Texas Music News — July 7, 2026
Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic returned to Austin with a no-press policy and an eight-hour set. The Germania Insurance Amphitheater show featured Billy Strings, Lukas Nelson, Wilco, Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Margo Price, and Stephen Wilson Jr., with Strings joining Willie and sons Lukas and Micah for “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” before Willie tossed his hat to the crowd near midnight. Details at Saving Country Music
Kerrville marked one year since the deadly Hill Country flood with a music-filled Independence Day. The city’s “4th on the River” celebration in Louise Hays Park featured performances from Junior Brown and William Beckmann, alongside a Symphony of the Hills “Stars, Stripes, and Spirit” Remembrance & Resilience concert at the Cailloux Theatre. The gathering doubled as both a 250th-birthday celebration and a tribute to the more than 130 lives lost in the July 2025 flooding. Details at TPR
Cody Johnson released his new album, Banks of the Trinity, on June 26. The Sebastopol, Texas, native’s latest full-length arrived the same month as fellow East Texan Koe Wetzel’s The Night Champion, continuing a strong summer for Texas-raised country artists on the charts. Details at Whiskey Riff
Turnpike Troubadours covered Robert Earl Keen’s “Feelin’ Good Again” with Sierra Hull. The June 26 release honors the Texas songwriting legend and comes as the Red Dirt band, fixtures of the Texas dance-hall circuit, teases a possible new album for later in 2026. Details at Saving Country Music
The 2026 Texas Country Music Industry Awards are set for July 23 in Fort Worth. The ceremony will be held at Rhinestone Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyards, followed by a concert from TCMA member Clay Hollis. Details at Texas Country Music Magazine