Music Notes: JT Coldfire - Snapshots and Memories

J.T. Coldfire’s stage show and career exploits are like a really good book…. you never know what will happen next. When I first met him over a year ago, the image of a rock and roll cowboy was branded in my memory. But on our most recent meeting, on his home turf at The Flats Lounge in Port Aransas, TX, the rock and roll cowboy had morphed into a scruffy bandido-esque character, befitting the name El Terrible. Coincidentally, El Terrible is the name of the character he was assuming for the movie La Martina, scheduled to begin shooting in Bracketville, TX just a week later.

The impression I harbored was that JT was the front man for an incredible country trio, a trio which cranks out country music on diesel fuel, super-injected with JT’s hammer-down guitar picking which heeds no Speed Limit or No Trespassing signs. As it turns out his talent and love of the spotlight reaches beyond just the musical stage.

J.T. Coldfire is also an actor. His acting ability was good enough actor to earn him a full scholarship to the School of Film and Television in New York City in the year 2000. So the South Texas country boy headed for the Big Apple for a two-year stint as a student, actor and musician, fulfilling a life-long dream. A dream that would provide him with all the necessary tools for success: common sense, hard work, perseverance and experience. Although he arguably had those in his toolbox before he left; thankfully, he brought them back home to Texas in 2002.

JT thrills audiences from the South Texas coast to Austin and beyond every week with his country meets blues guitar virtuosity and his troubadour vocal style everywhere he plays. His philosophy of living in the moment and always giving his best, no matter what the endeavor, is what makes this happen. Though his talkative nature is surpassed perhaps only by his talent, I have also learned through our conversations that JT Coldfire is wise far beyond his 26 years.

By the time Coldfire was 15, he was playing in bands with musicians who had one or two generations on him. It was the musical and personal influence of these mentors plus Corpus Christi DJ Daddy D, and a brother 10 years his senior that molded him into a polished musician and songwriter. Not to mention a young man of principle and passion, who “never quits trying, and never tries quitting.”

But his older compadres are not the only more seasoned individuals to influence young Coldfire. He remembers his time as a musician in New York thusly: “The norm was everybody was shooting for pop radio… and I really just wanted to take a little bit of Texas up there with me.” He elaborates: “When I leave Texas, I take some Stevie Ray, I take some ZZ Top and I take some Waylon Jennings—take some Buddy Holly. I’ll take some Texas Tornadoes, some Vicente Fernandez. That’s the kind of stuff that, when I was in NY and I was hungry and it’s 6 o’clock in the morning, I’m sitting on a subway for 2 hours to get back home… my guitar on one side, my pedals...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "JT Coldfire - Snapshots and Memories". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of May / Jun 2006 where this article was originally published.

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