25 Years of Beer, Bait and Ammo

There are songs you hear and then there are songs that completely re-route your day.

Here's the story of one that did that very thing to me 25 years ago..

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since "Beer, Bait and Ammo" first came roaring out of Texas radios, but I remember the moment like it was yesterday.

I was tooling down Hunter Road between San Marcos and New Braunfels, up to no good. I had the KVET morning show on the dial. And then out of the speakers came something that sounded like a redneck alien transmission.

Raw. Loud. Funny.

The voice was singular. The hook lodged itself straight into my brain. Sam and Bob never said the artist’s name when it ended, but it didn’t matter. There was no escaping what the title was.

I busted a U and headed straight back to San Marcos and Sundance Records. By that point, the guys behind the counter knew me like Jack Black knew the punk skater kids in High Fidelity. I said the title. They didn’t hesitate. Pointed me right to it. If memory serves, they chuckled.

The cover matched the sound I’d just heard.

Turns out the artist was Kevin Fowler.

I cracked open the jewel case post haste and quickly found out that "Beer, Bait & Ammo" wasn’t some novelty outlier. The record kicked off with “Speak of the Devil" and suddenly I realized this dude had a whole lot more up his sleeve than a catchy, jokey barroom anthem.

This was honky-tonk and Western swing, delivered with attitude and swagger.

That album immediately vaulted into heavy rotation. And the live shows? Absolute mayhem. A rowdy calling card that occasionally flirted with bad taste, but never once walked past a good time.

The infamous Willie’s Day Off show still stands out. Loud, loose, and unforgettable. Just like the song that started it all.

25 years later, Beer, Bait and Ammo isn’t just a song. It’s a timestamp. A mile marker. A reminder of when something on the radio could still blow your mind and send you racing toward a record store with your heart pounding.

Kevin Fowler didn’t just write a hit, he cracked open a door for a redneck metal head that loved country music to have a place at the table. Then he spent the next two and a half decades proving he belonged at the head of it.

The stuff of (Texas) legend. Thanks to our friends at KOKE FM for the anniversary reminder.