Country music might be involved in a complicated love affair, moonlighting with R&B and hip-hop as it evolves with the times. But that’s just the surface level, and a new group called BEXAR remember the simple thrill of strings and harmony.

First things first: BEXAR is pronounced “bear,” and it’s named after Bexar County, Texas, where lead vocalist/guitarist Chris Ryan spent a good part of his childhood. He’s joined by Kentucky native and vocal/banjo/guitar master Logan Turner, and together the songsmiths are forging country tradition into something stronger, sharper – and more refined – than is seen elsewhere.

Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, their sound is something exciting in an electro-dominated genre – a combination of Kentucky bluegrass and Texas country with all the grit and guile that goes with it, but a sound polished enough for Carnegie Hall.

“When two worlds collide like this, you can start creating something special,” Ryan says of their emerging group.

Songwriters by trade, the musical brothers both come from backgrounds steeped in musical passion. Ryan got serious while attending Texas A&M University, often traveling to Austin for all-night sets on the city’s vibrant Sixth Street and setting his sights on an artistic career. Turner, on the other hand, grew up at the foot of the stage in his grandparents’ country-music nightclub and just wanted to write songs.

They first met in one of Nashville’s anonymous writing rooms, toiling away in search of somebody else’s hit. But their shared desire to create something fresh moved them beyond. Bonding over a love of bands like Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers, they started mixing Ryan’s gift for meticulous storytelling and Turner’s natural musical dexterity, reintroducing country to the pop potential of wooden instruments and organic soul.

Weeks went by and BEXAR was still a just-for-fun side project. But then the friends attended Nashville’s annual CMA Fest, and everything changed.

“There was no notion of us being a band,” Turner explains. “But we were up in the top of Nissan Stadium watching Dan + Shay, and there was something in the air. Chris was like ‘What if we made this a real thing? Would you jump in with me?’”

“For me, it was the fact that all the songs I was loving at the time were ones we wrote together, and he was singing on all of them,” Ryan adds. “I just kept thinking, ‘If I ever get on that stage, I can’t imagine doing it without Logan. I can’t picture him not being in this thing.’”

After a self-released collection in 2018, the guys are now ready for their major-label debut. And working with super producer/songwriter Ross Copperman (Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban), they’re threading a creative needle between progressive-roots energy and pop sensibility.

First single “Again” shows off that expressive sweet spot. Co-written with Copperman, it swells with sonic nostalgia and thematic optimism – a windblown daydream of hard-chop acoustic strumming and euphoric shouts, centered on the notion that even if they could do life over, they’d do it all the same.

“At the end of the day, there’s always things that you wish you could go back and do differently,” Turner explains. “But even with mistakes, you learn from them and move forward.”

“It’s about being unapologetically you,” Ryan adds. “For instance, moving to Nashville. Had it not worked out I could have moved back to Texas, but I wouldn’t have done anything different. It’s just doing what makes you happy, because at the end of the day you’ve only got one run at this thing.”

The band take a similar approach in “One Day,” co-written with Copperman and Josh Osborne about chasing your dreams in every moment – something they are “100 percent” doing right now.

“I saw a quote somewhere and thought it was an interesting idea,” Turner says of the track’s genesis. “Everybody says ‘One day I’ll do this,’ or ‘One day I’ll do that,’ but why not make ‘One day’ today?”

“And also make it a day to stay positive,” Ryan jumps in. “We couldn’t have anticipated a time like this, but that’s one thing we want our fans to take away.”

The up-tempo anthem perhaps best shows off BEXAR’s sonic blend, matching modern group vocals and hand claps to the timeless feel of fiddle and banjo.

“If you even bring those up in conversation, it’s like ‘Oh, those are country instruments,’” Turner says. “But they’re not often highlighted with where we are in the current state of country. So the question was, ‘How do we bring these in and use them again, where it still feels cool and fresh?’”

Meanwhile, “Handmade” gets customized for the band’s next chapter. A laid-back longtime favorite, it’s the first song the guys ever wrote, penned during that first meeting alongside Forrest Whitehead. With silky blues guitar and a rich vocal blend, it’s officially stood the test of time – just like the true love it describes.

“Chris knows that I don’t know what I would do without my wife,” Turner explains, tapping in to the heart behind the hook. “Before I met her, I was definitely half of who I am now, and I’m a firm believer that people are made for other people.”

They finish the set off in classic tenderness with “Be Good to Her,” slowing down for a contemplation on chivalry that should provide a quiet moment in an otherwise raucous live show. Co-written by Ryan with Phil Barton, Liz Rose and Femke Weidema, he explains it’s not just about romantic love. It goes much deeper than that.

“It made us think about ourselves,” he says. “And it’s such a simple song, but I think that’s what connects with people. Love doesn’t have to be so complicated.”

All things considered, that may be the best summation of this band’s approach – “It doesn’t have to be so complicated.” And in today’s musical landscape, that simple truth is a refreshing outlier.

“I just want people to feel about our music the way I felt about music when I first fell in love with it,” Turner says. “That it takes you somewhere – a place that nothing else in the world can take you to.”