The Wichita Falls music scene has experienced a renaissance in the past few years. Falls Town has had amazing musicians for decades, but the music community as a whole has not always been healthy. There has not always been cooperation and comradery between bands. That has changed.
The scene in WF is now stronger and healthier than it has ever been. This is not solely based on talent, which is probably better than it has ever been, but also attitude.
Growing up with a drummer for a mom, Dru had no shortage of musical influences, but admits that his interest in playing music didn’t really peak until he was a teenager. “I had my first guitar lesson with [local legend] Mike McAdoo when I was 10 years old. I wasn’t really in to it at the time and didn’t pick up anything,” Dru recalled. He was 13 years old when he really got interested in playing music. It was about this time that his family moved from Wichita Falls to Paris, Texas and his musical experiences shifted from adults to kids his own age. This allowed him to experiment and spend time in the garage with friends hashing out Nirvana and Black Flag tunes.
By the age of 14, Dru had tuned up his first band, Color Blind. He explored genres through his teen years and eventually opened a record store with his mother in Sulphur Springs, Texas. This remains a fond memory for him, but they eventually closed shop and moved back to Wichita Falls in 2012.
Dru recalls the lack of cooperation between bands at that time. “Bands didn’t want to play together. It was like they were afraid that they would lose their following to another band.” He pressed on; he played when and where he could. He was a drummer in popular local band, Dog Waltz, for a while. Having access to their jam pad downtown, he and his cousin Sierra Maag would wander over after drinks at the pub and goof around on the instruments. Sierra wasn’t a drummer, but they had a good time. Their late night, intoxicated jam sessions became a regular activity. It turned out, Sierra was a natural!
One night at a party, a conversation struck between Dru, Sierra, and bassist John Farmer. Their common musical interest led to a series of jam sessions that eventually became punk band, City Creeps.
After 6 months of jamming together, and just 7 months since Maag started banging on drums, City Creeps started gigging. City Creeps brought a unique passion and energy to the WF scene and quickly grew in popularity.
It was the positive energy that City Creeps, and Dru Gid, projected on and off stage that attracted other musicians to them. Dru recognized the need for positive interaction among local musicians and decided to start hosting open jams. These jams were a platform for any musician to show up with their instrument and join others of their ilk in a laid back and low-pressure atmosphere to just have a great time playing music together. This, of course, led to new relationships and even birthed a couple of new bands.
Today, the music scene is healthy and thriving. Although there may have been many factors that have played a role in this new attitude toward local music, it is safe to say that open jams played a critical role in this musical evolution.
Dru’s positive energy has been contagious. “I just love playing music,” he explained, “if people see you having a good time, they will have a good time.” Dru has proven this simple concept to be true time and time again.
Dru has been a blessing to the Wichita Falls music community, but he is moving on. He will soon be moving to Boise, Idaho. He says that he plans to just keep doing his thing and growing musically.
We wish you all the luck, Dru! Come back and see us soon. We’ll have a mic set up for you.
-David Fowler
