LJT Fest – Monday, 4.24.17
Michael Hearne’s South by Southwest with Randy Brown adding vocals.
Photo by Daren Davis
Story and Randy Brown and other photos by Mary Jane Farmer. South by Southwest and Asleep at the Wheel photos by Daren Davis.
This is the 29th year for the Larry Joe Taylor Texas Music Festival, and each year seems to bring out even more of the classic and red dirt musicians. Monday, opening day, was no exception.
There are three stages here at LJT (as it’s more affectionally called), one indoors known as the ZingZang stage inside T-Birds Garage Pub, one outdoors and covered called the Allsup’s Stage, for the more acoustic (and there’s no way anyone can call the ilk like Cody Canada, Mike McClure, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Billy Joe Shaver ‘almost-runs’ and they are on the Allsup’s stage) and the main stage, aka the Bud Light stage, for the nighttime shows.
Monday brought Randy Brown, a classic country music if ever there was one (and don’t ever let anyone tell you there’s no one to “fill their shoes.” There’s a bunch of them… Randy is one!) is hosting the ZingZang stage all week, playing a set himself and maybe bringing in surprise visitors to the stage. Most days, it’s called Bloody Mary Morning Jam. Monday, Randy played solo, followed by South by Southwest and then by Asleep at the Wheel.
Dancers packed the dance floor!
One attribute this festival has is its incredible hospitality. There are rules — there have to be rules for everyone’s safety and festival enjoyment — but they aren’t unworkable or unlivable rules, simply rules.
And the amount of genuine hugs, handshakes, and shoulder bumps seem to stretch between all those stages.
Maybe it’s new this year, maybe not… but this year there is a free app simply called LJT Festival, and it provides all the daily schedules, plus info on the performers, info about the chili cook-off (Which really started this whole thing 29 years ago, LJT said.), maps, photos, and lots more.
Oh, and Larry Joe said on the radio (95.9 the Ranch) during an interview Sunday that he’s planning for the 30th, 2018, to be even better than ever. If he says it, you can take it to the bank.
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Category: *- Features, 2017
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