From the Bayou: Passengers Unknown Live
East Texas group brings their show to Wichita Falls
Seattle had a sound. So did Minneapolis, Nashville and Detroit. Whether they still have those sounds is debatable, but all had distinctive musical signatures that put them on the musical map. And anyone who’s spent significant time in Texoma knows, we have a sound, and it’s a melting pot of genres and hybrids and subsets. Country, Americana, rock, and alloys of each—hard country, Southern rock, modern Americana, and the satirically-named but laser-accurate Y’allternative. TheFUSE thought that might be the best description of Passengers Unknown based on the performance we saw at the Iron Horse Pub in late May of 2025.
Sonically and visually, Passengers Unknown embodies a rock image with their live show. Lead vocalist Jobee Bowley projects the ghostly, gaunt image of a grunge frontman, his plaintive voice haunting and mournful at times. The guitars from Alex Mills and Mathew Strong are distorted and gritty with a hint of swamp rock, and bassist Brayden Strong and drummer Keaton Watlington form a solid rock rhythm section. There is, however, just a touch of country in the sound of Passengers Unknown, and for good reason.
Passengers Unknown hails from tiny Carthage, Texas, a town of a little more than 6,000 in Bayou Country, 20 miles from the Louisiana border. It’s the home of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, the Tex Ritter Museum, and the Jim Reeves Memorial, so it’s only natural that the guys picked up some subtle country influence if by no other process than osmosis. But make no mistake, Passengers leans rock, with hints of Bad Company and southern rock, flavors which can be tasted in the five singles they’ve released to streaming so far. The songwriting is unique, and stands out among the current crop of Texoma original artists.
Passengers Unknown told us they’re currently working on an album, and if TheFUSE could put one thing on our wishlist for the release, it would be an uptempo, anthemic, singalong banger to get the crowd on their feet, since the group’s singles so far have been heartfelt, mostly downtempo numbers. The group is keeping busy and taking their sound to the masses with an East Coast jaunt scheduled for August as well.
You’ll be able to catch Passengers Unknown supporting both Pecos and the Rooftops and Cole Barnhill this summer, and we’d give them our strongest recommendation if you get a chance to see them. Passengers Unknown is something special.
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