ome people refer to Denton as Austin North. This comparison to the state capital, home of the international South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, is intended to remind people of our own thriving musical scene rather than draw specious similarities between the two cities. As the Austin Chronicle once wrote, “For those used to Austin’s glut of bands, clubs, and gigs, Denton represents quite a different picture… Denton denizens are accustomed to more of a DIY, seat-of-the-pants ethos for bands, with house parties, rented hall shows, and restaurants clearing out the tables for live music…a la Champaign, Ill. or Fayetteville, Ark.”

The mark of a Denton-bred musician: they seem to embrace many different styles yet remain elusive when it comes to being categorized. Fave scenesters The Baptist Generals, together since 1998, released their debut CD on the prestigious international Sub Pop label. Their reflective, from-a-whisper-to-a-scream ambient rock features lead singer Chris Flemmons, who can sound sweet one minute and barely hanging on to sanity the next.

Someone once dubbed the changing ensemble South San Gabriel as American Gothic, probably because it bears the unmistakable alt-country mark of prolific singer-songwriter Will Johnson. His work there and in the legendary Centro-matic epitomizes the so-called “high lonesome” sound.

Many musicians would rather not be likened to ’70s folk popsters like Bread or Seals & Crofts, but Midlake—featuring singer/songwriter Tim Smith—embraces the lush sounds and creamy melodies of folk-pop FM radio from the Me Decade while forging its own eccentric path. It also has a rabid fan in actor Jason (My Name Is Earl) Lee, who appeared with the band on Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show.

Bowling for Soup still reigns as the clown princes of wry, hard-slamming guitar-feedback rock. With a penchant for ’80s hair metal licks and trenchant lyrics, they glory in the “Steve Martin meets Cheap Trick on Speed” label that such tunes as the ubiquitous “1985” have earned.

Denton has even produced its own reclusive, bearded genius in the person of Josh T. Pearson. He spends most of his time doing solo shows in the UK now, although the occasional Denton sighting refuels rumors that his seminal band Lift to Experience will some day reunite. Maybe, maybe not. Pearson grew up listening to Pentecostal sermons, and later claimed the only way he could feel the presence of God was through music. Lift to Experience’s influential 2001 debut album The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads concerns the apocalypse and posits Texas as a promised land. It has the Dentonian fingerprints of restless, spontaneous genre-hopping all over it.

And about those superstars...There has always been a vibe of laid-back folk-country-blues experimentalism in Denton, which might account for the sound of one of the biggest classic rock acts of any era. Don Henley, co-lead singer and songwriter (and drummer) for the Eagles and current Dallas resident, was a UNT (then North Texas State University) student in 1967 and 1968 before he went on to become the SoCal rocker-turned-environmentalist that we love. He returned to the campus last year to give a talk on his nature preserve work with the Caddo Lake Institute.

Even “The Big O”—the legendary Roy Orbison—attended NTSU for a year in 1954 before transferring to Odessa Junior College to study history. By the time he was hanging around Denton’s college scene in the mid-1950’s, he’d already written dozens of songs and had one professional band, The Wink Westerners, under his belt. Again, is it a coincidence that Orbison melded various styles—pop crooning, country and western, rockabilly swagger—and spent some time in the Denton scene where all musical styles seem to rise and converge? We think not.