Dedication by The True Believers

Last September (2012), five Austin bands and more than a thousand friends and fans gathered at the Moody Theatre, home of the Austin City Limits television series, to pay tribute to Brent Grulke, the creative director of South By Southwest, who unexpectedly passed away at the age of 52.

Closing out Grulkefest were The True Believers, the band that Grulke had mixed sound for in their earliest days in 1984. The band fittingly gave their old friend a powerful sendoff by delivering a scorching set of three-guitar firepower that left the audience screaming for more, and the band feeling like they had some unfinished business to tend to.

The five original members – Alejandro Escovedo, Javier Escovedo, Jon Dee Graham, Denny DeGorio, and Rey Washam - had such a good time playing the songs that brought them into the international limelight in the late 1980s, they decided to put their respective careers on hold to do it again, showcasing at South By Southwest.
The Troobs are ready to rock.

From mid-1980s Austin to coast to coast tours with Tom Petty and Los Lobos to two critically-acclaimed albums, the True Believers left a trail of scorched earth following their brief three-year run in the national spotlight. Washam left the band before they recorded their self-titled debut for Rounder-EMI, produced by Jim Dickinson. Their followup, Hard Road, produced by Jeff Glixman (Georgia Satellites) didn’t see the light of day for ten years after EMI was bought by Manhattan Records and their artist roster was lopped off. Rydodisc released both albums as a twofer in 1994 while their legend grew.

Now that legend becomes reality.
--- Joe Nick Patoski

From mid-1980s Austin to tours with Tom Petty and Los Lobos to two critically-acclaimed albums, the True Believers left a trail of scorched earth following their brief three-year run in the national spotlight. They recorded their self-titled debut for Rounder-EMI, produced by Jim Dickinson. Their followup, Hard Road, produced by Jeff Glixman didn’t see light for ten years after.