Big As Texas Music and Food Festival
Montgomery County Fairgrounds
May 10-12, 2024
Thunderstorms slithered through and around Montgomery County all weekend like elongated, fang-baring vipers ready to strike a deathblow to the Big As Texas Music and Food Festival. For the most part, the event – stationed at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds for its debut – was able to avoid being snakebit.
Sure, it got nipped here and there with some canceled or abbreviated performances, but the festival showed a heart as big as its namesake state by carrying on.
The three-day festival did get soggy at times, but the rain didn’t keep each night’s headliners from playing. Country and Americana fans (some from as far away as Australia) were treated to showcase performances by Thomas Rhett, Billy Strings, Dwight Yoakam, Dierks Bentley and Midland.
By the time those artists hit either the Armadillo or Jackalope stage, on opposite ends of the massive festival space, they were ready to celebrate music. The fairgrounds were dampened but the spirits of the artists and their fans decidedly were not.
Of the headline performances, no crowd cheered harder than the teeming throngs that welcomed Billy Strings back to the Houston area. Saturday night’s showcase artist proved why he’s known as one of music’s breakout stars, with guitar picking that had Ernest Tubb arching an eyebrow somewhere out there.
We took in the show from way at the back of the crowd but were impressed by the fervor the audience shared following songs like the hit (and Willie Nelson feature) “California Sober.” Seriously, folks, there was some welcome-to-America-Beatles screaming going on during the set, particularly after a couple of acapella songs Strings and band performed in the glow of UFO stage lighting. We never felt a drop of rain during the set, which sent folks home happy but with an eye on Sunday’s weather forecast.
The festival booked more than 40 acts and the weekend’s storms did waylay some of the music. For instance, Los Lobos’ Saturday evening set was halted – first momentarily and then permanently – by lightning. The Los Angeles legends were able to work through a good part of their set and fans were enjoying songs like “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” before the show was stopped. Other acts, like Texas duo Smithfield, had their big stage performances canceled because of the rains.
Smithfield is a terrific act and festival attendees who’d purchased the VIP package were able to see the band – lifelong friends Jennifer Fielder and Trey Smith – in an intimate set in a VIP area. They shared the story of coming together from rock music (him) and country (her) backgrounds to create something very cool. They also told us how difficult it is to navigate through the music industry, a viper pit in its own right.
Despite a label fold that delayed Smithfield’s music reaching the masses, they carried on, perfecting their harmony-laden country, pop and rock blend with more than 40 performances at the Grand Ole Opry and hundreds of shows everywhere. Check out their hits “Hey Whiskey” and the autobiographical “We’ll Figure it Out” to get a sample of what you might have missed in their scrapped live set.
As far as we were concerned, Big As Texas was a weekend to explore music for new finds, bands on the verge of superstardom, like Smithfield who have more than 100 million streams and are just steps away from that next level. Another such act was Drake Milligan. He’s got Hollywood good looks and moves like Elvis, one of his idols. His live set was thrilling and we had the luxury of experiencing a pared down acoustic solo set first in VIP land.
The songs hit differently with a full, crackerjack band and an enthusiastic (and dry!) Sunday evening audience dancing to songs like “Long Haul,” “Tipping Point” and “Sounds Like Something I’d Do,” from his 2020 album Dallas/Fort Worth. It was a rocking good time. But that acoustic set allowed us to home in on the keen lyricism of songs like “Bad Day to Be a Beer” and “I Got a Problem,” from Milligan’s new EP, Jukebox Songs. There’s some really good stuff there you’ll want to check out if you’re not already one of Milligan’s million monthly Spotify listeners.
As the Houston Press’s Gladys Fuentes reported last week, the festival was built with more than just music in mind. There was lots of family-friendly stuff happening and for the most part that stuff avoided cancellation by rain, too. Kids bounced in the bouncy house and watched woodcarving and families ate from trucks stationed in a food truck area. The only real casualty, as far as we could tell, was a rock climbing wall that didn’t make it to Sunday’s occasionally slippery moments. The festival was also a fund- and awareness raiser for suicide prevention initiatives, especially organizations working in Montgomery County. A full list is provided here to help build on the festival’s momentum.
The event organizers could have presented the festival just about anywhere. It was a huge, world class event, y’all, a multimillion dollar showcase for sure, and all presented in Conroe, close to home for organizers Trey Diller of Inspire Productions and Dosey Doe’s Steve Said. It was nice when the hometown feel came across in the music lineup. One of our best finds was Buda’s Scotty Alexander. His budding solo career is relatively new, just four years in now, but he’s a music industry veteran whose multi-instrument skills helped him serve as musical director for acts like the singer/actress Lucy Hale and Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton.
There was rainwater on the stage for his set and his boots got a little wet, but Alexander and band forged on and he was able to give the gathered a feel for how he’s put all his background in music together for his own work, songs like his new single “Poor Folk” from an approaching album. In some ways, Alexander was the showcase artist of a weekend of big names and artists on the cusp.
Like the festival, Alexander is working hard to make a name for himself in a crowded field. Despite a few showers that might have ruined their respective moments, both Alexander and Big As Texas weathered the storms to prove what they can do. We hope both the festival and this exciting artist return for a 2025 outing.
Personal Bias: Your intrepid reporter was on the fairgrounds doing double duty, capturing the essence of this inaugural event for the Houston Press but also chasing interviews for his own ESPN Houston radio show and podcast (you can Google it If you’re interested, to avoid more shameless self-promotion as was scattered about my recent article on Mexican music superstar Christian Nodal). We were incredibly lucky to nab 20 minutes with Amanda Shires following her Saturday afternoon set.
Shires killed onstage, blazing through songs from her catalog, including tunes from her 2022 album Take It Like a Man. She donned an outfit that felt very mariachi and we asked about her musical (and fashion) influences and her songwriting process. If you’ve read the news about Shires recently, you know she’s going through a fairly public breakup with Jason Isbell and there were a couple of mentions of that life event by Shires over her public set and the VIP set she performed.
In our sit-down, she was incredibly engaging – insightful, outspoken and funny. Really funny. If life events are weighing on her, one couldn’t tell in our brief chat. When she walked into the media area set aside for the chat, she did her best John Cleese with an exaggerated, leg-stretched stride straight from the Ministry of Silly Walks. Best of all for fans of her music, she shared that she and the Highwomen – her supergroup with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Maren Morris – may be stirring up some musical dust soon. Be on the lookout for that and our chat soon on the podcast (okay, I’ll stop now).
The Crowd: Brave music lovers who came for a good time and got one. We’re all ready to do it all again, Big As Texas.
Random Notebook Dump: Many thanks to Gladys Fuentes, who we did get to see on the fairgrounds, dancing and singing along to music by Amanda Shires, whom she referred to as a “badass” in her advance. Takes one to know one! And to Violeta Alvarez for the stunning visuals which grace this story and just for being so damn cool. However much time goes by between our shared assignments, it’s always too long. And finally, a Big As Texas thank you to our new friend Allison (first-name basis) for all that you did to assist in this double duty reporting. Seriously, you are the best.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
