What makes a rock 'n' roll band?

Its essence does not lie on a shelf. You can look at any object you want, a stack of records or framed show posters, but they are mere symbols.

Ask a true fan why they love their favorite band, and it's a matter of moments. Seeing a great band live offers the audience the chance to witness the moment of creation up close. To participate in it. The possibility of a transcendent experience, for performer and audience alike.

Ask a musician what makes a great performance and they’ll tell you it never hurts to play on sacred ground. Gruene Hall, the oldest of Texas's famed dancehalls, has witnessed a century and a half of legendary performers, from Ziggy Marley to ZZ Top, and launched countless careers. 

When Uncle Lucius disbanded in 2018 and reunited in 2023, they chose this stage for both occasions.  “You can feel the magic within those walls,” lead singer Kevin Galloway says. Out November 21st, Live in ‘25 captures the band’s latest outing at Gruene Hall, recorded during a sold out two-night stand in March of this year.

The band had always held the Hall in almost mythic regard. Joshua Dane Greco (drums) was a regular on the dancefloor from an early age, watching Robert Earl Keen and, knowingly or not, filing away some tricks for future use. Drew Scherger (bass) had two dream stages as a young musician: the Ryman and Gruene Hall. While in college at the University of Texas, he convinced some reluctant friends to check out the famous place they'd heard so much about. Walking up to Willie's door (a secret side entry hole in the wall adjacent to the stage), they saw that it was open, and onstage was Willie Nelson himself, singing "Crazy".

This band is a live animal. However satisfying their recordings may be, they’ve always paled in comparison to the live show. Never by the book, pat or rote, the boys strive to keep it fresh, maintain a little play in the joints at all times, so that no two performances are alike. 

There's something elemental about the live performance, without which this band could not exist.  They have to perform the way an organism has to breathe; it's their lifeblood.

So it was with the community who first built the Hall, in 1878. These immigrant communities, largely German and Czech, did not build the Hall because the settlement was so wealthy and had so much surplus to fritter away on amusements. They built it because their culture demanded a place to be among each other, to meet and mingle and dance and drink, and for a moment forget the incredible hardship of their frontier lives. They wouldn't have survived without it.

So it is with Uncle Lucius. Without their live performances, without the chance for a new living creation each and every night out, they simply wouldn't exist. This live album captures the band, and the fans, at their most heartfelt and at their very best.

The live setting allows the band to enter new sonic territories, where choogling guitar solos meld with swirling organ lines, all held together by Galloway’s gruff voice. The band jams at length, stretching out into the six and seven minute marks. Older songs like “All The Angelenos” poke fun at their state’s newfound population, lightheartedly goading the Californians who move to the Lone Star State. “Keep The Wolves Away,” their platinum single featured on an episode of Yellowstone, captures the hardships of growing up on the Gulf Coast, where Galloway’s father was seriously injured in an industrial accident.

The album includes four newly penned songs and a cover of Bobby Charles’ “Save Me Jesus”.  Released for the first time on Live in ‘25 are  “Let Me Get a Lengua Plate”; “Got Some Coming”; “Say There Sunshine” and “Mississippi Dive Bartendress”.  The latter narrates a road trip across the south where Galloway finds people arguing politics in dive bars.  “I witnessed first hand the power of music to bring people together,” he tells the crowd, speaking of a time when songs on the jukebox brought people closer despite their political differences.  

Live in ‘25 finds the band in a reflective moment, both on their own career and the long arc of Texas music. Uncle Lucius dwells on their own history, tracing their decades-long career, past influences like Bobby Charles, and newer material into one album. They also look back on the past century of Gruene Hall, carrying the Texan legacy of country, swamp rock, and Americana. “Having Uncle Lucius record a live album at Gruene Hall continues the tradition that’s been alive here for nearly 150 years,” a representative of the venue says. “Gruene Hall has always been a place where music lives on, and we’re proud to be part of the Uncle Lucius story.”