In the summer of 2000, Trey Johnson had recently disbanded his previous band, a garage rock outfit called El Scorcho, simply because, as he puts it, the band just couldn’t keep up with his furious songwriting pace. He found an outlet playing Sunday night solo gigs at a friend’s bar, Dallas’ Barley House. Said friend introduced Johnson to Balis, who was looking for a new outlet himself.

Balis was duly impressed with the quality “and honesty” of Johnson’s songs and voice, and the pair immediately hit it off and commenced a six-month stint of duo gigs at the Barley House. The duo became a trio after Albrecht sat in with them one night (having left his Rhodes keyboard at the bar following a show with a Grateful Dead tribute band the night before), and a full-fledged band after the addition of a drummer and additional guitar player. It took a while before Carmichael and Williams found their way into the band to fill those last two seats, but the current line-up represents Sorta at its best.

With each new member — and each new trip into the studio — Sorta has come closer to not only achieving the perfect record in Johnson’s head, but more importantly, a distinctly Sorta sound. Johnson, an avowed Bob Dylan fanatic (going so far as to name his newly born daughter Dylan) who admits to a pronounced fascination on the themes of “love, family and fear” in his lyrics, brings the songs in in stripped-down, acoustic form and allows each band member to add their own distinctive stamp. “There was no plan or model in the beginning for how I wanted Sorta to sound,” says Johnson. “The model really was developed as each person stepped in.”

In the summer of 2006, Dallas musical fixture Chris Holt joined the band, adding even more talent to the band's lineup.

In 2007, Carter Albrecht died in a shooting incident. The band continues to play on.

Information from the band's site

Musicians

• Ward Williams: pedal steel guitar, slide guitar
• Danny Balis: bass, vocals
• Trey Johnson: guitar, lead vocals, vocals
• Chris Holt: guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Tom Birdwell: drums

Former members

• Trey Carmichael: drums
• Carter Albrecht: guitar, keyboards, vocals

Influences

Bob Dylan, music, books, people, life, death, children, love, rock and roll

Albums

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