Born a trucker's son, and raised in the little town of Flat, Texas, down around Waco, Lonny Ayres is a true product of the state of Texas. Always the rebel growing up, his style of music was no exception. Lonny spent most of his time listening to heavy metal and classic rock, until one day he mistakenly grabbed his dad's Merle Haggard cassette. "He never did get that cassette tape back," laughs Lonny, "I had no idea I could sing up until that point, and after, when I stepped on stage for the first time, I was hooked."
A born performer, Lonny got his start in Texas, opening shows for country music legends such as Chris Ledoux, Gene Watson, Gary Stewart, and Joe Diffie. "I've been lucky enough to have started my career playing with some of the greats" says Lonny. And then, Lonny made the trek to Nashville, beginning by playing cover songs in the honky-tonks on Broadway and living in an old VW bus. "Living the dream" laughs Lonny. "I realized," he says, a little more solemnly, "to be taken seriously in this town, you gotta do your own thing, make your own sound, and not give a damn about anyone else's opinion of what you should be." Lonny decided he never wanted to compromise his Texas roots style of writing and singing, and was roused to write with his own flair, drawing from his early influences of classic rock bands and Merle Haggard to achieve his own unique sound. Sticking to his guns paid off, as his songs "Nowhere USA", and the title track, "Changing Lanes", off his newest album, competed for the number one requested song on RadioFreeTexas.org, staying in the top positions for two months straight.
With an "old trucks and whiskey" sound, Lonny keeps the Texas tradition of melody and tune alive with his album, Changing Lanes. Ten out of eleven songs on this album are written or co-written by Lonny himself and the album mirrors the days when songs told a story. It takes the listener on a miniature journey, from point A to point B, with songs like "California Plates", which tells the story of a runaway bride, and "Nowhere USA", a song depicting rural American values. Throughout the album, Lonny always manages to keep an edge to his songs, for example, with the tale of murder and desperation, in his song "Room 29". He strikes a chord, literally, with a situation most people have been in, in the song "Cracked Windshield", and the album smacks of influence from his trucker's son upbringing, something no longer heard much of in country music today. All and all, it's a combo that makes this album great driving music for long road trips down deserted highways.
These days you can occasionally find Lonny singing under the bright, neon lights of Nashville, or more often, strumming his guitar under the oak trees of Luckenbach. Or just maybe you'll see him somewhere in between, playing a "good ole boy" bar and fighting to keep traditional country music alive.
