The Honky Tonk Hair Machine
Sean Rodriguez
Sean Rodriguez: Bass, Style & Life on the Road with The Wilder Blue
From sandy hot dogs on the Texas coast to a life spent holding down the low end on stages across the country, Sean Rodriguez has taken the long road to The Wilder Blue.
Raised between Corpus Christi and College Station, Sean started out on trumpet before an early obsession with bootleg ’60s and ’70s concert footage on the newly launched YouTube drew his ear towards the bass. What followed was an education built through big-band jazz, funk, country and years on the road — touring the South with New Orleans indie-rock band Hazy Ray, playing blues in Houston, moving to Austin, and eventually spending almost eight years on the road with Bri Bagwell before becoming part of The Wilder Blue.
In this episode of The Honky Tonk Hair Machine, Sean talks about the craft behind playing bass, singing harmonies and putting on a show at the same time; why The Wilder Blue runs its live set “like clockwork”; and the musical journey that shaped the player he is today.
Then there’s the style. Sean digs into his love of colour, ’70s shirts, giant lapels, floral pearl snaps, Wrangler Ranchers and vintage Austin finds, a look influenced less by the modern Western revival than by old photographs of his great-grandfather.
Music, clothes, hair and a life on the road with Sean Rodriguez of The Wilder Blue.
Find Sean on Instagram: @MrFretless
The Wilder Blue: TheWilderBlue.com
Chapters
0:00 Intro — Sean Rodriguez of The Wilder Blue
00:24 Growing Up Between Corpus Christi & College Station
01:41 His First Instrument: Trumpet
04:43 Discovering the Bass Through Early YouTube
06:13 High School Bands, Van Halen & Rush
07:43 Becoming a Road Musician — Jazz, Funk, Blues & Country
11:26 Playing Bass, Singing Harmonies & Performing Live
13:43 Developing His Personal Style
16:24 Vintage Finds, Wrangler Ranchers & ’70s Inspiration
20:31 Hair, Moustache Wax & Life on the Road
23:38 Where to Find Sean & The Wilder Blue
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