Trey Merrill

New Orleans-rooted singer-songwriter currently based in Austin. Songs, stories and hard-earned miles from the road.

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

James Brolin was the star. I was the guy with the pickup truck.

I never imagined it would end with Hurricane Katrina, a stolen film, and a murder investigation.

https://t.co/onARfBYubZ

#JamesBrolin #LouisianaFilm #Natchitoches

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Her name wasn’t “the maid.”

It wasn’t “the help.”

Her name was Jeanette Cole.

This is the story of a remarkable woman who changed my life and the lessons she taught me about dignity, kindness and courage.

https://t.co/QCkmZHOGc7

#Memoir #Storytelling

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

At 24, Black Oak Arkansas offered me a chance to hit the road with them.

By the end of the night, I was trying to figure out how to quit my job.

Full story:
https://t.co/PJJTK9WgY3

#BlackOakArkansas #SouthernRock #RoadStories

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

One of my favorite discoveries from the Kerrville Folk Festival this year. Jon Muq has a way of making a stage feel like a front porch conversation.

#JonMuq #KerrvilleFolkFestival #SingerSongwriter #Uganda #TreyMerrill #AmericanaMusic #FolkMusic

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

A story about Joan Baez, Jazz Fest, a red balloon, and the day everything changed.

Read it here:

https://t.co/4LZXHOE2C2

#JoanBaez #JazzFest #Counterculture

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

First time playing this at the legendary Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas.

#americana #songwriter #austinmusic

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

My first concert was Led Zeppelin. I’m 63 years old and I still measure every show against it.

Some things you don’t get over. You just carry them.

https://t.co/eNeuvutFDl

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Last night I played at the Cactus Cafe.

An hour later I was standing in front of James McMurtry at the Continental Club.

Every songwriter needs a reminder of where the bar is.

#JamesMcMurtry #Americana #AustinMusic #TreyMerrill

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

We sold our blood to see Queen.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1980

The story is crazier than it sounds.

https://t.co/K0uCCVv3xZ

#Queen #TreyMerrill.

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Every road story has to start somewhere. This one started badly.

Some lessons take 50 years to understand.

https://t.co/tyizto0LNb

#BatonRouge #Storytelling

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

In 1972 a bullfrog named Jeremiah grabbed me by the throat and never let go.

This is a 2-minute version of the night that launched a 50-year career in music.

#ThreeDogNight #ClassicRock #RockHistory #MusicHistory #LSU #BatonRouge

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

We had just gotten out of jail.

Four days after my 18th birthday.

Then we came off the Mississippi River Bridge and saw the marquee:

QUEEN. TONIGHT.

We sold blood to see Queen.

Technically it was plasma. Nobody ever asks. 👑

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

New on Substack: The Long Echo.

A short coda to my earlier Three Dog Night story about the echoes a song can leave behind long after the house lights come up.

https://t.co/EnFlMKjyCX

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

In 1993, I gave Ike Willis a ride home from Palm Springs to Sherman Oaks after a union stagehand call.

He’d been with Frank Zappa but was now just another stagehand trying to get home.

We became commuting buddies for awhile. RIP Ike!

https://t.co/tNuycnw2xy

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

A nine-year-old boy walked into the LSU Assembly Center to hear a song.

He left wanting to drive the train.

This is the story of how a Three Dog Night concert changed the course of my life.

🚂

https://t.co/WAfVSsbyjY

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Before there were tour buses with steering wheels, there were road cases, scaffolding, desert wind and a question that changed my life:

“You a climber or a ground man?”

New story:
The Day I Graduated Twice

https://t.co/EmPvq7qaAe

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Walked into Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville and walked out a changed man.

There’s just something about a Telecaster that gets under your skin.

@CarterVintage @Fender #telecaster #americana

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

My new single “Ease Your Worried Mind” goes live at midnight.

Produced by @nicktothejay
Drums by @drumsimmons
Mastered by @magicgardenmastering

Listen:
https://t.co/yr060GcWfC

[Trey Merrill @TreyMerrill]

Ease Your Worried Mind by Trey Merrill - DistroKid https://t.co/9fPz9nTekZ