nelo - "s/t"(Justice/Pedernales Records)
It has been about a decade since founder and principal songwriter Matt Ragland first picked up an acoustic guitar in high school and started writing songs and jamming with school friends and fellow Dallas natives and future nelo band members Stephen Goodson (electric guitar), Chris Hill (drums) and David Long (saxophone). Later, while at the University of Texas, Ragland was refining his songwriting and performing around Austin with singer Reid Umstattd, while Goodson, Hill and Long were perfecting their own chops studying jazz at the University of North Texas in Denton. By 2002, they all reconvened — along with another UNT alum, bassist Mike St. Clair — and nelo was born. Since then, the band has been packing in crowds from Austin to Athens, Ga.