Texas Music News — August 10, 2026
Charley Crockett spent the weekend standing with Willie Nelson and Tanya Tucker against Texas data centers.
The Dallas-raised singer had already survived a rough 2026. He canceled a Canadian tour and dropped an opening act over Satanic imagery, drawing heavy backlash. But this particular fight, he never picked.
The trouble started August 3. The San Antonio Current ran an early-August piece pulling one line from a much longer Crockett post. The article framed him as pro-data-center, a stance he never actually took. Crockett had written that it’s hard to take a celebrity seriously railing against data centers. After all, they post enough selfie videos to power one. Readers who only saw the headline assumed the worst.
Crockett Sets the Record Straight
Crockett wasn’t having it. On Sunday, he posted photos of himself with Nelson and Tucker, two artists he calls his biggest influences. “Btw I stand with Willie Nelson & Tanya Tucker against data centers in our rural Texas communities,” he wrote. “These are 2 of my biggest influences who I owe a great deal of my own success to directly. I’m proud to call them both friends. Real Texans look out for each other.”
This fight matters beyond social media. Data center developers have been buying up land and water rights across rural Texas. It’s the same land Nelson has sung about losing for fifty years. Tucker, born in Seminole, Texas, and Nelson, the Abbott, Texas, native, both spoke out against the projects in July. Nelson has played the Fourth of July picnic in Texas for over fifty years. Crockett, born in the border town that also claims Freddy Fender, sees the fight the same way his heroes do. Three generations of Texas troubadours, singing the same tune when it counts.
Details at Taste of Country.
More Texas Music News
Koe Wetzel and Ella Langley reunited for a new duet, “Jaded.” It’s out now on the expanded edition of Wetzel’s album The Night Champion. The Pittsburg, Texas, native and Langley first paired up on 2023’s “That’s Why We Fight.” This one has the same spark, written alongside Jordan Schmidt and ERNEST. Details at Taste of Country.
Miranda Lambert released “Sunset Marquis,” the latest preview of her upcoming album Crisco, due October 2. The Longview, Texas, native pays tribute to a legendary West Hollywood hotel where she’s stayed for two decades. “You never know who you’re going to run into,” Lambert said. Details at Taste of Country.
Kacey Musgraves scored her first-ever solo Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Mexico Honey.” The Golden, Texas, native’s flirtatious single comes off Middle of Nowhere. It climbed to No. 40 in its ninth week, her biggest solo chart moment yet. Details at Wide Open Country.
The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame wrapped its Celebration Weekend in Carthage, Texas. The event inducted Don Williams and Allen Frizzell into its 2026 class. The Floydada, Texas, native Williams earned the nickname “Gentle Giant” for hits like “Tulsa Time,” while Frizzell carried on his brothers David and Lefty Frizzell’s honky-tonk legacy. Details at KLTV.