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When you get a moment just to chill, put your phone away, and sit there and take something in... It can be so magical,” says rising singer-songwriter Rob Baird. Wide Open Spaces sat down with Baird in Austin, Texas for the Zebco On The Water spotlight. Baird spent time talking about his musical journey, favorite fishing spots and more.
2000 LBS
System Payload Rating
Though still early in his career, the Memphis-born, Austin-living artist has enjoyed plenty of critical acclaim. His 2012 album I Swear It’s The Truth was one of SPIN magazine’s Top 20 albums of the year, and in 2016 his independent album Wrong Side of the River continued the trend. Baird released his anticipated fourth album After All in early 2019.
In addition to writing, recording, and performing (and of course fishing), Baird has also gotten the call to help other artists bring their vision to life. “Sometimes I’m lucky enough to produce records,” Baird shares.
The truck already had a name for itself, at least on Instagram, where Pierce started @the_Pandra and shared photos (while gathering a good community of followers).
The Pandra vaulted into truck immortality when the fires started and Pierce took it upon himself to step up. He used his vehicle and his fortitude to get himself to safety on two separate occasions, then helped evacuate a local hospital.
Zebco Presents
On The Water with
Rob Baird
As his town was burning around him, the truck was dealing with its own share of abuse. The melted taillight covers, the plastic that began to drip away, and the toasted marshmallow paint job are the visible scars that the Tundra suffered, but the integrity of the truck survived.
The only exterior portion of the truck that was virtually unaffected by the heat and the flames was the DECKED Storage System he had installed in the bed.
When DECKED and Toyota heard about The Pandra's story, they both paid back the selflessness with replacements.
The Pandra now sits in Toyota's Plano, Texas corporate headquarters as a testament to the toughness Pierce, his truck, and his DECKED system showed
that day.
Not only did DECKED replace the system for Pierce's new truck, but they also donated the amount of his first system to the GoFundMe page set up by his friends.
Pierce likes to think he did what anyone would do, and focuses on what's important. The Pandra helped him set up a triage station on the hospital's helipad, where he and his fellow rescuers watched the city succumb to the flames. Once his family was safe and his duty at the hospital fulfilled, Pierce became reflective.
He knew saving things like his photographs, written song lyrics, and treasured guitars was most crucial. Anything else could be replaced. What couldn't was the history of his town, the people who made it their home. Luckily, he and The Panda were there to help preserve some of that.
WRITER
Feature Image via ZEBCO
Aug. 1, 2019
Drawer Payload Rating
200 LBS
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PROOF
NO DRILLING
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DECKED TRUCK SYSTEMS
“
When you go and write a song,
you're not gonna have the hit song
idea right off the bat, and
you're not gonna catch the big
fish right off the bat "
GET TO KNOW RISING COUNTRY ARTIST CB30
“
In the midst of it all, Baird made the decision to root himself in Austin thanks in large part to his ability to disconnect right in the middle of the city. “The reason I live in Austin is because there’s such a green space in the whole city,” Baird says. From swimming in Barton Springs to riding his bike around Lady Bird Lake to grabbing a Zebco rod and fishing in any one of the city’s urban fishing spots, he soaks it all in.
“I used to travel to Nashville every two weeks and I would have no idea what was gonna happen,” Baird says. “I’d wake up, I’d go to Music Row, and I’d write with some of my heroes." And just like fishing, "When you come up with something or you catch something that you always wanted, it’s absolutely incredible,” Baird says.
As his unique perspective and voice continues to develop, Rob Baird often grounds himself in the outdoors. Baird is currently performing select tour dates around the country in support of his newest album After All.
Wide Open Country caught up with Riggs, who just released his new EP Love & Panic, in Nashville. The emerging start talked about finding balance in an often hectic career — while fishing the Cumberland River, just steps from downtown Nashville.
Sam Riggs spent much of his upbringing enjoying the outdoors. “It was a real musical family, real rural family,” Riggs says. “Kind of grew up blue collar, so being in the woods and fishing was always a big part of my life.”
He learned a lot about fishing from his granddad, who was a preacher and fished “religiously,” Riggs says. As an artist who built his fan base by touring relentlessly, Riggs has seen a lot of the country. “It’s the most amazing job in the world,” he says.
And for an artist as passionate as Riggs, spending a little bit of time by the water certainly helps replenish all that energy spent performing across the country night in and night out. Even if it means just pulling a Zebco rod out from behind his seat and stealing away for an hour.
Wide Open Spaces caught up with Riggs, who just released his new EP Love & Panic, in Nashville. The emerging start talked about finding balance in an often hectic career — while fishing the Cumberland River, just steps from downtown Nashville.
Sam Riggs spent much of his upbringing enjoying the outdoors. “It was a real musical family, real rural family,” Riggs says. “Kind of grew up blue collar, so being in the woods and fishing was always a big part of my life.”
He learned a lot about fishing from his granddad, who was a preacher and fished “religiously,” Riggs says. As an artist who built his fan base by touring relentlessly, Riggs has seen a lot of the country. “It’s the most amazing job in the world,” he says.
And for an artist as passionate as Riggs, spending a little bit of time by the water certainly helps replenish all that energy spent performing across the country night in and night out. Even if it means just pulling a Zebco rod out from behind his seat and stealing away for an hour.