Though you may not nerd out enough about country music to wonder how your favorite Texas/Red Dirt artists end up playing at your local watering hole or wind up on a festival lineup, it’s a very big part to how an artist or band either makes it breaks it in the music business.
Just like Billy Strings, the Turnpike Troubadours have weaseled their way into becoming an arena artist, at least in select markets. This week they announced they’ll be playing the immense American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX on February 25th, 2023, along with The Avett Brothers and The Wood Brothers.
Look. If you know anything about music, and anything about the Turnpike Troubadours, you had to know that betting against a reunification of this band after the indefinite hiatus they announced on May 31st, 2019 was a foolish proposition, no matter how bleak it appeared to be.
The greatest album, and the greatest recorded song will never be able to trump the truly live musical experience where music is shared in real time with both the artist and listeners. It is in this spirit that each year I assemble a list of the Best Live Performances to reinforce that as technology and the busying of life incrementally encroach upon us, we must remember that the live music show deserves its own attention and reverence.