Next Generation Texas Songwriter

Hailing from the small border town of Del Rio, TX, William Beckmann was raised on classic country as well as the mariachi and Norteño sounds of northern Mexico. He delivers a fresh blend of vintage country, Americana and Latin music with a timeless baritone and an old soul maturity that belies his youth. His 2022 album Faded Memories, featuring the slow-burn single “Bourbon Whiskey” as well as a mesmerizing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” and the haunting “In The Dark.”

Next Generation Texas Songwriter

Jamie didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 19. Casual remarks she dropped to her mom and cousin led to a gifting of an acoustic that Christmas. She started attending open mics in College Station, and was immediately welcomed into what was primarily a boys’ club of aspiring pickers and writers that included future fellow Gouger Shayne Walker. “By the end of the summer, I was playing gigs in a band, the Gougers,” she says. “I learned how to play guitar on stage.”  

Jamie never looked back. She fell in love and married her college sweetheart, Roy. Together, the two raise their children and make their “weird road” work beautifully. “I’ve been taking kids on the road for eight years, touring constantly, just taking breaks to have babies.”

Along with honoring the past and present songwriters that define Texas' distinct culture, Big Hat Spirits hosts pickin' parties, golf tournaments, tailgates and various activities in the spirit of recognizing and celebrating the next generation of legendary Texas songwriters.