About Us

Chuck O’Connor - guitar, vocals, Pat Manske - drums & percussion, Billy Bright - mandolin, vocals, Mike Morgan - bass, vocals, Noah Jefferies - fiddle

Just a short drive from Austin, TX  you can find the fellers that make up My Hometown. Founded in late 2023 My Hometown is an inimitable songwriting bluegrass-tied jamming band. The list of folks they have each worked  with and for reads more like a record collection. Factor in producing credits, engineering credits, sideman credits, Grammy nominations, Austin Music Awards, endless hours of teaching credits and its the Mighty Mississippi. If you wanna hear something ‘new’ from folks you may already know, whether you know it or not, check out My Hometown 

Billy Bright

 Mandolin, Vocals made his first cassette in 1987 in El Paso, and eventually moved to Austin in 1997 with Two High String Band. He has been fortunate to tour and record with many of those who inspired him to pick up an instrument at many of the great festivals and stages across this country where he does regular workshops. His band Wood and Wire was nominated for a Grammy for bluegrass record of the year. 

Noah Jeffries

 Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, Vocals - is a founding member of Austin’s own Milk Drive,  Noah Jeffries competed as a youngster in the National Old-time Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, Idaho. Eventually he migrated to Austin, where he toured with an eclectic mix of bands including Robert Earl Keen and Jason Boland.

Mike Morgan

 Bassist, Vocals, Producer - owner, of the Zone Recording Studio, has performed on an eclectic mix of records, from Peter Rowan to the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Allen Ginsburg, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Pam Tillis, and many more. Morgan was a founding member of Rhythmic Statues, Flounders without Eyes, The WayneBillies, Big Mon and Peter Rowan’s Twang an Groove. He has been a regular performer at festivals nation wide. 

Pat Manske

 Drums has toured and recorded with Texas legends Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo, The Flatlanders, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Bruce Robison. Manske has performed on David Letterman, played Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry, and has toured Europe twice with Joe Ely and twice with Grammy nominee Eugene Hideaway Bridges. Manske has been the head engineer, producer, and manager for the Zone Recording Studio since 2002.

Chuck O’Connor

 Guitarist, Vocals joined Big Mon after returning to Austin Texas. He was a founding member of the reggae band I-Tex and the Frontier Dub Boys and worked Heather Masse, Robert Ellis Orrall, Jed Wilson, Asleep at the Wheel, The Ash Family, Doc Toler, The White Mountain Boys, Al Hospers’ Valley Horns Arts in Motion and Neal Ford.

 Charles Ray 

Band Sound Engineer with 40 years experience running live sound.