August Ponthier - Your Hometown Is Your First Heartbreak
“Everywhere Isn’t Texas” is Texan Folklore.
by Lailah Williams
by Lailah Williams
published 03/20/26
August Ponthier is an upcoming artist from the Dallas-Fort Worth area with an incredible story to tell. Their debut album, Everywhere Isn’t Texas, details their start as an artist from a place that feels too small and too big at the same time. The album is a folk-pop hybrid (a favorite sound of mine!) that feels truly authentic.
Ahead of this album’s release, Interscope Records dropped Ponthier from the label. They had brought a punchy, but at times soulful color to the company. That experience, combined with complex feelings about leaving home to pursue music, has clearly impacted Ponthier’s sound. I was enamored with the pedal steel guitar and key changes that score the album’s western, modern ballads.
Throughout the album, Ponthier tells themselves and the listener that change is inevitable. The album chronicles the internal dialogue of a listless southerner; they moved from Dallas-Fort Worth to New York and have spent their time since coming to terms with running away from home. They tell the listener that it is okay to leave where you are from, even if it is all you know. Everywhere Isn’t Texas, and that is a good thing.
Ahead of this album’s release, Interscope Records dropped Ponthier from the label. They had brought a punchy, but at times soulful color to the company. That experience, combined with complex feelings about leaving home to pursue music, has clearly impacted Ponthier’s sound. I was enamored with the pedal steel guitar and key changes that score the album’s western, modern ballads.
Throughout the album, Ponthier tells themselves and the listener that change is inevitable. The album chronicles the internal dialogue of a listless southerner; they moved from Dallas-Fort Worth to New York and have spent their time since coming to terms with running away from home. They tell the listener that it is okay to leave where you are from, even if it is all you know. Everywhere Isn’t Texas, and that is a good thing.
Queer Texans, or anyone from a place where they may have felt out of place, have a complicated relationship with their hometowns. On one hand, we love our communities for the lessons they’ve taught us. On the other hand, we are consistently disappointed by the persistence of prejudiced values despite how many years have passed. I will always love Texas for the vast culture and memories that I have made, but it is not lost on me how many people who have grown up in the state feel as though they cannot escape.
Being different from those you grew up with is a tale as old as time. Feeling outcast can push you to look for the nearest exit. Ponthier encourages listeners to no longer shoulder the burden of a place they have outgrown. That sentiment struck me, but I also experienced something else.
Everywhere Isn’t Texas. After living elsewhere, I now feel that everywhere shouldn’t be Texas.
There is so much I love about my state and its people, but I did not fully appreciate it until I left. Sometimes people ask me what it was like to grow up in a place that often finds itself in the news for the “wrong” reasons. My response used to be one of trepid embarrassment. Yes, I have seen the latest crazy thing to come out of Texas, but all the good that happened reached me first. Now, having spent more and more time away, I realize that the perceptions people have of where others are from are simply that: perceptions. The moment I stopped letting people’s opinions of Texas taint my real-life experiences, I began responding differently.
Now, I know that all the other places I’ve lived feel special because I have the foundation of what I learned at home. I wasn’t able to see the full picture of my childhood in Texas while it was still being painted. Only after seeing what else was out there could I fully appreciate what I had left behind.
Ponthier says, “And I know it sounds reckless. But you don’t have to stay in Texas,” and I agree. See the world, collect new stories to tell, and meet new people. In my view, instead of taking away from what home has to offer, gaining perspective about the other side of the fence adds a degree of admiration for what you have in front of you.
(The Japanese House Tour, 2024)