Who Is Don Louis? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music
Who is Don Louis? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…
Don Louis // Photo credit: Austin Leih
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Don Louis
Birthdate – 06/27/1996
Hometown – Cumby, Texas
Current City – Commerce, Texas
Musical Influences – J Cole, George Strait, The Weeknd, Toby Keith
Label – EMPIRE Nashville
Latest Release- Liquor Talkin’ album
This week our spotlight shines on singer-songwriter, Don Louis. Louis is a unique talent that blends genre-boundaries and creates music from the heart. He is one of those artists that is truly made for the spotlight and for the stage.
“I grew up on a little farm out in Texas with my brothers and my mom and my pops. We had a little ranch out there. […] For a while, I thought it was going to be football for the longest time, but I remember having a conversation with someone a long time ago, bragging about music that was trending and hot at the time. I thought I should give it a try,” began Louis, who started his musical journey on a whim, after thinking football would be his path.
Despite not knowing music was his calling right away, the singer grew up with a ton of music at his fingertips. “When I was younger, CDs were still hot, so you could flip from 3 Doors Down to Kid Rock to Eminem to Slipknot. It was a very weird time for music, but my mom would clean on Sundays, and she would turn on Garth Brooks and George Strait, and we’d all go around singing.” Adding, “We had a real diverse introduction to music and it’s definitely molded my taste about it, and I try to emulate some of those sounds with the way that I flow with some of my own music.”
When the opportunity to make music for a living and play at local venues in Texas presented itself, Louis couldn’t turn it down.
The Turning Point:
“That opportunity presented itself probably because I was joking around, but it’s cool to see how it all worked out. Picking up the guitar, teaching myself, helping my friends on jobs… God is good, helping me out,” shared the singer. “Where I’m from, it’s predominantly country music that’s played out here. One day, I got told from a venue, ‘hey man, if you don’t have a full band, you won’t play in my establishment.’ It kind of put that chip on my shoulder to go home, sit down, and put them hours into the guitar to be able to also show that I’m a musician, and that I’m going the full nine.”
Louis took every opportunity that was available to him, taught himself how to play guitar, and began writing and recording music. “I have a weird mix of a little bluesy, hip-hop, sometimes rock sound. I can definitely say that I have found my own sound, and I can honestly say that I’ve been enjoying making these songs and pushing them out here.”
Louis blended his unique influences in his own style of country music, a more suave and smooth kind of country. “I love that country musicians have figured out how to say a lot less words with a whole lot more imagery.”
Today:
Flash forward to today, Louis has an entire record of music out called, Liquor Talkin’, with even more music on its way.
“I went one song at a time. I would drive out to see a friend in Tyler [Texas] and some of those songs were also written in Nashville. I would try to take an idea or a concept of a song down to Nashville, and I would have those preloaded in the back just to go in there and end up recording them and producing them, and getting them out. We’ve been sitting on this album for a minute, hoping it was received as well as we believe it’s good. I just got to keep on pushing it day by day,” shared the singer.
When it comes to the record, Louis is really proud of it, because of the intricacies and uniqueness of the twelve song project. “To go from having no music out at all to where we are now, it’s incredible how fast we’ve been able to make this happen,” he shared. Adding, “I think it’s got some really good, unique tones and sounds. Nothing sounds the same. All of them got a different meeting. […] We captured a whole lot of different emotions on all those albums.”
Songs like “Mine In Mine” and his collaborative song with Sophia Scott, “She’s Trouble” showcase his talent in the perfect light. Additionally, the entire record truly has no skips, something that is hard to do in a debut project.
Looking ahead to the rest of this year and early next year, Louis already has music in the works. “I’m already working on a second album,” he shared. “I think we might release more singles, thinking about a deluxe album. I’m already sitting on six songs.” Stay tuned!
Connect:
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Don Louis’ music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.
