Premiere: Triston Marez Teams With Ronnie Dunn on “Where The Neon Lies”

Beer after beer I chase this whiskey down…the whiskey melts a cold goodbye, sings Texas newcomer Triston Marez in this stone-cold country, drown-in-your-beer tune “Where The Neon Lies.” His smooth, effortless vocals showcase the influence of fellow Texas artists including Chris LeDoux, Cody Johnson, George Strait and Aaron Watson.

Marez gets a co-sign from Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn on the track, which Marez penned with Chris Dubois and Lynn Hutton. “Where The Neon Lies” is included on Marez’s recently-released self-titled album, a project that blends elements of ’90s Nashville country, Tejano and Texas country. Marez wrote nine of the 12 tracks on the project, which was produced by David Dorn and Alex Torrez.

After Marez, DuBois and Hutton penned “Where The Neon Lies,” Marez says his manager Alex Torrez felt Dunn’s voice would be a perfect fit said he would email Dunn about the track.

“Sure enough, two weeks later, he called me at like 9:30 at night, he was like, ’I’m comin’ over,’” Marez told Whiskey Riff. “He shows up with a whiskey bottle and I’m like, ’Alright, things are good.’ He showed me an email from [Ronnie Dunn] that said, ’I love the song. Send me the track and I’ll get on it next week.’ He sent it back to us and he nailed it.”

This Houston, Texas native was raised in a musical family, and started playing guitar at age six. His first performance was a first-grade talent show, where he performed a Buck Owens song. Marez has also worked as a ranch hand and rode bulls as a hobby to help support his music career early on. In 2014, he won the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s talent competition.

Marez recently moved to Nashville, but says he is always proud to be a Texas artist.

“One thing about Texas that I love is that they are just artists that love making music…the music they love to make and the music they believe in,” Marez recently told Whiskey Riff. “We’re just artists making music because we love music. We’re not following a formula, we’re not trying to be somebody that we aren’t…we’re just writing music that we love. We’re blessed to have people in Texas that love live music and support live music.”

Marez told CMT about the video, which was directed by Brooke Stevens.

What do you remember most about the day/night you shot this video?
I was surrounded by so many good friends so really the shooting of this video was just a big hang with great people! I was excited to finally get some work done behind a camera and build a visual for this song!

How does the video bring your song to life?
This video brings the neon and the lonely together and creates a storyline of what the song is about, convincing yourself that person is going to come back and not move on even though that is far from the truth.

What message do you hope your fans take away from the video?
I hope everyone who watches the video gets a deeper understanding of the song and helps put a type of vibe that visually sticks in their mind when they hear the song!

How did it feel to see the finished product for the first time?
I was excited to get the email that the video was officially done, when I watched it for the first time, I was beyond happy with how it turned out and captured the meaning of the song visually! Brooke Stevens / Baby Horse Productions did a great job creating this video and bringing the song to life on the screen!