SXSW 2012

Union Specific began in the summer of 2008 in Sherman TX,
where singers/songwriters Tyler Wallace and Gregg Maher
attended Austin College, a small liberal arts university. The two
had long known of each other's songwriting endeavors, but they would not begin making music together until late in their junior year, when Tyler approached Gregg to play with him in a talent show. The two soon realized that they had a palpable combination when they put their talents together. What came out was a medley of hard driving roots country mixed with thoughtful indie melodies, a combination resulting in bona fide Americana. The boys got together a group of friends and were soon playing every dive in North Texas. The joints were rough, but, through these experiences, the two developed a love for the informality of the grungy, smoke-filled venues and wished to incorporate that into their sound as well as their live show.