Rooted in Faith and Folk: Briscoe on Marriage, Maturity, and the Music that Grows With Them
The Lone Star State duo, Briscoe, are blazing across the country on their Adios Paisano Fall 2025 Tour. Lifelong friends, Truett Heintzelman and Philip Lupton, have quickly become one of the most captivating names in the Americana folk-rock scene. Their rootsy, yet refreshingly modern sound, has captured the attention of artists like Mt. Joy, Evan Honer, Rich Mitch & The Coal Miners, Zach Bryan, and Caamp, all recognizing the duo’s rare blend of authenticity and artistry.Drawing inspiration from the rolling hills of Texas Hill Country, the sanctity of marriage, and the golden era of folk, Briscoe is redefining what it means to make honest, heartfelt music in 2025. Their catalog flows effortlessly between soulful saxophone solos and down-home banjo riffs, with standout tracks like “Flashlights in the Canyon,” “Saving Grace,” and “Easy Does It.” But beyond the melodies, Truett and Philip share something deeper, a friendship and faith-driven bond that radiates through every lyric and note.The Adios Paisano Tour celebrates their sophomore album, Heat of July, a testament to growth, reflection, and renewal. This new record reveals a more refined and grounded sound, one shaped by both the chaos and beauty of life on the road, and by the grounding presence of their recent marriages in 2024. The two first met at summer camp as teenagers before reconnecting at The University of Texas, where Briscoe was born. Their debut album, West of It All carried them across North America, filling venues and hearts alike. Now, with Heat of July, the duo steps into a new chapter. One defined by love, purpose, and the steady hand of faith.I sat down with Truett and Philip to talk about how they balance family life, music, and the unwavering values that drive their journey. Briscoe runs on faith, family, and ambition which are three things that never waver, even under the spotlight.Check out their full list of tour stops at briscoetheband.com and catch a show near you!
Photography by Justin Cook
I know Briscoe’s roots trace back to both a friendship and a collective feeling of home. How did your Texas upbringing and the Hill Country environment shape your identity as a band?
“Absolutely. That's a great question, dude. So, Truett and I met in the Texas Hill Country at a summer camp when we were in middle school. We both were learning how to play guitar at the time, and how to sing and harmonize. Being raised in Texas, you automatically are surrounded by great music. Whether its bluesy, Stevie Ray Vaughan covers when you’re 13 years old, playing Texas Flood on your guitar, or listening to Willie Nelson. So, it’s really cool being young and learning in Texas because that scene existed. And like you said, being in the Hill Country is just beautiful. It’s a beautiful place that will forever have a place in our hearts. It was a great environment to just feel creative and inspired to start our own musical journey.”
West of It All and Heat of July feel like two different chapters for you guys—how would you describe the biggest shifts in sound, songwriting, or mindset between the two albums?
“For us, it’s really cool to have these albums that are marks in time for different experiences in our lives that we associate with the albums. But, the biggest difference man, the first record, West of It All, was largely written when we were in college at the University of Texas. We were really starting to play some shows and get out there, and then we put that record out and hit the road hard. It was awesome because we got to tour all over North America. I think we played like 130 shows in 2024, so we did a lot of writing on the road. We’d be in the van for hours and hours, driving through beautiful parts of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, so it left a lot of time to write music about the landscapes. That was a big theme, just being in these beautiful places was awesome, but it made us realize how much we missed home. We missed Texas. Another big change was we both got married in between the two records as well, and naturally, that was a big, awesome, change in our lives. It led to a lot of reflection on those relationships and the ways we’re growing and changing with our respective wives.”
So, you say you both recently got married and have entered new phases in life. How have those personal changes affected your music, priorities, and vision for the band?
“That’s a great question. I would first say that our priorities in general changed, obviously choosing to get married is a big deal, so that made us really consider things. We want to prioritize our wives and we’re committed to that, so we had to find how Briscoe would fit into that. We both take our marriages very seriously, so we want to make sure we put that first. What’s really cool is that we were able to discern that both marriage and our band can work hand in hand really well. In fact, I would go so far to say that it’s way better touring full time when you have a wife instead of a girlfriend. You have a little more weight behind saying ‘Hey man, my wife needs to get backstage’, versus, ‘Hey man, my girlfriend needs to get backstage’. So, that’s kind of one part of it. It made sense to continue doing the band after we got married, which isn’t always a given. Also, a lot of these new records on Heat of July are directly inspired by these relationships forming and maturing. Truett wrote Saving Grace, it’s about the story of meeting his wife. I (Philip) wrote Blue Eyes and Red Wine, and it’s the story of where my wife and I got married in West Texas and being in that kind of landscape. So yeah, marriage has played a huge role in our songwriting and career. It’s a huge, huge blessing. Heat of July feels a bit more mature, more grown up, but in a cool way. Not that West of It All feels immature, we just went through two pretty big moments in life that mature you quickly, like graduating college and getting married. So, I think we just grew as men and people, but also, our hope is that every record we release will be more improved, mature, and just better overall. The goal is to continue to develop and become better songwriters. To be able to look at the progression of our albums and feel like we’ve developed as men and songwriters, and to make more intentional choices with every record that comes out. We want to be super content and feel like we’ve given our all to the music we create.”
What are some challenges you didn’t expect when you started taking the band seriously, and how are you navigating them now?
“I feel like one of the biggest challenges we were having to think through was, what do we want our sound to be? I think getting our feet in the college scene in Austin was really interesting because playing music that gets the people going isn’t always the music you care about the most, or want to be writing as a songwriter. So, there were a good few years where we had this saxophone thing, we had a banjo, and we loved writing songs that people love to dance to. So, we had to figure out how to make this all work together. I think it’s really cool now that we’re finding that middle ground confidently. Because, for a while, it was like shoot–we could bring out bagpipes and it would be a hit, but is that really what we want to do? Is that how we want people to perceive us? So, just having the conversation of, we’ve got a lot of avenues-how can we narrow down our sound and how do we want to present ourselves? I think we did a good job with that for our baby record, West of It All, and then capitalized off that with Heat of July. We try to be as authentic as possible and present music, songwriting, and ideas that people can relate to, attach to, and have fun listening to.”
