It’s time to get the drop on the hard-working, alt-country Texas band that’s on the point and rising no matter what song they are cranking out! Plus, they’ve got a band name that every deer-hunter in the world can relate to!
They aren’t necessarily dressed in camo, but Conner Arthur can spot them almost immediately when they come out to see The Droptines perform live. They’re the ones who understand the meaning of the group’s name and expect to experience a certain kind of kinship among the band’s members.
And they’re not wrong. Three of The Droptines are experienced deer hunters, Arthur says, and they are actively trying to convert the other two. While their fans will surely enjoy the music, they might expect something different when it comes to the lyrical content.
Named after the rare, downward-angled points on deer antlers, the band is something of a rarity as well. They are heavily influenced by bluegrass, country and rock, but don’t really sound like any of those genres.
Arthur, the lead singer who plays guitar and banjo, is unusually poetic as a lyricist and tends to be brutally honest, but he doesn’t sing much about the outdoors.
“If people know what a droptine is, they’re a fan of the band before they hear a song,” Arthur says. “A lot of people expect us to be more expressive about the hunting and outdoor lifestyle, but I think that’s something we don’t really have to disclose. It just is.”
The Droptines Hunting And Fishing
Hunting and fishing were regular parts of his childhood growing up in Concan in southwest Texas, Arthur says. And so was music.
An uncle of his is the longtime proprietor of House Pasture Cattle Company, a rustic restaurant and music venue that’s long been a popular spot for country- leaning musical acts.
He and another key member of the group, Dillon Sampson, both studied music at South Plains College in Levelland. However, they actually connected later at a motorcycle shop in New Braunfels, south of Austin.
A mutual friend, who owned the shop, was a drummer, and the three of them got together to jam.
Like he does with most listeners, Arthur made a memorable impression right off the bat. “It felt great immediately,” Sampson recalls. “I think the first song he played was ‘As Your Heart Breaks,’ and then he played ‘Moonbug.’ I hadn’t heard anything like that, and I instantly wanted to be a part of it.”
Though he’s an accomplished mandolin player, Sampson provides The Droptines with a solid foundation as a bassist and a tight, empathetic harmony singer.
Enhancing their compelling and dynamic sound are drummer Johnny Sheets, lead guitarist Donny Parkinson and pedal steel specialist and multi-instrumentalist Tony Rincon.
The Droptines’ Big Loud Texas Record Label Debut
Six years after they got their start, things are looking up for The Droptines. They have released several albums and EPs, and now they have support from the Big Loud Texas record label. They worked with successful producers Jon Randall and Jacob Sciba on an upcoming album recorded at the legendary Arlyn Studios in Austin.
The first two advance singles from the album, “Take Too Much” and “Calling All Cars,” sound confident and cohesive, perhaps partly because of their studio experience.
“It’s an amazing spot,” Arthur says. “You lose track of time when you get in there, and we had a blast. I like to think they were pretty happy with our full-band approach, which is something that producers and engineers don’t see that often. They’re normally having to recruit people to come in (as studio musicians).”
That said, they decided to bring in additional personnel. Seasoned keyboardist Bukka Allen added flavor to some tracks, and guitarist and singer Sarah Jarosz performed on a song they wrote together in the studio.
“We’ve never done any kind of collaboration like that, had someone with a big name come in, which is a benefit of having Big Loud at our back,” he says.
Although Conner Arthur is an unusually expressive lyricist, the band chose to record a cover of the Mike McClure Band’s “Calling All Cars” because they were drawn to its mystery. The song wraps around a police emergency, but the specific type remains open to interpretation.
“It’s like this revolving thing, like a perfect loop,” Arthur says, “and it doesn’t give you enough answers, so then it makes you go back to look for more.”
Original Tunes From The Droptines Band
Arthur’s own songs can be surprisingly straightforward. Sampson says that was a major reason he was drawn to the partnership.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to provoke emotions, and I think just saying what you mean is going to provoke the realest emotion you can get,” Sampson says.
“We’re not afraid to say what we feel, and I think some bands are. We’re just doing what we’ve been doing, and it’s got us where we’re at.”
Where they are is a hard-working band with a lot to say musically and lyrically, with a record company behind them, a full schedule of shows and a new record on the way soon.
Arthur says he’s very pleased with how things are going with The Droptines. He loves their ability to express themselves freely.
“It’s one song at a time,” he says. “That one song is different from another song, which is totally different from another song. If we want to write a ’90s-style pop-rock song, we’re going to do that. If someone wants to write a swampy Cajun tune, we’ll do that.”
Something he might change if he could is how some people incorrectly pronounce the band name. People unfamiliar with the term tend to call them The Dropteens instead of The Droptines.
“That’s a problem I never foresaw,” he admits. “There’s a lot of bands that it has happened to until it catches enough wind that you have people who are so eager to publicly shame other people for saying it wrong. So, we might be at a turn there.”
He quickly adds, “But I’m not counting on anything. I haven’t counted on any of this. I’m happy and humble where it is.”
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