BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
P.O. Box 435
Agua Dulce, TX 78330
(361) 998-2397
Email BltNmusic@aol.com
Hayden Harris is the original founder of BETTER LATE THAN NEVER back in 2000. Originally from Agua Dulce, Texas, Hayden graduated from A.D.H.S. and then attended college at Texas Tech in Lubbock. When Hayden was a senior in High school, he was permanently paralyzed from mid-chest down in a car accident.
Shortly after he got out of the hospital, he asked Tom Sablatura (bass player) to teach him to play the guitar. Tom taught him the basics and he went on to take professional lessons and became a very accomplished guitarist. He moved back to Agua Dulce in the mid to late 1990’s and was asked to be the song leader for the Agua Dulce Baptist Church that he had grown up attending. He accepted the position and began his new life in Christ. He also became the full-time youth director. He says now that he realizes God spared his life that night some 20 years ago for a very special reason.
Tom Sablatura also grew up in Agua Dulce. Tom lost touch with Hayden for several years while Hayden was in college and living in the Lubbock/Amarillo area. During those years, Tom spent much of his time playing in two or three different country bands, singing and writing many personal, life-describing, honky-tonk, bar-room songs, and pretty much living each one of them out to the fullest. Better Late Than Never (BLtN) was born under the direction of these two guys under the leadership of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Shortly after that, the Lord led them to an old friend by the name of Darryl Burns. He also had graduated from ADHS, moved away, went to college, and a few years later, married and moved back. Darryl was an accomplished drummer and a gifted singer/songwriter. His style of drumming set the beat for a brand new sound! A sound that includes a mix of blues, jazz, Tejano, country, salsa, and southern rock. Darryl had devoted the last several years of his life to serving Jesus, so they knew what was about to transpire was none other than God’s work itself!
The excitement and thrill of doing God’s work in the form of music, for BLtN was, and still is, indescribable! After several months together, they began to realize that Darryl’s drum playing, which was excellent to say the least, was actually restricting him from expressing himself to the fullest as a singer. As if reading their very thoughts, which we know is exactly what He does, God sent a new drummer by the name of Clay DuPree.
Clay was a good friend of Hayden and Darryl’s from Alice, Texas, currently living at Lake Corpus Christi. One day Hayden invited Clay to practice and everything fell together. As God would have it, Clay was the icing on the cake! His style added a new dimension to their sound while setting Darryl free to become the lead singer and stage leader.
Norbert Garces, lead guitarist, is from Alice, Texas also. He joined BLtN in August 2000. Norbert was the sound technician and music leader for the church he attended in Alice. He has a unique southern rock style that fit like a missing piece of a puzzle into the band and his talent and devotion to the Lord has truly been a blessing.
Rocky Godines, also from Alice, Texas, was recruited by Norbert in January 2001 to add keyboards and accordion accompaniment to some of the songs on BLtN’s debut CD (Against the Flow). Rocky has played for many years in several different country and Tejano bands across Texas and was playing for a band in Beeville at the time. He says he knew the minute he stepped into the studio that this was where he needed to be!
BLtN’s sound technician is Nate Westbrook from Agua Dulce. Nate replaced our original sound tech, Bubba Donald, in 2003 and is a dedicated Christian and fine young man. He attends TAMCC in Corpus Christi, Texas but remains a true and faithful member and an integral part of Better Late Than Never.
Today, Tom, Norbert, and Rocky are the only 3 originals left in BLtN. Clay, our drummer, was transferred to Louisiana and was replaced by Ronald Ferrer of Kingsville. Tracy Wright of Banquete, our lead singer from 2006 until 2010, that replaced Darryl as lead vocalist, left BLtN and was replaced by vocalist Romey Ferrer of Kingsville. Jessie Brown of Agua Dulce has replaced Hayden on the rhythm guitar.
Better Late Than Never is a testament to all of these guys’ lives, that it is always better late than never to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior!