LESS HONKIN’, MORE TONKIN’

Watching couples glide around the honkytonk may be daunting for the faint of heart, the inexperienced, or those of you who haven’t two-stepped since fourth grade. But if a drunk cowboy can do it, how hard can it be? Just ask Josh T. Pearson, who’s been teaching the Texas Two-Step from L.A. to Austin for more than five years. “There’s only two steps in the Two-Step. I promise you can do it.”

Actually, there are four. But don’t let specifics throw you.

You may recognize Pearson as the spiritual force and voice behind Texas’ second most famous psych rock band, Lift to Experience, whose 2001 post-rock classic The Texas-Jerusalem Connection was a sprawling double album of sound, fury, and godliness that spewed apocalyptic visions and damnation, prophesizing the end of the world over 12 unnerving but sonically magnificent songs—and released six months before 9/11. He followed that 10 years later with the sad lament of Last of the Country Gentlemen, an album recorded over two nights in Berlin that contained all the pain and psychic agony of the dissolution of his marriage. The songs are so raw and full of anguish, Pearson no longer will play them live.

Arriving back in Texas from Europe in 2014, where he had lived on and off for years, he thought the change of location would help him heal from the pain of divorce. It did not. Until he traveled to Austin. “I went to visit a buddy and he told me to check out a honky-tonk on the East Side that had just opened called the White Horse Saloon. My ears pricked up when he said it because I’d always felt an affinity to that name for some reason whenever I’d seen it. I’d seen countless pubs called the White Horse in the U.K., but never in Texas. But somehow, I knew it was part of my future.”

Whatever it was that spoke to the musician, he decided to check it out. He went alone late one night, not knowing a soul in Austin. “I walked through the door, and it felt like God had made a bar just for me.

“I went back five nights in a row. Seemed like there was brawl there every single night. Chairs were flying like in some old TV western. It felt like I was in a movie or another world. There was live music that came straight from the gut: punk renegade and old-school country combined with partner dancing. After living in places like Paris, London, and Berlin, and years of searching for the coolest spots in the world, I felt I’d finally found it.”

“The first night there a tall, beautiful woman came up to me and asked me to dance. ‘It’s been a while, you’ll have to refresh me,’ I told her. Without missing a beat, she said, ‘I only dance with men who are good dancers,’ and pranced right back to the dance floor. I knew immediately I had to pony up if I was going to hang out at the White Horse. I started taking lessons at the Horse and the [Broken] Spoke. Found some girls willing to oblige and teach me the steps.”

For the next two years, he’d drive the two hours from his tiny house east of Waco to the White Horse, dance all night, and sleep in his truck, then do it again the next night before returning home. Then he’d come back the next weekend.

“The plane’s nose started pointing upwards about that time,” Pearson says aeronautically. “I knew I had danced the pain away—my apologies to Peaches.” Soon he was teaching his own classes as the Texas Two-Stepper; giving private lessons, group classes, and hosting a monthly corporate gig, as well as online instruction. He says he’s a hit at weddings and funerals, but especially bachelorette parties.

That’s not to say he’s given up music. In fact, he has a follow-up penned for 2016’s Straight Hits. “Music was always an art piece to me,” he says. “If there’s a song now, I’ll catch it, write it down. Unless it’s sad, then I let it go on by. I’m just not into the heartbreakers right now. I let it out on the dance floor.”

“I am in therapy now, though. And I meditate. Two things I recommend to all cowboys/girls/theys/thems, especially if they live far from the honky-tonks. I’d love to combine the two art forms were the winds to ever pick up again. I have some ideas. Some are funny. Could be a hoot if I crawl out of this shell. Just gotta stick my neck out there and face my fears.”

Until then, when you’re next in Texas and you feel like getting a lesson from the iconic cult herocum-dance savant, drop in at Sam’s Town Point, Sagebrush, or the White Horse Saloon in Austin, or if you want to learn remotely you can find JTP on Instagram at Love Conquers Y’All. But it’s much more than just dancing. Pearson is part prophet, part standup comic, part electric cowboy, and 100 percent a visionary willing to share some of his hard-won life truths, thinly disguised as dance lessons.

1. Sometimes when I’m nervous I put on my Lone Star Ranger mask and call myself the Texas TwoStepper. It helps me be myself. When I’m the Texas Two-Stepper, it’s easier to be silly, which helps make it less painful on those there for the lesson because their partner pushed them into doing it. Especially for big tough guys who don’t want to admit how terrified they are of being vulnerable in front of strangers. They pretend to lack interest, but really they’re just scared. The majority of people who say they don’t want to dance do so because they’re afraid. Deep down, everyone’s a dancer.

2. There are variations of Two-Step. I teach the Austin-Hill Country Style. What most people know of the Texas Two-Step they know from seeing Urban Cowboy. That version starts with two quick steps. The Austin style starts with two long steps, and we do more spins than the other version. We also tend to stay in one spot. Traditionally couples promenade counterclockwise around the dance halls, but Austin’s gotten so full of Californians stealing our scene that there isn’t much room to travel. It forces us to dance closer—and be more personally respecting of boundaries, of course.

3. There are two roles in the Two-Step: the Lead and the Follow. Traditionally males are the Lead and females the Follow. But we’re not married to it. The Two-Step’s nonbinary. It’s good learning both, as is true in life. Austin has a ton of female Leads as there are way more girls than guys on the dance floors. Lucky guys. Girls dance with girls often, which totally sucks. If there’s one thing we can’t stand here, it’s beautiful women dancing with each other closely.

4. Stand facing your partner with your bodies about six inches apart. This is usually called the Closed Position, but I call it the Missionary Position, not because the partners are facing each other but because there needs to be some space between the two of you. I’ll say, “You have to always leave room for Jesus!” But what I'm really trying to say is “Don’t be grinding up against a stranger.” Respect each other’s boundaries. It’s okay to push away, even to leave mid-dance if uncomfortable. Let your partner know. Signals get crossed or not read at all. That said, it can get dirty out there if both parties agree. Communication is key to any relationship working.

Lead extends their left arm out palm open facing their partner. This arm’s the steering wheel. The Follow takes their right hand and, in the shape of a C, hangs it tenderly on the Lead’s extended left. They both apply pressure, gentle but firm, as if there’s a hundred-dollar bill between your hands and neither wants to drop it. Or, enough pressure to keep it interesting, but not enough to ruin the marriage.

Lead places their right hand on the Follow’s back or left shoulder. This here’s the rudder: the Follow’s left arm resting gently on top of the Lead’s handsome top right shoulder.

5. See how my lovely partner’s looking forward? Don’t do this! Fighting for control while dancing makes us look like we’re amateurs with trust issues who don’t know what we’re doing. Instead, let’s keep looking left longingly in the distance like we haven’t a care in the world. Because we don’t. Right? Not right now. We’re dancing! We’re safe here.

And y’all, don’t look at your feet, either. They’re where they’ve always been, right at the bottom of your cute little leggies. See? See your little feetsies? Still there.

6. Now let’s start by walking in place: left, right, left, right. Any of y’all walked before? Isn’t this fun? Fear not, Leads. You’re just marching here, duders. If you can walk, you can two-step. Do that a while with each other till you’re comfortable moving together. Then we’ll see where it goes.

Okay. You’ve got the walkin’ part down. Now. Let the fun begin!

7. Basic two-step footwork begins with two slow steps followed by two quick steps danced in six counts to a four-count rhythm. For a basic two-step in a bar, I typically do a “One-and-two, one” format. So, “Left-right-left, right.” The comma between the second left and second right is usually a slight pause, unless it’s a faster song. The leader takes forward steps; the follower backward steps that mirror the partner’s moves. To help count, I tell people to say to themselves, “I love two-step.”

8. This is the Cuddle Dip. I’ve stepped to the left and she’s leaning into me. It takes a bit a trust for the Follow to lean into you, but it’s worth it. She relaxes, poking her hip to the left. Is it hip or hips? Shoot. Never thought about it. Anyhoo, lean into the Leads, y’all. They won’t drop you.

9. Here’s a helpful JTP mnemonic device that helps us out when we get lost: “If you lose the rhythm, give ’em a spinnin’!” Commit that to memory. It’s a big help and no one can tell you messed up. The treasure’s in the losing and finding it. It’s also okay to stop and wait till you find the beat. No one tells you what to do here. You don’t have to do shit. You can just stop and stand there if you want to. But if you’d rather it not be so obvious that you don’t know what you’re doing, you spin ’em. Gently. Always gently. We’re in no rush. Calm down. I know you’re excited.

10. Learn how to do this dip and they’ll be bending over backwards for you. You might meet someone you’re gonna spend the next two to three months of your life with before it all goes horribly wrong, and you get to revisit what you need to work on psychologically while crying alone again on Instagram instead of going out dancing with total strangers and having fun!

Regardless, now you have the Two-Step for the rest of your life to whip out at weddings or whenever you like. Thank your partner. Leads, take them back to where you found them so they never have to walk home alone. This is partner dancing. Everyone dances with everyone. Any age. Any creed. 21 to 91. There’s plenty of time left for you to have some fun. Unless you’re in your 90s. Then there’s probably not that much time left. Face your fears. Have some fun. Give yourself permission to be silly. Dancing saves lives! Tip your bands and bartenders. And please be gentle with your precious heart. Reward yourself for trying new things. We learn more quickly through reward than punishment. Walk before we run.

[Disclaimer: If you still have no idea how to Two-Step, guess what? We don’t either. But YouTube’s a great dance teacher, ain’t it?]