Roots
I was born in San Antonio in 1990 and raised in Boerne, Texas. I am a writer, songwriter, musician, and storyteller, and much of what I create is drawn from real life, family, place, memory, pain, and the things we often struggle to say aloud. Country music may be at the roots of my work, but its branches have always grown in many directions.
By the age of six, I was already finding my way to the stage, standing on a milk crate in my bedroom and performing original songs for an audience of stuffed animals. Even then, I imagined myself following in the footsteps of my father and my grandfather, Big Bill Lister, a Grand Ole Opry performer whose life and legacy helped shape the musical path I would eventually make my own.
Growing up, I was surrounded by music of all kinds, but country music was always at the center. I spent hours listening to and absorbing the sounds that defined the genre while hearing firsthand stories from my grandan’s years touring the country and performing alongside Hank Williams Sr. and the Drifting Cowboys. Those stories did more than shape my musical taste; they gave me a living connection to the roots of country music and to the people, places, and experiences behind the songs.
By the age of eleven, that childhood imagination had become reality. I picked up the bass guitar and began performing alongside my father and grandan. Three generations sharing the same stage, bound by a love of music and storytelling.
As the years went on, what began as playing alongside my family grew into something deeper. I began writing songs of my own, drawing from real moments, and the emotions around them. Over time, my songwriting developed into a voice distinctly my own: honest, raw, reflective, and deeply rooted in feeling.
That same storytelling instinct extends beyond my music. As a writer, I explore the memories, histories, curious inspirations, and quiet hauntings that shape the creative life; whether through songs, essays, poetry, or fiction.
My identity as an artist is not simply grounded in tradition or contained within a singular genre. I am driven to create something entirely my own while remaining connected to the roots of my family legacy and guided by something my grandad taught me:
“Talent can excite or impress people, but passion is what will move them.”
A Legacy of Country Music
In 1952, my grandfather, Big Bill Lister, signed with Capitol Records and found himself in need of a true beer-drinking song. Hank Williams Sr. had one.
Hank recorded “There’s a Tear in My Beer” onto a simple acetate disc and handed it to my grandad so he could learn it. Not long after, Grandad recorded his own version, then tucked the original acetate away in a box, where it was forgotten for decades.
Years later, in the 1980s, my grandparents came across that same box while cleaning out their attic. Grandad nearly threw it away, but my grandmother, Lila, insisted they listen to the recordings first. Inside was the acetate—the only known recording of Hank Williams Sr. singing “There’s a Tear in My Beer.”
In 1989, Grandad passed the recording along to Hank Williams Jr. That discovery led to the creation of the iconic duet version, in which Hank Jr. performed alongside his father, bringing a lost piece of country music history back to life.