The Stilettos is a post-punk band that emerged from the vibrant Lubbock, Texas music scene in 1986. Though proud to be a part of the Lubbock music tradition, their music veered away from the country, blues and roots rock common in town at that time and towards music with more of an edge. Their set included covers (and they were frequently compared to) bands like The Replacements, The Clash and REM.

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Now primarily a collaboration between Alan Durham (Dumptruck and Alejandro Escovado) and singer-songwriter Brian Ledford, the original 1988 lineup included Jeffrey Duke Patterson on bass, and Gary Kirk on drums. In 1989 they signed with Austin based talent agency Rock Arts and Sean Frankhouser took up bass playing duties as they started gigging across Texas, bringing their high-energy rock-and-roll to stages from the Texas panhandle to Austin to DFW. In 1989 DFW radio station KZEW voted them one of the best emerging alternative rock bands and booked them to play their Hard Rock Café showcase in Dallas.

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Family needs and the demands of constant travel took their toll and the band broke up in 1990. Alan and Brian each moved to Austin independently shortly after that and played a few shows together before Brian moved to the Pacific Northwest in the mid-nineties.

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Then, in 2021 Alan and Brian started conversing about what The Stilettos had meant to them as musicians. At first it was focused only on releasing some of the songs from the old Rock Arts demo tape but soon evolved into plans to write and record new material.

Now, after three years of work they're ready to start sharing. There will be an announcement soon about the release of their first single with more material, both new and old, on the way. Alan relocated to Albuquerque in 2023 and they added new band members: Jason Brown on keyboards, Terry Bluhm on bass, and Kurt Sullivan on drums. Starting in the Spring of 2026 they will be playing limited shows with Brian commuting down from the PNW.