Texas Music News — September 14, 2026
Gibby Haynes turned a solo-billed set into a full-blown Butthole Surfers reunion at Levitation on Friday night. The notoriously unpredictable band first formed in San Antonio in 1981. Haynes grew up in Dallas long before he became its ringleader. So he booked his Far Out Lounge show under the name “Butthole Surfers Mania.” A guitarist, bassist, and drummer backed him. But when longtime guitarist Paul Leary climbed onstage unannounced, the crowd realized something bigger was happening.
Drummer King Coffey followed soon after. The three original members tore into “Lady Sniff,” a track from the band’s 1983 debut EP. Watching Leary sidle up next to Haynes felt like watching a comet swing back into view years ahead of schedule. Nobody had announced a reunion. Nobody sold tickets to one. It just happened, the way most of the best Butthole Surfers stories always have.
A Butthole Surfers Song Nobody Saw Coming
Haynes greeted the crowd with a simple “Hi, how are you?” Then he dove into a set that mixed solo material with deep cuts from the band’s catalog. Rain fell steadily outside the venue, but nobody seemed to mind. The set drew comparisons to a different Levitation surprise. Back in 2015, the 13th Floor Elevators made their own unannounced Levitation appearance. It became another piece of Austin music history that arrived without warning.
For longtime fans, the pop-up reunion offered a rare glimpse of a band that answers to no one, including itself. Gibby Haynes has spent four decades building a reputation as one of Texas music’s great agents of chaos. Friday night’s set added one more chapter to that legacy. Nobody knows if the three will share a stage again. Still, that uncertainty is exactly the point. Details at The Austin Chronicle.
More Texas Music News
A Harlingen native turns 68 today, and Nashville still leans on her songs. Beth Nielsen Chapman was born September 14, 1958, in the South Texas border town. Then her Air Force family moved overseas. She later wrote Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” and Willie Nelson’s “Nothing I Can Do About It Now.” The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted her in 2016. Details at American Songwriter.
A 15-year-old East Texas song just cracked Spotify’s all-genre Top 10. Now Palestine, Texas, natives Whiskey Myers are watching “Broken Window Serenade” crack the platform’s Top 10 this month. The deep cut comes from their 2011 debut, Firewater, and it’s the only independent release inside the Top 15. The band’s monthly Spotify listeners have climbed past 10 million, and the song keeps climbing Billboard’s Country Streaming chart too. Details at S.L.R. Magazine.