Alex Teller: True to the road

Singer-songwriter Alex Teller has a sound that would be equally at home in another time.

“It’s very vintage sounding,” he said, “like something that could’ve been written 50-plus years ago. I usually say 1920 to ‘73 because most of my musical taste — the records and things I seem to favor — came out in that time frame.”

Think classic country vocals riding over warm, resonant mahogany guitar.

Lansing audiences voted Teller as the Best Folk Artist in City Pulse’s Top of the Town People Contest, a win he didn’t expect.

“I didn’t even know I was nominated,” he said. “It just kind of happened. It feels thoughtful, like people are rooting for me without me having to push for it.”

After sharing stages with some of the region’s top folk players, Teller might appear to be rooted in the Mitten. He still frequents local open mics, including Wednesdays at Moriarty’s Pub, hosted by Jen Sygit. More often, though, he’s traveling the country in his 1998 Toyota Tacoma named Alberta, weaving stories for strangers in distant bars and serenading Texas dance floors.

Originally from Florida, Teller moved to Michigan at 19 and discovered folk music soon after by way of Jerry Garcia’s acoustic side projects.

Starting with the Grateful Dead, he dug into Garcia’s pedal-steel work with New Riders of the Purple Sage, then Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and finally the raw country of Townes Van Zandt, Doc Watson and John Prine.

Van Zandt was particularly inspiring. Teller immersed himself in songwriting, studying every detail of Van Zandt’s, Prine’s and Watson’s music.

“I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to write songs that people are listening to for a long time,’” Teller said.

In 2021, Teller hit the road with his guitar and his Tacoma, which doubled as his home while he farmed, played shows and lived a nomadic life.

“That’s kind of how it all started,” he said. “When I came back to Michigan and started playing open mics again, I started getting real affirmation that what I was doing was good. I realized that maybe these road trips could actually be tours.”

Raymond Holt for City Pulse

Raymond Holt

Teller’s music has found a home on the dance floors of Texas two-step, a world apart from Michigan’s folk scene.

“Musically, I’ve actually felt more at home in Texas,” he said. “I can just be up there with a guitar, and people are already dancing: two-stepping, waltzing, all of it.”

“Dancing’s just part of the culture,” he continued. “It’s not about trying to meet someone or impress someone romantically. It’s just something people do. Michigan just doesn’t really have that.”

He often travels the same routes his heroes once did.

“I drive through Raton, New Mexico — Townes has that song ‘Snowin’ on Raton.’ The chorus goes, ‘Snowin’ on Raton / Come mornin’ I’ll be through them hills and gone.’ When you’re on that road, you can just imagine it.”

For Teller, time on the road is part of the tradition.

“When I think of country music, it’s about the places, people, politics, culture, landscapes and things like that,” he said. “In order to write about that stuff, I have to really connect with it, get to know the highways, the mountains, the rivers and really put myself in the place of those artists.”

As much as Teller is rooted in tradition, he’s also exploring new territory.
His next album, recorded with Greg Baxter at Second Story Sound in Grand Rapids, features a bigger sound and collaborations with Drew Howard, Rachael Davis, Lindsay Lou, Peter “Madcat” Ruth, Kyle Tuttle and other artists. The first single drops this summer.

This summer also brings a long list of tour dates across Michigan and beyond, but one room still stands out.

“When I think about my favorite place to play, it’s the Robin,” Teller said.

The Robin Theatre has seen Teller through early gigs and sold-out crowds. It welcomes him back May 29, with special guest Jack Straw.

“Even if I’m touring, even in Texas, nothing beats a Robin Theatre show,” Teller said.