Chaparelle forges a sound all its own on its mesmerizing debut LP, Western Pleasure.
The trio, Austin’s Zella Day and Jesse Woods, alongside Dallas-based producer and musician Beau Bedford, is influenced, in part, by the golden age of country music. Yet the inspirations — Tammy Wynette and George Jones; Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris — are merely a jumping-off point. (Even the band’s name is a play on words, evoking the scrubby chaparral plants found in deserts throughout the Southwest.)
Moving from deeply gorgeous, mid-tempo ballads like “Heart Broke Holiday,” which conjures Mazzy Star fronted by Petula Clark and Waylon Jennings, to singles like the wry “Playing Diamonds Cashing Checks” or “Bleeding Hearts” and the disarming Whitney Houston cover closing the LP, Western Pleasure, which drops April 18, showcases the songwriting prowess of Day and Woods, who became romantically involved as their creative partnership blossomed.
“We talked about what we were really into, and what we wanted to create,” Woods said during a recent conversation alongside Day and Bedford. “When it came to actually writing songs, we just wrote whatever came out.”
“It was a kind of controlled intention,” Day said. “We were intentional about what we were making. At the same time, you can be intentional, and sometimes, it doesn’t go as planned.”
I spoke with Day, Woods and Bedford about the end result of those intentions (Western Pleasure), the strategic roll-out of their music and the balance of the personal and professional. The following conversation has been lightly edited and condensed.
You’ve taken a restrained approach to rolling out Western Pleasure. Was that a given? Both of you agreed: “Hey, we need to take our time with getting this out to people”?
Day: I feel like you [Bedford] should comment on this, because, you know, being a producer and working with so many artists, I feel like you had such a great insight.
Bedford: Just witnessing what has happened in our world, from an independent perspective and from a label perspective on getting music out — just how difficult it is to get anyone to pay attention to anything. … We really wanted to bring the right team together … we didn’t want to do that thing where you throw it out there and it disappears into the Spotify madness. … It’s a crazy time to be putting out music. We really feel we have something … that’s classic.
Are you struck by the reaction you’ve received with the handful of songs out in the world? You’ve already been in some pretty incredible settings — festivals, opening shows. People’s reactions to the music probably makes it more difficult, not less, to be patient.
Day: Everyone had their opinions. There were even people coming up to us after the shows we were playing, being like, “Why don’t you release the record tomorrow? Because if you don’t, it’s a mistake.” … The world that we created was really unexpected, and it certainly is a world — the record is very cinematic. So, I think to take people on a journey, both visually and sonically, takes time.
Not to make Beau uncomfortable, but what made him the right ingredient for this particular combination of talents?
Woods: Z and I were kind of messing around with writing songs together, and we were making some fun, experimental stuff — that was me experimenting with co-writing for the first time. … Beau was kind of in a writing mode at that time too, so he came down [to Austin] and it was a matter of hours that we were like, “Oh, we’ve got something.” It was just really seamless.
The idea of the creative, professional relationship also becoming romantic — does that introduce any additional vulnerability beyond the usual songwriting?
Day: Of course. We didn’t know exactly what Chaparelle was going to become, and it has, I think, to all of our surprise and pleasure, taken center stage as what we are all focused on. To start a band takes a lot of time — it’s years in the making. … So Jesse and I, with our relationship, we’re learning how to be in the professional space and in the romantic space and nurture both equally. You know, do the job, and be good co-workers.
Woods: We’ve nailed the band dynamic at this point to where we’re touring a lot, and everyone is enjoying the grind. … Zella being the only woman in the band, you know, that can be a difficult thing, but I see it as she’s my partner, and everyone else’s little sister that they love and want to protect, or are proud of and in awe of. There’s a lot of love that I think a lot of bands are lacking because they just need a player. … This is more like a family, and it has to be this way.
Bedford: It was an incredibly vulnerable process. All three of us are really skilled songwriters but also very real people — Zella and Jesse were already in a very committed, living-together relationship when we started this. I never worked with anybody that was doing that and that was trying to write songs and be in a relationship and live in the same home. This is even before we’re like, “We’re gonna be a band, work together, you’re gonna travel together.” From an outsider’s perspective, watching them operate in a relationship is really incredible. … There’s definitely a power that comes from that.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at preston@kxt.org or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).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.
