October is Local Music Month, KXT’s celebration of the sounds reverberating throughout North Texas! Each day, we will highlight different local artists you can hear on KXT. Check back here, find us on our social media or tune in to 91.7 FM to see the day’s featured artist.
It’s an impossible task to talk about the Denton music scene, and not mention Centro-Matic.
Will Johnson started the band in 1995 as a side-project. He teamed up with Matt Pence, Scott Danborn, and Mark Hedman. Since then the band has been known for their ability to flow in-and-out of different sonic personalities.
For example, take two of the group’s early records – Navigational and The Static vs. the Strings, Vol. 1. The material for both albums was recorded at the same time but contains vastly different attitudes.
Centro-Matic has released several outstanding albums. (My favorite is 2011’s Candidate Waltz.) In their downtime, the members have done some other really cool things. Johnson appeared in the supergroup Monsters of Folk alongside Conor Oberst, Jim James, and M. Ward. Drummer Matt Pence also went on to open The Echo Lab studio in Denton, which has produced music for a plethora of North Texas musicians.
Centro-Matic played their “Final Tour Show” at Dan’s Silverleaf back in 2014, but last year got back together for a one-off reunion – So it might be harder to see them now, but at least they have a lot of great records to keep you preoccupied in the meantime.
You can hear even more local music at noon Mon-Fri on Local Bites and on the KXT Local Show on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. If you’re an artist from North Texas, you can submit your music to KXT for consideration right here.
Jackson is the operations and production coordinator and evening host for KXT. He has an extensive and eclectic vinyl collection and he loves to share it with music lovers. Catch his feature ‘It Came From The Crate’ every weeknight just after 10 pm.
Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.