Down for the Count began in May of 2010 when Matthew Wise and Gene Dowdy, both formerly of folk-rock trio 3rd & Vine, decided to broaden their sound with a full band. Dowdy, then head of the music department at UTSA, called up friend and fellow music professor, Gary Mabry, and invited him and his wife, Bethany Hirota-Mabry, into what he and Wise called “a dinner session.” The group clicked immediately, drawing on their years of musical experience, blending their voices into tight, four-part harmonies and discovering a new, creative take on a few Americana tunes.  The foursome scored their first gig three days later.  

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Still missing a permanent bass line to groove with Hirota-Mabry’s percussion, Dowdy and Mabry reached out to former student and improvisational standup bassist, Tim Logan. After the first rehearsal, Logan was hooked.

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Twelve years later, Down for the Count thrives in their own sound, fusing the Bluegrass and Americana genres and occasionally letting their strings wander over into the Pop and Classic Rock arenas as well. From sing-along favorites to wonderfully obscure B-side tracks, their superb musicianship has built the band a loyal following along the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin and even as far east as College Station. They’ve played wine dives and restaurants, hill country bars and honky-tonks, SXSW parties and have been showcased on the main stage of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. They’ve also opened for headliners such as Two Tons of Steel and Hudson Moore. They regularly sell-out venues and play to standing room only crowds in and around San Antonio.

Down for the Count’s unique style has been shaped by many talented musicians and bands and their set lists regularly include covers from the likes of: Old Crow Medicine Show, Walt Wilkins and the Mystequeros, Slaid Cleaves, The Eagles, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Ryan Adams,  Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, The Allman Brothers, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash.