I don’t always write about my hometown, because, like most cities El Paso is far from perfect. Yet, there’s a beautiful and eerie mystique about our seemingly isolated desert community that hugs the end of the Great Rocky Mountains and has Middle Earth-worthy sunsets.

Music artists have also began to notice the charm. This includes R&B artist Khalid, who moved to El Paso when he was in high school. Khalid said the Sun City, according to interviews, has shown him so much love and acceptance, he considers it his home. He has since featured the city in videos, album covers and publicity shots throughout his career. Well, we are happy to have him and his beautiful voice.

Recently, Khalid released “The (915) Visual Playlist” a set of lyric videos for songs from his big breakthrough album, American Teen, all featuring El Paso. It includes one for the title track that shows off my own alma mater, El Paso High School.

Yes, it’s nice to see El Paso shown in a cool light, but Khalid isn’t the only one who used the city in videos. One of my favorite artists, Leon Bridges, highlighted El Paso prominently with his “Beyond” video. He spotlighted well-known landmarks like Scenic Drive and Rosa’s Cantina, and the now closed H&H Car Wash and diner. Ironically, I don’t think Bridges has performed a live show in El Paso, but he’s welcome to do so anytime:

Speaking of Rosa’s Cantina, guest who enjoy their excellent brisket tacos are likely to hear the Marty Robbins classic, El Paso at least once during their meal. He released this song in 1959. In 1980, Steve Martin created his own special video for the song for a comedy special. His depiction of the El Paso population was a bit unorthodox, but we have a healthy sense of humor here in El Chuco.

Apes aside, Martin obviously didn’t film this on location, but Texas’s Dirty River Boys celebrated the gritty beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert surrounding El Paso in their video for the epic country blues tune, “Mesa.”

If you ever find yourself wandering the isolated wide open spaces of West Texas and come across the West Texas Town of El Paso, check out some of the locations you see in these videos.

Would we love y’all to join the party? Hell, yeah, or as native El Pasoan and country singer Valerie Ponzio says, ¡´Orale!