Pug Johnson grew up on the outskirts of Beaumont, Texas, where the radio couldn’t make up its mind. Cajun music bled into swamp pop, Tex-Mex bumped up against honky tonk, and somewhere in all that glorious confusion, a songwriter was taking notes.

He fronted early bands like Slow Rollin’ Lows before forming Pug Johnson and The Hounds, the outfit that helped him find his voice, which turns out to be the voice of a man who has seen some things, thought about them too hard, and decided to make them funny anyway.

His debut album, Throwed Off and Glad, drew on all of it: the Cajun flair, the Gulf Coast grit, the Mexican music and Texas swing he soaked up as a kid. His follow-up, El Cabron, leaned further into the Hill Country after he and his wife relocated to the Austin area, adding mariachi guitars and border music to his ever-expanding musical zip code.

Lonesome Highway praised his songwriting for “exploring life’s darker side in places… with high spirits and wicked humor.” That’s about right. He’s a road warrior who has shared stages with Steve Earle, Midland, and Hayes Carll, and the kind of artist who makes you feel like you’ve known him for years, even if you just walked in.