Last weekend, I took a trip down into the beautiful Texas Hill Country to attend an outdoor music festival. I’m sure you’ve heard of Luckenbach, Texas (if nothing else in the song from Willie and Waylon.) But, if not, I’ll give you a very brief background.
The town was founded and named in the late 1800s by German farmers. It consisted of a general store, post office and saloon. In 1971, a visionary named Hondo Crouch, purchased the town. From all accounts, Hondo was quite a character. He was a poet, musician, artist, and as his business cards read, an imagineer. In 1973, Jerry Jeff Walker (Texas singer/songwriter) recorded a live progressive album, “Viva Terlingua,” in Luckenbach and from there, the tiny town began to attract artists and musicians from all over Texas and beyond.
So, it was at the tiny eclectic town of Luckenbach that Texas music fans gathered under the shade trees to hear live music that we’d been missing since COVID-19 shut down the music world.
It was hot. No, it was sweltering Texas hot, but no one cared.
The music started at noon on Friday and ended around midnight. Then, there was the traditional picker’s circle where songwriters kept the music going until around 4 am. I’ll admit I didn’t make it past 1 am. 🙂
Just a few of the music artists. The little girl, June, was sitting on stage watching her mom and dad, The Hamiltons, perform.
And there was even a wedding on Saturday morning.
Jamie Richards closed out the show on Saturday night and other music artists joined him on stage for some fun!
And the big man himself, Thomas Michael Riley, who is the organizer of the festival, has a heart as big as he is! He has some awesome music and one of my favorites is “Get Back Up and Ride.” It’s a life lesson!
So, back to my original question, “Was it worth the risk?” I can easily answer that in one word! YES!
My heart was so full when I left there. Music sustains me and there is nothing that replaces the interaction between an music artist and an audience. It’s a special exchange of energies and for me is essential to living.
I hope you enjoyed this pictorial account!
Photos courtesy of Tara Bone Photography!
Lovely share… Definitely worth it by the looks of the attendees!
Yes, Bette, it was worth it. And, no one got sick! So it is a win-win! Thanks for stopping by!
It was surely worth it, Jan! I can see from the photos that you had a blast. All the excitement and commonality make anyone’s heart swell. I miss the music in this Covid 19. I hope this will be over soon and I could go back to my groups singing! Thank you for sharing.
For sure, Miriam! We can pray for some kind of normalcy, but for two days, I had it! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
I’ve been to Lukenbach when I lived in Austin as it’s not too far from Fredericksburg. It looks like a cool event and so nice to see a “bit of normalcy” with all we’ve been through with the pandemic.
Great photos, Jan, thanks for sharing them.
Thanks, Peggy. I’m happy you stopped by!
That looks like it was a blast, Jan! Nice to see things go back to a bit more normal. My sister and brother-in-law used to live in Dallas, I always regret not being able to visit while they were there.
Come on down, Mark. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the little bit of normalcy!
Thanks Jan, I wish I could. 🙂
Looks like a great event. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Yep! It was awesome to get out and live again, Craig!
What a terrific event Jan. I so love listening to live music. We are not yet permitted to have large outdoor gatherings in Ireland, but I am looking forward to things easing.
Hopefully, it will get there for you guys, Brigid. I don’t know for sure, but so far, no reports of illness from this gathering. Thank you for stopping by!
This was an awesome treat for me as an Aussie! I love learning and seeing places I’ve heard of but never seen. Wonderful pics! Thanks for sharing this with us, my friend.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the event through my pictures. It was such a great weekend and I’m still basking in the glow. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
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Glad you had fun, but hope you’re still OK two weeks from now. I didn’t see a mask on anybody you had a picture of or with. I wouldn’t take that risk for $100k right now. I live in a small town in a county that’s had only 16 cases of the COVID-19 and we haven’t gone anywhere in town (round trip 10 miles) without a mask. Haven’t been anywhere else since March 1st–that was 2.5 hours away on the interstate. Probably will head a 140 miles away in a couple weeks–masks on.
Hi, John. You make a good point, and if this had not been an outdoor event, I can promise you I would have had a mask on. It’s so hard to know what to do anymore and the news media keeps us tied in knots. Then add no leadership from our country’s highest office, it’s makes for a lot of unknowns and insecurities. I followed my gut and one more week will tell. It’s already been one week since the event. So far, no reports of any sickness. I just decided I couldn’t stop living to stay alive, if that makes sense.
I get it. Outdoors does make a BIG difference. The people at protests or rallies mostly had masks on and were outdoors. It’s the ones without that were at more risk–especially with chemical irritants. You wouldn’t have had that–just some second hand tobacco smoke, not nearly the same! 🙂
Jan, I smiled ear to ear through all of these photos. It looks like it was a phenomenal event, filled with so much fun! What a great celebration of music and life!
Thank you for sharing your spectacular time. I loved this!
It was my pleasure to share, Mae. I had a ton of other photos to share, but it would make my blog way too long! Thank you for stopping by! Hugs!
What fun!
It was, Wendy!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jan Looks like a fun event.
It was for sure, John! Thanks for stopping by!
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I love your smile in those pictures! It shows how nourished your soul felt by being there. I’m happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
I love your smile in those pictures! It shows how nourished your soul felt by being there. I’m happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Thank you, Yvette. It definitely did!
It looks like an amazing event, Jan. Glad to hear you had a good time and things are returning to normal in the USA.
I’m not sure it will ever be “normal,” but maybe a “new normal.” Thanks for stopping by, Robbie!
True, but hopefully a reasonable compromise.
I saw some of your photos on Facebook. So glad you got to enjoy this. With everything going on in the world, it’s nice to see a bit of “Pure Texas.”
And now, I can just hear Jerry Jeff singing “London Homesick Blues.” 🙂
Lol! I’m glad you enjoyed my journey on FB. It felt so good to get out and hear live music again!
I love your t-shirt!
Thank you, silverapple queen! I love it too AND it was a full moon that night!
Awesome! Something I would totally love to go too! I am surprised they were allowed to take place. But I am glad you had a great time!
It was truly food for my soul, Erika. And they did take every precaution. Temperatures were taken at the entrance to the site and they had a big hand sanitizing station as well as hand sanitizer on every table. Plus it was out in the open air. I’m so glad I set aside my fears and went!
That’s great how they organized it and I bet that after all the trouble with the lockdown you enjoyed it even more😊