Haunted by ghosts of Texas dance halls, the gritty southern sound of Sam Turner and the Cactus Cats bellows out like it has been looking for a listener for over 40 years. Twangy guitars and angelic fiddle riffs spin unbridled under the influence of hard-driving bunkhouse rhythms that were born to rattle the baseboards of every honky-tonk. Hailing from the honky-tonk heartland of Texas, Sam Turner is backed up by the Cactus Cats (Michael Trakhtenberg on lead guitar, W.D. Hesser on bass, and Troy Tabner on drums), and is easily labeled one of Houston’s best kept secrets. Sam and the cats’ music is right at home in beer joints and historic theaters just the same. Prior to releasing their freshman album, Sam Turner and the Cactus Cats cut their teeth playing a weekly residency at a local dive bar and later joined indie rock band Miniature Tigers on their 2017 Texas Tour. Since then, Sam and the cats have shared the stage with Garrett T. Capps, Durand Jones & the Indications, and the Black Lips playing shows from Marfa to New Orleans and everywhere in between.