🏠 Santa Cruz, CA Smith & Tegio was formed by longtime friends and songwriting partners Austin Smith and Mark Tegio. After touring for years as a duo, they added Payton Vermeesch on pedal steel and Andrew Dreher on stand-up bass, filling out the sound and the van on the road. Twangville describes their performance as “practiced nonchalance,” adding, “It’s the ability to sound just as fresh the 500th time you play a song as you did when you first wrote it. Bands that are good at it are always better live [and] I get an overwhelming sense Californians Austin Smith and Mark Tegio fall into that bucket.” In late 2023, the band released their sophomore album, Can’t Stay Here. Austin and Mark first met through a mutual friend in their early twenties in San Diego, CA. They became fast friends, bonding over their shared love of music and songwriting, particularly of artists such as Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits. Bandcamp said, “The music they make together sort of splits the difference between those two; it’s unmistakably country, but with ragged edges and a wild-eyed spirit that makes listening to Can’t Stay Here feel like you’re sitting on these dudes’ porch, listening to ‘em play just for you.” The now four-piece band, named after the original duo, recently recorded another album in August 2024 and plans to release it in the Spring of 2025. Until then, they’ll be on the road singing and song-riding.