Chris Patterson is getting the band back together after 13 years.
He founded the band Leaving, TX in the Washington, D.C., area in 2004, and it quickly became a standout Americana act, earning two top‑10 albums on the Americana charts and opening for national touring artists including Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney.
Since leaving the band in 2013 and returning to Nevada, Patterson has helped found the popular local act Great Caesar’s Goat and continues to play solo.
Though he’s channeling nostalgia for his latest performance.
Leaving, TX will reunite for a hometown concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 1, at the historic Camelot Theater in Nevada.
Patterson, a Nevada High graduate, is bringing the full band in for the night, joined by Des Moines roots‑rockers Brother Trucker.
The spark for Leaving, TX started in Austin
Leaving, TX showcases vintage telecasters, pedal steel and a 6-foot-4-inch Scotsman on bass guitar. The band built a loyal following through energetic shows and thoughtful storytelling.
Patterson was a restaurant president and owned a guitar he barely played long before Leaving, TX became an Americana chart‑climbing band with festival slots at SXSW and The Americana Music Festival.
While leading the Austin Grill restaurant chain, he made regular trips to Austin for inspiration. Nights were spent in small venues watching Texas songwriters who changed the course of his life.
“I just fell in love with the Texas songwriters,” Patterson said, naming Joe Ely, Hayes Carll and Townes Van Zandt as early influences.
The trips pushed him to pick up his guitar again.
“I knew four or five chords,” he said, but started writing. Soon he was booking live music in all Austin Grill locations, listening to CDs from hopeful performers and thinking, “I write better than these guys.”
A chance meeting in Maryland helped form Leaving, TX
Leaving, TX didn’t actually form in Texas.
It happened in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where Patterson lived. He was playing at a party when he noticed a tall Scotsman named Garry Cecil watching his hands closely.
“As a musician, you can tell when people play because they watch your hands,” he said.
Patterson invited him to join the set, and they soon discovered they lived four blocks apart, inspiring jam sessions in Patterson’s living room.
“Chris, people need to hear these songs,” Cecil told him. “We need to start a band.”
Cecil was a bluegrass musician who played upright bass. Patterson added a drummer he knew from a cover band, a Norwegian prodigy named Thor Smith. The final piece was guitarist Andrew Buhler, who had never been in a band but could “play anything,” though he is no longer part of the band.
The group’s chemistry drew attention quickly, connecting with a producer who worked with the Eagles, Boston and Toto.
“It was unbelievable,” Patterson said.
Leaving, TX built a loyal following in Washington, D.C., before Patterson eventually left the band after nine years to move back to Nevada.
A homecoming at the Camelot Theater
Patterson is reuniting with Leaving, TX more than a decade later for a hometown show.
It’s more than a concert. It’s about bringing the spark that started in Austin, the friendships built in Maryland, and the songs that carried him through 10 years onstage.
Tickets are $20 in advance on Eventbrite.com or $25 at the door on Friday. The Camelot Theater is at 1114 Sixth St. in Nevada.
Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rfaaborg@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Americana band reunites for hometown show at Nevada’s Camelot Theater
Reporting by Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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