Not every band clicks right away.
In the case of TexWestus, musical strangers enjoyed success from different directions, and eventually found they also like the power of a full band’s sound. That involved taking advantage of opportunities.
Fowler and Burgett, duo partners and co-leaders of the larger band, met for the first time in a songwriting class taught by Jay Lemon at South Plains College in Levelland.
Before clicking there, they lived, unaware of one another, approximately 30 miles apart.
Fowler, born and raised in the Lubbock area, was dreaming of becoming a professional vocalist, preferably country.
Burgett grew up in a Christian farming family near Shallowater. When not driving a tractor, helping in the fields, he dreamed of playing rock guitar for large audiences.
One day, Burgett fell for Fowler’s vocals and concluded he could give her country a rock ‘n’ roll edge, with a few solos tossed in.
Looking back, at age 11, Corbin’s grandmother purchased his first guitar at a Toys R Us. That particular axe did not make him a happy camper.
“I thought it was too hard to learn,” he said.
To be fair, he was, as he said “just a kid” and no one was giving lessons.
He estimated the first guitar cost “maybe $50.” Fowler countered, “More like $25 if it was from Toys R Us.”
Regardless, he did nothing with the guitar for a couple of years; in fact, it became a source of punishment. On one of those days when he was hoping that there was nothing to do, he was told by a parent to head back into his bedroom and not return until he had learned three songs on his “grandma’s guitar.”
Burgett said, “I found out that guitar was not as hard to learn as I thought it was.”
By the time he owned his first electric guitar, he was learning chords by playing songs by his favorite bands, most from the 1980s: “Van Halen, Def Leppard, and more Ratt than Metallica.” His favorite song to play: Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.” And he was improving.
Being home-schooled found him making educational strides, too. He earned his high school degree at 17, and his first from South Plains College at 19.
Whereas Burgett was staying close to home, Fowler was traveling. She gained confidence via choir at Coronado High School, but devoted a semester to music studies at Belmont University in Nashville.
She recalled considering studying hippotherapy, a form of occupational therapy involving horseback riding. But nothing replaced singing -- until she auditioned for “The Voice” with a Carrie Underwood song and was turned down.
That was tough, “No one had ever told me, ‘No,’ before,” she recalled.
Worried she would lose confidence, Chloe’s father was the one who told her to sign up for the songwriting course she had once considered at South Plains College. She asked if any classmates were willing to help her finish a song she’d started called “Shoulda Said Yes.” Burgett raised his band, whispered a hello, and that song wound up being on the first TexWestus EP (extended play) recorded by this duo.
The seven-song EP is titled, “West Texas Wind,” and is already receiving regional airplay.
Each TexWestus has a backup, of a sort. No doubt, Burgett will always have a job if he needs it on the family farm. Fowler earned a degree in general studies at Texas Tech and presently also is teaching those young Stewart Elementary School Tigers.
But their dreams lie in entertaining the masses with their music and, together as TexWestus, they appear on their way.