DESCRIPTION:
Recorded in the 1970s at the long gone Split Rail in Austin, Texas. This is a recording made by Leo Sullivan of the Lost Austin Band, a group that I played with from 1972 to 1992. The core members of the group were John Clay, vocals & banjo; Gary Smith, guitar & National slide guitar, Johnny Moyer, bass; Doug Tabony, violin. Ted Samsel played accordion for a number of years and John Farr, guitar; Mike Farmer, guitar; and Jon Polachek, guitar & Dobro all played at different times over the history of the band.

The Lost Austin Band was formed about a year before I joined in 1972. The band centered around John Clay who wrote and sang the vast majority of our material. Gary Smith sang a number of mstly old traditional songs and several of songwriters that we knew and I played a few fiddle tunes. John has written several hundred songs over his career in a style that he calls " the logical extension of folk music from the twenties and thirties." When younger he sang in a clear, powerful, and straightforward voice. His songs deal with current events, history, stories (almost all true), black humor, and various and sundry other topics.