For years, Robin Dean Salmon and Afton Seekins made their living on the road.As the songwriters behind Surrender Hill, they played more than 200 shows annually, sharpening their blend of soul, country, and rock & roll one gig at at ime. They weren’t just an Americana duo; they were full-time world travelers, too, funneling their experiences into the story-driven songs and autobiographical anthems that filled albums like A Whole Lot of Freedom.Things changed in 2020, when a global pandemic brought Surrender Hill’s touring schedule to a sudden halt. From their home in northern Georgia, Robin and Afton watched as the country around them struggled to regain its footing. They began writing songs that responded to the modern moment—songs about division, struggle, survival, and redemption, anchored by melodic hooks and diverse arrangements. Some songs nodded to the band’s longtime appreciation for mellow, melancholic Americana music. Others skewed closer to honky-tonk and western swing,influenced by larger-than-life Texans like Bob Wills and Willie Nelson.The result is Just Another Honky Tonk in a Quiet Western Town, an ambitious double-album project that shows the full reach of Surrender Hill’s abilities. The first record, Just Another Honky Tonk, unfolds like the jukebox playlist of some neon-lit cowboy bar in the Wild West, full of Telecaster twang, classic melodies, and the occasional dobro. It’s a lighthearted record, stocked with original songs inspired by Robin’s childhood on a Texas ranch. An award-winning rock & roll frontman who spent the first half of his adolescence in apartheid-era South Africa, he relocated with his family to along horn ranch in Texas during the early ’80s. When the teenage Robin wasn’t listening to a cross-cultural mix of the Sex Pistols, the Texas Playboys, Marty Robbins, and the Clash, he’d participate in trail drives, spending his nights sleeping beneath the stars of a wide-open Texas sky. “I’ll always remember the sound of these older cowboys sitting around the campfire during the evening, telling stories,” says Robin, who pays tribute to those memories with Just Another Honky Tonk’s opening track,
