,” a solid country track full of the classic broke- and beat-down and blue-collar lyrics the country genre is known for.
“Johnny Walker” perfectly encapsulated the idea of Westbrook: he doesn’t have a lot to say, but he sure is real fun to listen to with a Topo Chico Hard Seltzer in hand.
“Dopamine,” Westbrook’s latest single and slower love song, played along a similar theme. The lyrics were as generic as any other country love tune can be, but the delivery made this listener want to strap on cowboy boots, hit the nearest dingy honky-tonk and spin my troubles away with a handsome hatted stranger.
“Dopamine,” which was only released in September, currently has about 375,000 streams on Spotify, but maybe deserves a few more plays, especially from fans who enjoy classic red dirt country.
Westbrook’s performance of his debut single “Take It Slow” was carried by his band, a trio of electric guitarists, a drummer and a very skillful fiddler.
But the group’s obvious skill and talent seemed to get lost in a lack of chemistry on stage. When any of the members stepped forward for a feature or solo, it felt clumsy and forced. In terms of stage presence, Westbrook isn’t quite there yet.
To be fair, Westbrook has only been doing music professionally for five months, but said his team is thinking about releasing a full album next year.
According to a press release from a spokesperson for Westbrook, the singer-songwriter released “Take It Slow” while enrolled at Texas Tech University, but it doesn’t sound like it’s from some makeshift college cover band. Despite a certain boyish charm in Westbrook’s voice, there’s not much that says amateur about his music production.
Westbrook actually dropped out of school to pursue music full time.
“As of two days ago I’m not [in school],” Westbrook said in an interview after his set. “[I’m] dropping out.”
Other than his few released songs, Westbrook performed a handful of unreleased tracks dripping with promise. They included “I’ll Pray Your Name,” a heartfelt country slow song, “House Again,” a welcoming track revealing a warmth previously unheard from Westbrook and “Take Your Time,” a bluesy atmospheric song which this listener is most excited for.
“These songs really exemplify who I am as an artist,” Westbrook said. “I’m really excited for people to hear.”
Ending with his most two-step worthy song “5 to 9,” Westbrook delivered on the dusty West Texas feel of his alma mater. Apart from a playful but ultimately bad cover of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” “5 to 9” was the only song from the young country artist’s set list that induced significant sing-alongs from the crowd.
Westbrook said his sound is inspired heavily by Grammy-award winning country artist Chris Stapleton, an ACL headliner for both weekends at this year’s festival.
“The turnout was better than I expected,” Westbrook said of his ACL debut. “People were there screaming my lyrics, and for being five months into this I couldn’t ask for more.”
