Certain songs I have heard tell me exactly what they are from the first few seconds. This one takes its time, and that patience is the whole point.
“Gone Since Texas” by Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice came from a real night, a real crowd, a dragonfly pin, and a drive back to Missouri that neither person was ready to name as goodbye. That specificity matters. You can feel it in the way the song refuses to tidy itself up into something easier to swallow.
The writing is sharp where it needs to be and quiet where most songs would reach for a crescendo. Candace Crockett caught something true in that first pass she sent from a flight to Vancouver Island, the idea that someone can already be gone before the moment you lose them. That is the emotional core, and the music earns it without overselling it.
The guitar gives the song its spine. Southern rock and blues with enough country in the storytelling to let the words breathe. Bryce has the kind of voice that does not need to push. The restraint is the performance. When he lands “I’m in misery, while she’s in Missouri” you feel the whole song click into place. One line doing the work of a dozen.
Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice have always had the energy. Here they show they have the patience too, and that combination is a more interesting place to be.
You can listen here.
