TYLER COUNTY – As a youngster growing up in Channelview, Jason Breedlove was surrounded by country music.
His parents and grandparents nurtured that interest in him. “Country music has always been a part of my life,” he said. Now, as an adult, Breedlove, is cutting his own road in the country music game. His most recent release, the song “Take the Ex Out of Texas,” which has been climbing the statewide music charts, basically fell into the young artist’s lap.
The song, which features a rollicking western swing sound, would not be at all out-of-place on a George Strait or Asleep at the Wheel record. Breedlove said the song was suggested to him by Mary Minter, who serves as director of the Country Music Association of Texas.
“At the time, creatively, we weren’t even thinking about doing a swing song,” Breedlove said. Minter recommended the song to him, and initially, Breedlove was a bit reticent to record it.
Breedlove, who now calls Tyler County home, said he already knew of the song, thanks to his connection with its writer, Keith McCoy, another Channelview native, whom he said was pretty much his mentor in music when he started playing professionally.
Ultimately, Breedlove realized the success or failure of recording the song was a 50-50 wager, and so he went for it, and recorded the song in Onalaska with award-winning producer/musician Paul Chris.
Breedlove, who is a seasoned songwriter, with several strong original tunes already recorded and available across all the streaming platforms, said he is always open to a great song, whether it’s borne from an original idea or from someone else’s hard work.
The origin of his current hit dates back to the early ‘90s, Breedlove said. Its co-writer, the late Bobby Boyd, had attempted, with McCoy, to cook up a sequel to the George Strait classic “All My Exes Live in Texas,” to pitch to Garth Brooks.
Boyd had co-written the Brooks hit “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House,” and he and McCoy were trying to craft the next hit for the then-up-and-coming hitmaker. As fate would have it, though, the song was meant for Breedlove to make it his own, decades later. The song, with the help of promoter Mark Sebby, has managed to top the statewide Americana radio chart.
At present, Breedlove is playing some live dates across the state, but much of his focus is going into promoting his current single and planning a recording that is slated for November. That project is titled Cast Away, which owes to Breedlove’s love of the ocean and his 17 years spent serving in the Coast Guard.
For that project, Breedlove is using two producers, Paul Chris and Mexia-based Caleb Grant. Grant specializes in the more Americana-flavored style of country music, Breedlove said.
Breedlove said he has been fortunate to meet, and in some cases, share stages with some of his heroes and influences. One highlight for him was to meet the late, great Jimmy Buffett, at a songwriters’ event in Orange Beach, Alabama.
“The knowledge and gratitude he showed me, and in just talking with the man” was huge for the young, aspiring singer/songwriter.
Buffett’s whole aesthetic was also an important influence for Breedlove. “Me being in the Coast Guard, my life was by the ocean,” he said. “Everybody who I served with started calling me ‘The Gulf Coast Pirate’,” he added.
Breedlove said his first recorded effort, the album Flip Side, got plenty of overseas airplay, but at the time, in 2018 when it was released, he had no idea how to break into the Texas radio market.
By the time he began recording, Breedlove already had many years’ worth of live shows under his hat, and said he’s been fortunate to play in a variety of legendary venues, from the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, Calif., to the legendary Texas Hill Country dancehall Schroeder Hall.
Breedlove said he started in an era of Texas music when acts like Kevin Fowler and Roger Creager were catching fire, and drawing enormous crowds, but today’s scene is “way hotter now” than it’s ever been, he said.
Breedlove pointed to up-and-coming artists, like Bubba Westly and breakout hitmaker Zach Top as a couple of favorites. “We all started in the same direction,” he said. “Everyone has been very, very welcoming with me coming onto the scene.”
Young artists also have encouraged Breedlove, and he, in turn, has nothing but encouragement for them. Fellow Tyler County resident, Tyler Dozier, is one example of an artist whom he said has a bright future ahead of him in music.
For young artists, Breedlove said to “focus on what you can control. It doesn’t get easier, work-wise, but it gets easier in your mind.”
As far as his own creative workflow goes, there’s no right way to write a song. Ideas come at the most random moments. He joked that his wife often knows when he has an idea; that he’ll hurry inside the house and reach for a pen and piece of paper, whereas other times, an idea will materialize just from playing the guitar.
Songwriting, he said, is his first love, and classic songwriters Mac McAnally and Dean Dillon are his two primary songwriting influences.
The art of writing songs is a fire that was stoked in Breedlove from the beginning of his musical journey. From the age of 13, when his parents realized he had a powerful voice, and encouraged him, he wanted to write songs, and from his first live show as a pro at age 17, up to now, he continues to strive to create.
As a recording artist, Breedlove is set on marketing himself as a brand and reaching as many ears as possible.
“I don’t really worry about what’s going on around me, music-wise. I focus on myself and how I can put out the best music for my fans and potential new listeners,” he said.
As the old adage goes, when a person finds something they are good at and enjoy doing, they won’t have to work a day in their life. Fortunately for Jason Breedlove, he has been able to live his goals and dreams out.
“Being the man in front of the stage, in front of the mic and singing to the crowd has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and now I’m doing it.”
