The Future of Country Music Is Safe with Triston Marez
If you’re worried about the future of country music, just take a spin through the gaggle of singles and EPs the stunning 22-year-old Triston Marez has assembled, and be assured the genre is in good hands moving forward.
It’s been too long coming, broaching the subject of this young man from Houston, TX who released his first single back in 2017. But the reason for the delay was the hope that eventually he would announce a proper debut album, maybe on a record label, resulting in lots of fanfare and a pre-order link for people to point their passion for his music towards. But that’s hasn’t come for Triston Marez, at least not yet, while it’s past time for this young man to be on every country fan’s radar.
What has come is a succession of digital-only singles and EPs that have country fans in Texas singing Triston’s praises. It’s part of a specific strategy to keep his music on the front of people’s minds with periodic releases as opposed to full-length albums every couple of years. It’s unconventional, and though this strategy has been tried before often to failure, it has worked for Triston Marez so far, putting him at the top of the list of fastest-rising artists in Texas music, primarily due to how appealing, and how country his music really is.
Triston Marez lists his influences as performers such as Aaron Watson and Cody Johnson, not surprising for a Texas kid who also has spent time in and around the rodeo circuit as he pursues his passion for music. But truth be told, Marez is decidedly more country, and decidedly more traditional than those two. From a musical family originally from Oklahoma that includes bluegrass and fiddle in the pedigree, Triston’s roots in the music go deep, and that comes through in the music.
Meanwhile Triston’s ascent and appeal seems more akin to other quick risers in Texas music such as Koe Wetzel and Parker McCollum, centered mostly around younger audiences, including lots of young women, and men. Triston’s presence on Twitter and Instagram is formidable. Just like Koe and Parker, he’s social media savvy. But there’s little presence on Facebook where the older listeners tend to be. Triston Marez has captured the cool factor, but again, the music is just so much more country than Koe and Parker, making it ripe for appeal for traditional country audiences young and old.
Take his latest song, “One Day” for example, just released. The introduction reminds you of a Keith Whitley song, leading into ample fiddle and steel guitar overlaying a story about building a home and starting a family. The music is an overture to the older generation of country fans, but the message is to the younger one, bridging the divide between the two. Triston’s single and EP-only strategy has created a lag with older listeners, but they will come around once they’re exposed to the music. Triston Marez could hit the RFD-TV circuit like Mo Pitney did, and find immediate appeal specifically due to being so young, but sounding so country.
The sky is the limit for Triston Marez. It’s all being orchestrated by Alex Torrez of the Torrez Music Group, who is also working with Nashville-based songwriter Gabe Lee, as well as Jamie Lin Wilson. It’s all very promising. With Triston’s curb appeal and flat-brimmed baseball caps on Instagram, but his starched jeans and cowboy hat on stage singing traditional country songs, it’s the kind of shot of youth traditional country needs, while for once, not compromising on the country side of the equation.
Cameron
June 23, 2020 @ 10:01 am
Song sounds great but he needs to lose the eyeliner.
Trigger
June 23, 2020 @ 10:11 am
Huh?
Kris Hitchcock
June 23, 2020 @ 10:31 am
lol Agree with Trigger. I think the boy just has dark eyes
Trigger
June 24, 2020 @ 9:00 am
This is simply part of the continued ageism against some of these new artists coming from some country fans that is embarrassing, disappointing, and needs to stop. Triston Marez isn’t wearing eyeliner, and the fact that you have young men like him, Park McCollum, or whomever else that look good and can attract a younger audience bodes very well for the future of country music. If you somehow feel challenged or offended by that, that’s on you.
Brian B
June 25, 2020 @ 9:28 pm
Does he remind you a bit of Aaron Tippin?
albert
June 23, 2020 @ 10:07 am
”……while it’s past time for this young man to be on every country fan’s radar.”
first found out about TM here on SCM a while back. I echo everything trigger points out above and have sent TM’s links to as many friends and COUNTRY music lover’s as I knew would appreciate him ..or SHOULD . this is quality writing and performance vocally AND as importantly in this musical climate , instrumentally. everything on the tracks and in the arrangements works to support the lyric and the delivery ….no focus on trend ( hand clap/finger snap /808 /science-fiction sonics attempting to keep our ears rather than our hearts engaged . TM deserves all the attention he and we can garner for what he’s got going here . this young guy GETS IT and has the talent to show us that .
JB-Chicago
June 23, 2020 @ 11:10 am
I’m certainly one of the older listeners Trigs referring to that the single and EP-only strategy has created a lag with….lol like I said in the playlist thread a few weeks ago “put out an album already like real artists do!!” Ohhh I know he’s waiting for that elusive major label deal to be offered? Never the less I strung all of the tunes together to make a nice full album of my own that has his entire output since 2017. Heck they’re all new to me or many of us. These tunes are good, real good and I like the sound of the new one too. A lot of consistency and quality over close to 20 songs some bigger name artists can only dream of. As far as the eye thing goes……I wouldn’t put it past some “professional photographer chode” to put a little something on him to make his eyes “pop” for the photo shoot….lol If so it’s up to the artist to staunchly say fuck that shit!!! Like I did in the 80’s. 😉
H.P. @ Hillbilly Highways
June 23, 2020 @ 11:34 am
I draw the line at a flat brim on a baseball cap.
Elliot
June 23, 2020 @ 1:21 pm
Very easy to fix
Scott S.
June 24, 2020 @ 9:28 am
Coffee cup and rubber band.
Rooster Cruiser
June 25, 2020 @ 11:42 am
OK, Boomer
H.P. @ Hillbilly Highways
June 25, 2020 @ 12:25 pm
It’s Okay Gen Xer to you.
OlaR
June 23, 2020 @ 12:16 pm
Since Triston Marez arrived many of his songs made my playlist.
“Far From Good” is a non-mover on the Texas Top 100 this week (#18 – week 24). So far his biggest hit.
But he is not alone: Kylie Frey, Casey Baker, Hayden Haddock, David Adam Byrnes, Jon Stork, Jesse Raub Jr. …maybe not as young as TM but all on the way up.
OlaR
June 23, 2020 @ 12:32 pm
Aaron Watson influences Triston Marez?
A new Aaron Watson single was released: “Whisper My Name”.
Also New:
SaltbushSix – “Come On In” – Single/Track – Released (Australia)
Jarrod Johnson – “As Far As I’ll Go” – Single/Track – Released (Texas)
Tammy Moxon – “Nothing More To Say” – Single/Track – Released (Australia)
Jared
June 26, 2020 @ 6:27 am
For some Aaron Watson has gotten off the trail with his last couple of albums, however, his first 15 years were heavily rooted in traditional country music. I’m a huge fan of his music and him as a person. I love his new single!!
stupidwordpress
March 13, 2021 @ 9:10 pm
He ran out of tradition country songs to rip off.
Jared
March 14, 2021 @ 10:17 am
Your comment makes it sound like Aaron Watson has a career of “ripping off” songs. I hope we can agree that is a false statement.
I’ve heard comments like yours before. The whole fence post line you reference was a said originally by Sam Houston, so Aaron didn’t steal the line from another song. A few people have made a bigger deal out of all this than necessary. I am not aware of Chris Wall ever making an issue of Aaron Watson’s song, so not sure why a few do
Alex Torrez
June 23, 2020 @ 2:49 pm
Thanks for the great write up on Triston. My co-producer partner David Dorn and I are very proud of the work we are doing with him. He is country music and we intend to stay the course. A full album is in the works. We started working on it when Covid hit and shut down all the studios. In the meantime we will slot a few more singles while we get ready to go back in. Plus Triston continues to write for it. We hope to release it before the end of the year if time permits.
Alex Torrez – Torrez Music Group
albert
June 23, 2020 @ 3:25 pm
great news …nice to hear that the TM camp is so passionate about him and the music he’s writing and recording . in a just country music climate TM would be the guy everyone looked to for directions on how to ‘keep it real ‘ . best of luck to TM and his team .
618creekrat
June 29, 2020 @ 10:41 am
Am glad to hear there’s an album in the works. I wanted to echo the sentiment of some others that releasing singles isn’t really effective marketing for us. Personally, I’m an album listener, and when I’ve bought singles they tend to gather dust amid the 40 some gigs of music stored in my phone. EP’s are okay, but don’t want to be bothered with cueing up something new in a couple minutes or building play lists.
Triston’s been putting out some quality stuff; I hope his fortunes continue to rise!
dino
June 23, 2020 @ 4:45 pm
-forgot about you-for me the best country song this year.enough said.
JasonAldeansBaldSpot
June 23, 2020 @ 6:55 pm
He’s great, but just vanilla enough to be popular outside of our hipster asses
Di Harris
June 23, 2020 @ 7:48 pm
?
Sherri Kulik
June 23, 2020 @ 10:54 pm
Can anyone help locate an old country song .my sister remembers my Dad loving and is looking for the song? She said the song is about a brother who had aot of kids and his brother had none and wanted to buy some of his children . The only line she can rember is I cannot and will not let them go. I know its a long shot but was hoping it sounds familiar to Someone? Thanks and stay safe
Musiccityman
June 23, 2020 @ 11:16 pm
“Cause they’re all too goddamn busy, kissing ass on music row”
Kyle you have lost your f#cking mind. This corporate cock sucker isn’t worth a shit.
JoseWales
June 24, 2020 @ 7:20 am
LOL wtf even is this comment? Go back to your bridge troll.
Trigger
June 24, 2020 @ 9:04 am
Musiccityman,
You have absolutely no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. This young man lives in Houston. He has no record label or publicist. His manager is a guy that is quite literally trying to upend the corporate country system by finding artists like Triston, like Gabe Lee, like Jamie Lin Wilson who’ve been victims of the system in the past, and put them on a strong trajectory to success. The headlong irresponsibility of your comment and some of the others in this thread marks some of the most embarrassing and presumptive posts I have ever seen on this site, aside from the racist and sexist shit that gets deleted.
“Corporate cock sucker?”
Fuck off with that, and be better.
Adam Gump
June 24, 2020 @ 11:23 am
sounds like trigger is the one that has anger issues, not all of us.
Travis
June 25, 2020 @ 7:02 am
I think that level of response is completely appropriate for the asinine comment he was responding to. Your comment, on the other hand, is equivalent to a racist who complains that liberals aren’t accepting everyone when they speak out against racists.
Corncaster
June 25, 2020 @ 5:48 pm
Trigger works harder and does more homework. Either come at him with the equivalent, or keep the cheap attacks to yourself. Yourself being plural, general.
Brian
June 24, 2020 @ 6:57 am
Speaking of major labels? Parker McCollum and Randall King have signed to major labels. Since then, they release a single once every few months, with no announcement of an album in the future. Hell, King has released 3 singles, then 3 acoustic versions of each. It seems like Ashley McBryde’s “One Night Standards” came out as a single way before her album was even announced.
I’d prefer for the entire album to drop at once, but I don’t mind the album announcement coming with singles released prior. It just seems odd to release singles, then include those singles on an album a year later.
Adam Gump
June 25, 2020 @ 7:04 am
okay, Travis. dumbass.
Travis
June 25, 2020 @ 5:50 pm
Says the person who couldn’t even reply to the correct comment, haha.
Adam Gump
June 24, 2020 @ 7:19 am
I think there is money involved whenever guys like this get hyped up reviews. there are WAY too many independent artist out there with better sound and more music that has been made to say that country music’s future is safe with this guy. I hear nothing special in his voice, lyrics, looks, etc. this guy could very easily be a Luke Bryan someday not someone we turn to when we think of this website. TJ Hernadez, Bryan James, Lyman Ellerman are just a few that are doing things right without the big machine helping them and all three of them have better sound than this guy. I LOVE this website and then I read reviews like this and hate this website. I know we all need to make moneyand that’s why I say this review is not from the heart but to make money, promote to make money int he future, etc.
Trigger
June 24, 2020 @ 8:56 am
Adam Gump,
Appreciate what you’ve done in this comment. You’ve accused me of being a corrupt journalist, for taking money to post reviews, and made an accusation against my character and ethics that you have no material basis for. Understand, this isn’t a hobby. I’ve dedicated 13 years of my life to this website, and posted over 6,100 articles. I take accusations like this extremely seriously, and very personally.
There’s is a system in place where artists pay for review copy. Most artists, independent or mainstream, pay a publicist usually between $3,000 to $10,000 to work a record to media. That is how they get features and song premiers in Rolling Stone Country, American Songwriter, Wide Open Country, et al. Some of these sites are almost solely set up at the moment to benefit from this publicity system. Saving Country Music is the sole outlier to this system, not a beneficiary of it, and this has come at extreme financial and personal sacrifice to myself. And to have anyone accuse me of other wise is the seat of insult.
Also, you’re accusing Triston Marez of being corrupt as well. Triston is not part of the “machine.” He doesn’t even have a record label, or a publicist. He may not be your style, but that doesn’t make him unworthy of press, or corrupt.
As I’ve pointed out to you before, TJ Hernandez received a feature here too. Is that because he paid for it? Your implication is a rebuke of ALL the artists who’ve been featured here, including Bryan James who I just posted about. So perhaps go read that, as opposed to taking your irresponsible and misguided anger out of everybody else.
wayne
June 24, 2020 @ 10:53 am
Trigger,
I may not always agree with your posts, and certainly some of my comments cause ire with others and you have admonished me on occasion, I have never questioned your integrity and I disagree with Adam Gump’s and Musiccityman’s unfounded assertions. If they provide proof and data, I will be happy to read it.
I had not heard of Triston before your post here. If he is a problem, then it appears to be a good one and we could use more “problems” like this in our genre.
Jon Pardi might fit Gump’s assertion of what Triston may become. But I rather like Pardi as far as mainstream goes.
Keep up the good work! I will return with acerbic comments soon when I feel they are warranted!
Adam Gump
June 24, 2020 @ 11:27 am
Again, you are the one with anger issues. you are cussing at peoples comments, you run this show and that is how you are acting? It is no ones fault but your owns that you live like you are.
Ron
June 25, 2020 @ 8:27 am
Life is too short to visit and attack a website you hate. Just don’t visit it.
Levi Genes
June 24, 2020 @ 8:51 am
Personally, I like his sound and he is in my very top rotation along with other Texas country artists like Cody Johnson, Randall King, Josh Ward, and RRB.
Scott S.
June 24, 2020 @ 9:31 am
Seems like I’m saying this a lot lately, but don’t really care for the sugary vocals on the featured track here. Like the music though. Have to check out some other songs.
Thanks
thegentile
June 24, 2020 @ 9:33 am
maybe there’s better songs of his, but this is pretty milquetoast imo.
Anthony
June 24, 2020 @ 9:35 pm
I really like his song I Forgot About You — the songwriting, performance and production. Why can’t Music Row make that kind of music anymore?
Vista
June 25, 2020 @ 3:18 am
Great review Trigger. The kid makes great music. I first heard of him on Texas Music Pickers and been listening to him for a while. Some may like him and some may not. Sure the artist may like to make some money but let’s not forget he’s just trying to provide some simple listening pleasures for us. Give him a break. Don’t like him, then move on to the next artist. Good on ya, Triston.
Corncaster
June 25, 2020 @ 5:42 pm
“dogs runnin’ up, sun sinkin’ down”
Yeah.
Jared
June 26, 2020 @ 6:37 am
First time I heard “Far From Good” I was floored. Great, great song!!
Here is the link for anyone who hasn’t heard it – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNNna6eMgEE
David
June 29, 2020 @ 8:50 am
I’m in a mixed marriage. My wife loves pop music and mainstream country. We rarely agree on artists or songs. One of the things I appreciate about an artist like Triston is that we can both appreciate his music. He’s traditionalist enough for me and modern enough for her. I wish there was more space for artists like this in mainstream country music.
I actually first heard him today while listening to some random music online. I thought, “I wonder if Trigger has covered this guy?” Sure enough a short Google search later I found this article. Thanks Trigger. Please keep the excellent content coming.
Gérard
August 3, 2023 @ 11:43 pm
Excellente prestation de Triston ici en France ce 29 juillet 2023 , un bel artiste convivial qui dispose de beaucoup de talent.