Micky and the Motorcars x Parker Ryan

For a handful of summers about 30 years ago, tourists who wandered into a large dancehall in Stanley, Idaho, witnessed a family tradition finding new life. They came to hear Muzzie Braun and the Boys, a local family band that had made it to the Grand Ole Opry and featured Muzzie’s four young sons. “That’s how we got started playing,” says Micky Braun, who first joined the family onstage when he was about five.

The Braun brothers never stopped. Cody and Willy started Reckless Kelly, while Micky and Gary moved to Austin and formed Micky and the Motorcars. The band has toured for 17 years and includes Gary on guitar, mandolin, harmonica, harmonies, and occasional lead vocals; Micky on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Andy Carrell on bass; Bobby Paugh on drums and percussion; and Pablo Trujillo on guitar.

Their 11-song album Long Time Comin’, produced by Keith Gattis, blends familiar Motorcars sounds with new players and approaches. Gary wrote or co-wrote six tracks and sings each song he penned. “It’s almost a split album between the two of us on lead vocal,” Micky says.

The album includes “Road to You,” “Rodeo Girl,” “Alone Again Tonight,” “Stranger Tonight,” “Break My Heart,” “Run into You,” “Hold This Town Together,” “Hold This Town,” “Thank My Mother’s God,” “Lions of Kandahar,” and the title track. “Lions of Kandahar” follows a military deployment from a first-person perspective, while “Long Time Comin’” reflects on patience and perseverance. The collection was four years in the making.

Parker Ryan’s music blends traditional country with modern rock influences. His journey from growing up on a chicken farm to moving to Galveston in his late teens informs his sound, which draws on Southern Rock, Blues, and Country.