Bands For Talarico: The Voice Of Tomorrow

Article and photographs by Emmanuel Morales

“The biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right. It’s top vs. bottom. Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them.”

- James Talarico

Ahead of the U.S. Senate election, White Oak Music Hall has partnered with local bands to raise awareness of James Talarico and his campaign, with the goal of encouraging younger voters to register and participate in the electoral process. Although youth voter participation has gradually increased over the years, turnout among voters ages 18–29 reached only 47% during the 2024 presidential election, according to research by Alberto Medina and Katie Hilton published by CIRCLE in 2024. This means that more than half of eligible young adults in this age group did not participate in the election.

The issue may not necessarily be a lack of representation, but rather the perception that an individual vote will not make a meaningful difference. When it comes to artists staying neutral on political views to keep an image, it is blatantly irresponsible. While the idea of “separating the art from the artist” allows audiences to appreciate creative work independently of an artist’s personal beliefs, artists who prioritize financial gain or increased listenership over publicly expressing their values may invite criticism about where they place their priorities. In an environment where young people remain an important but underrepresented voting demographic, public figures and cultural institutions have an opportunity to use their platforms to encourage greater civic participation.

“With The Band Magazine” interviewed a few artists leading up to the concert to get deeper insight into what motivated them to support this campaign and the importance of influencing their fans as artists.

Q1: Why did you feel it was important to support a cause such as this one?

Ashera: “When I was invited to be part of the show, I felt it was a meaningful way to use my platform and music to support values that are important to me. I think it’s been really hard lately not to feel overwhelmed by how polarizing everything has become. With that in mind, it’s important for us to pay attention and not become numb to what’s happening in our communities.”

DifferentChris: “I’m super passionate about this. Everything feels so severe right now, and i hate when people say “I don’t want to vote”. Like we’re getting old… our vote DOES matter. I really just wanna push it out there more, you know.”

Zephyr Island: “We love Texas, and we love music. One of those things is actively being destroyed by the Republican Party, and the other is being destroyed by their donors.”

Q2: Have any recent events affected you personally regarding the current state of the US?

Ashera: “Definitely. I think it’s hard not to be affected when so many people’s basic rights are being debated politically. Bodily autonomy is particularly important to me. I believe people should be able to make personal decisions about their own bodies and have safe resources to turn to when in need. I don’t think those are decisions that should be made by the government. Outside of that, I see so many people around me struggling to afford basic healthcare, education, and housing, and how those things can determine the opportunities someone has in life. I think seeing this happen around me has made these issues feel a lot less abstract and a lot more personal.”

DifferentChris: “A lot of my close friends have family members that still live in fear because they’re not from here. My dad has his green card, but they don’t care about that, you know what I mean? And it’s honestly so depressing.”

Zephyr Island: “All my friends feel illegal now, and I can't pay for gas.”

Q3: If you could give one message to the world, what would it be?

Ashera: “I think my message would just be to care about other people, even when their lives look different from yours. The way we treat people matters. I think empathy is something we could all use a little more of, especially right now.”

DifferentChris: “I don’t know, just be nice. Plain and simple. Always say thank you, always say please because you never know what people might be going through. Even with a simple conversation, you could save someone’s life.”

Zephyr Island: “The only thing that evil men need to triumph is for good men to stay silent.”

Why Talarico?

Talarico is actively focused on things like progressivism, affordability, and education. All of which have been slowly in decline during the last few years. As a former 6th grade ELA teacher, Talarico has seen firsthand how bad the school funding has affected the education of millions of kids across the US. With nearly 600 billion dollars lost in funding for in-state and local K-12 schools across the US between 2016 and 2023, many students in states with significant education budget cuts experienced lower test scores and decreased college enrollment rates, as published by the “Fact Sheet” in April 2025. A key factor in these facts was the loss of teachers all across the US. The teacher workforce has shrunk by more than 100,000 during the recession from 2007-2009, and as of now, it has yet to return to pre-recession levels.

One of the major reasons for illiteracy is simply a lack of resources, especially in struggling low-income households. This affects certain minorities much more, such as Hispanic, Black, and kids with disabilities. This results in a much wider gap that already exists within certain groups of children. Literacy is a critical part of children’s personal and social development, helping them learn communication skills and setting the foundation for a well-nourished future in education; yet, 64% of our country’s fourth graders do not read proficiently.

During Talarico’s teaching career, the Texas Legislature had just gutted the public education budget by $5 billion, so he had 45 kids in one classroom. With so little funding for schools, there weren’t enough desks for every kid. With that in mind, Talarico has set some priorities for once he’s been elected.

Provide grants and other incentives to encourage public schools to adopt evidence-based strategies like early literacy programs and 1:1 intensive tutoring.
Hire more teachers by expanding programs like Teacher Quality Programs.
Start students on flexible career paths in middle and high school by improving junior college and career and technical education programs.
Establish recommended guidelines that can help states and schools safely use AI in the classroom in ways that enhance- rather than hinder learning opportunities and educational outcomes.

These aren’t just empty promises; Talarico has been helping the education system during his terms in the Public Education Committee. Talarico helped invest over $6.5 billion into public schools for teacher pay raises, educator training, and more. He also helped reduce student-to-teacher ratios and give younger students more attention. To find more information on the impact Talarico has had in the education system, go to https://jamestalarico.com.

As of September 25, 2026, James Talarico leads Ken Paxton 49% to 44% in a new Texas Senate poll, although the voting registration window is closing on October 5th 2026. Make your voice heard by going to:

https://vrrequest.sos.texas.gov/VoterApplication/ConfirmStatusEN