Texas Is the Reason

Texas Is the Reason
Texas Is the Reason at Groezrock Festival 2013
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, USA
Genres	Emo, post-hardcore, indie rock
Years active	1994–97, 2006, 2012–13, 2016
Labels	Revelation, Your Choice, Jade Tree, Art Monk Construction
Associated acts	Shelter, 108, Fountainhead, Buffalo's Copper
Past members	Norman Brannon Chris Daly Scott Winegard Garrett Klahn

Texas Is the Reason were an American emo/post-hardcore band founded by former Shelter guitarist Norman Brannon and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997, and held brief reunions in 2006 and 2012-2013. They are seen as one of the cornerstones of the ’90s emo movement and remain very influential in modern emo.

Norman Brannon (guitar), guitarist for the hardcore Hare Krishna band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in New York City. They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former Fountainhead bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's Copper, Garrett Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.

The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a Misfits song, entitled "Bullet". It also makes reference to a conspiracy theory about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give Lyndon B. Johnson control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an EP, Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped usher in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with The Promise Ring through Jade Tree. The following year (1995) they released another split single with Samuel through British record label Simba.

What followed was their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are?, named after the last statement John Lennon supposedly heard. Produced by Jawbox's J.Robbins and released on Revelation Records, Do You Know Who You Are? brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing punk explosion on MTV. Song titles from the album, such as "The Magic Bullet Theory" and "Back and to the Left", continued the allusion to one of the Kennedy assassination theories.