Stalling composes songs that seem about the here and now yet seem to also have one foot planted in the past. Sporting a vintage LBJ style “open road” hat, which is dangerously close to becoming his trademark, Stalling’s shows are at once intimate and up-close with him chatting up the crowd between songs, and a ‘tour de force’ of sound on the shoulders of his top-shelf band.

With Jeff Howe on drums and percussion, Bryce Clarke on gut string, electric guitar and mandolin and Jason Steinsultz swapping between stand-up and electric bass, Stalling brings together a show that blends an old-style country sensibility of danceable ballads with the slightly edgy elements so commonly seen in the “Texas Music” genre. Stalling and troupe seem equally at home on a huge honky-tonk stage in front of 1000 or playing an acoustic set in a tiny 50 seat coffee house.