is one of those three-name Texas troubadours in the spirit of Townes Van Zandt, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Billy Joe Shaver. Over the years he has proven himself as one of the most original and consistent songwriters in Austin, and has earned his place as one of the most esteemed songwriters within American roots music as a whole. Ray Wylie Hubbard writes the kind of songs that make you want to ride along no matter where he’s going, because you know it’s gonna get strange somewhere along the way. He started his journey as a folk singer in his native Oklahoma before falling in with the outlaw Texas country scene of the ’70s, quickly becoming an icon by penning the immortal “Up Against the Wall (Redneck Mother),” which Jerry Jeff Walker recorded on his seminal 1973 album ¡Viva Terlingua!. Hubbard gigged constantly and recorded sporadically throughout the rest of the ’70s and ’80s, but didn’t begin to come into his own as a songwriter until 1994’s “Loco Gringo’s Lament.” He’s been on a tear ever since, recording a handful of acclaimed albums with noted producers Lloyd Maines and Gurf Morlix and curating his own Grit ‘N’ Groove Festival. His latest studio album is “The Grifter’s Hymnal,” released in March of 2012 on Bordello Records.