THE STORY BEHIND TERRALES RECORDS
Music, images, and stories carried from the land.
Les Mitchell is a retired—or, as he likes to say, semi-retired—plumbing contractor from Abilene, Texas, whose creative life is rooted in music, photography, storytelling, and the land.
A life in music
Music entered Les’s life when he was young. His father, his uncle, and his cousin would gather with family friends to play old country and bluegrass music. Les learned by sitting in with them, listening closely, and playing alongside the people around him.
During his teenage years, Les began exploring rock and roll. He felt especially drawn to Southern rock because its musicians came from backgrounds similar to his own. Like Les, they had grown up around country, bluegrass, blues, and traditional music, then carried those influences forward into something broader and more powerful.
Working as a contractor and subcontractor left little time to pursue music professionally, so Les continued playing for the pleasure of it. Over the years, he collected fine guitars—including valuable collector pieces—but he never treated them merely as objects to display. He played them, recorded with them, and made music for his own enjoyment.
Old foundations, new tools
The arrival of artificial intelligence opened another creative door. It gave Les new ways to develop and expand the music he was already making. The process still begins with his ideas, his musical foundation, and his direction. The technology does not decide what the music should become; Les guides it toward the sound and feeling he wants.
People may hold different opinions about AI-assisted music, but Les is clear about his own work: it begins with the music he creates, and it does not move forward without his direction. However someone chooses to describe the tools involved, he believes the finished work is his music—and he is having a wonderful time making it.
Photography from the country
Photography came later. After retiring and moving into the country, Les finally had the time and surroundings to begin looking more closely at the natural world. Mornings and evenings became opportunities to photograph wildlife, while clear nights opened the door to night-sky photography and astrophotography.
He is still learning, experimenting, and developing his craft, but that process is part of what makes it rewarding. Along the way, Les believes he has captured some remarkable photographs and videos—moments, animals, landscapes, and views of the night sky that many people would not ordinarily have the opportunity to witness for themselves.
THE MEANING OF TERRALES
A warm wind from the land.
The name Terrales comes from a word for a warm inland wind blowing toward the sea. Imagine being on a boat surrounded by cool ocean air when, suddenly, you feel a warm, dry wind arriving from the land—that is terrales.
The name reflects the spirit of the work: something carried outward from the land, bringing with it warmth, memory, music, images, and stories.
Terrales Records brings these pursuits together—music shaped by family, tradition, and new creative possibilities; photography rooted in patience and the land; and stories drawn from a life spent working, observing, and continuing to learn.