Day two of the Fifth Annual KOKE Fest saw both of two extremes, the recently reformed Turnpike Troubadours playing their first show in Central Texas in nearly 4 years and Robert Earl Keen playing one of his last.
My day started a little after 4 PM. I missed the first set of the day, Tanner Usrey, both due to my late arrival and the set times not being publicly available until around 5 PM. I spent a little bit of time walking around the park since I didn’t get the chance to do it the day previous before walking over to catch the end of Jamie Lin Wilson‘s set. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Wilson and her songwriting and it was a treat to finally be able to catch a bit of her live show. She also brought out Kyle Nix, Turnpike Troubadours’ fiddle player, for her last song, a cover of Jason Eady’s song Drive. I wish I could’ve seen more of her set but I’m pleased with what I got.
The Steel Woods followed about 30 minutes after her. The band played a tight 45-minute set and were probably the farthest away from country on the lineup, in fact, I wouldn’t even call them a country band at all. The band reminds me of Whiskey Myers, both stylistically and in the way that they’re somehow called a country band when they make rock music. That’s not a knock on them though, I really enjoyed their set. The band’s blend of blues and southern rock is right up my alley and I really enjoyed lead singer Wes Bayliss’s voice. I loved the groove of a song like All Of These Years and for an early set, there was a pretty respectable sing-along for the songs Axe and Let The Rain Come Down. It’s ironic though. The band closed their set with Let The Rain Come Down and then it actually rained which, I can’t lie, felt awesome considering how hot it had been during the day up to that point.
However, the rain did throw a wrench into things and delayed the show. It was originally for 15 minutes but only ended up being about five before Muscadine Bloodline took the stage. The band is the duo of Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton. The duo has been together for around six years now and has just recently been seeing the success of that old saying, “If you build it, they will come.” The band has been proudly DIY and Independent for their whole career and it’s starting to work out well. Their latest single, Me on You, released just a month ago, has already racked up over six million Spotify streams which is insane for an independent band.
The biggest point to make, however, is that that success is also carrying over to their shows. The band drew a solid crowd and had the crowd in the palms of their hands for their whole hour. The duo was energetic and confident on stage, it was tough to catch them not smiling, and it’s obvious to tell that they’re not taking this success for granted. From slow burners like Porch Swing Angel to barn burners like Dyin’ for a Livin’, the crowd loved every second of it and I won’t be shocked to see them back to headline or play later in the day if they can keep up this trajectory they have going right now.
Okay. Let me look. Who do I need to talk about next? Oh! I need to talk about American Aquarium‘s set. Well, sit down, get comfortable, we might be here for a while.
Anyone who knows me personally that’s reading this will know that American Aquarium is one of my favorite bands on the planet. I think BJ Barham is an incredible singer and songwriter and both the band and his pen game have been getting much better as time continues to move on. There’s also another aspect that makes me love this band. In July of last year, I saw them live at Gruene Hall as my first full capacity show post-pandemic and it was incredible. The band played for nearly two and a half hours, the crowd was absolutely electric, and Barham himself has said it’s one of the “top 5 best shows” the band has ever played. Maybe I was biased coming into this set but I still wanted to come in with an open mind and once again, the band blew my mind.
The BJ Barham I briefly got to meet later in the evening and the BJ Barham on stage during this set were two completely different people. On stage, Barham sings so intensely that you can see every vein in his neck, he shuffles across the stage and slams his legs down like a madman, and he does it all with a smile on his face. He truly loves playing live and that energy won a lot of people at the festival over. The only thing better than him on stage is the group of freakishly talented band members behind him. The band weaved through most of their catalog, mainly reliant on their 2012 album, Burn.Flicker.Die. They brought out Jamie Lin Wilson as a guest to sing one of the album’s songs, Lonely Ain’t Easy. The last four songs of the setlist were the band trying to get rid of whatever they had left, playing the songs The Luckier You Get, Wichita Falls, I Hope He Breaks Your Heart, and Burn.Flicker.Die. with next to no pauses in between all four. I Hope He Breaks Your Heart is always an incredible song to hear live, mainly because it’s usually the song that everyone knows, so to hear a festival crowd screaming out the chorus is magic. I don’t mean to say this in a way that makes Robert Earl Keen and Turnpike’s sets sound bad, but I truly believe American Aquarium played the best set of the weekend.
After another set change, one of the biggest draws of the evening started. Robert Earl Keen took the stage shortly after 9 PM to one of the loudest crowd responses of the evening. Keen announced in January that come Labor Day Weekend, he will no longer be performing live. That, along with the recently reunited Turnpike Troubadours, drew in likely double or triple the number of people that were at the festival the previous night. Keen’s set has been getting mixed reviews from what I’ve seen but I personally thought he was fantastic. A lot of people are upset that he didn’t play The Road Goes On Forever and others are put off that he “spent most of his set yelling at his stagehand.” Maybe I’m just wearing rose-tinted glasses but I don’t see an issue with either thing, what matters most to me is the performance itself which was very good. Keen’s voice hasn’t aged a day and it truly seems like he’s doing these shows just for himself at this point. The set at times felt like you were on a front porch with him as he played sitting down, strumming an acoustic guitar and telling stories when he could. Especially with the one-two punch of Feelin’ Good Again and Gringo Honeymoon in the middle of the set. I can’t lie, those songs back to back made me tear up a little bit.
The set did seem to be plagued by sound issues on stage but Keen handled the mistakes like a pro. He didn’t show that it bothered him and didn’t complain about it, he would just keep singing, tell his stagehand something either through a second microphone on stage or on stage when he would run out. And of course, you can say the setlist could’ve been better too but I won’t complain about that. As I told another photographer that was in the VIP area taking pictures with me, I had to enjoy it, it’s likely the only chance I’ll get to see him. Keen doesn’t have many dates left on this run so if you want to see him live, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you’re running low on time to do so.
Before I talk about Turnpike Troubadours‘ set I’d like to fire say my piece about the band and what their reunion means to me. I first saw the band live in 2015 opening for the Randy Rogers Band and I fell in love with them that evening. Every time they would play in Corpus, I would try to go but it never worked out. We would either be too late to buy tickets, my dad would have to work, or I had a bad grade that would get me grounded and barred from attending. Finally, in 2018, it seemed like I had my shot again. They were playing in Corpus, once again opening for Randy Rogers Band, and had Flatland Cavalry opening. I was so excited that I had the opportunity to see them again. Then, on the day of the show, the band dropped out with Concrete Street Amphitheater citing “circumstances beyond our control” as the reason for them dropping out. This was one in a string of shows they would go on to cancel or drop out of, continuing into 2019. Finally, in May of 2019, the band announced that they were canceling not just a weekend of shows, but also the rest of their tour dates. While they didn’t say it explicitly, the break was a way for frontman Evan Felker to get the help he needed for the personal problems he was facing. With drug and alcohol abuse, a divorce from his first wife then a messy break-up with Miranda Lambert, he was in no shape to play shows. After the announcement, I truly thought the band would never play a show again. That was cemented for me after fiddle player Kyle Nix and bassist RC Edwards both starting solo projects and guitarist Ryan Engelman hitting the road with Reckless Kelly.
Then, in November 2021, as I was about to board a plane to fly home for Thanksgiving, I saw an article from Saving Country Music that pointed out that their Instagram had been wiped and that their website displayed an image with their logo and the words “coming soon.” The following week, the band announced their first shows back together and continued rolling out shows all over the country, including this headlining slot at KOKE Fest. I was ecstatic when I saw them at the top and new I had to make it to this festival one way or another and I’m glad it was to cover it and take pictures. Enough about me already though, I am very happy to report that the band is back and better than ever before. For starters, Evan looks super happy to be playing shows again. He’s sober and remarried to his wife Staci, who he has a daughter with and another baby on the way, and I couldn’t be more proud of him, just from a fan perspective. The Oklahoma six-piece is still super tight and still extremely talented. Kyle Nix might be the best fiddle player in this entire Texas Country/Red Dirt scene and it was proven by his performances on The Bird Hunters and Kansas City Southern and Ryan Engleman ripped some incredible solos.
The setlist was fast-paced but made me realize just how many great songs the band has put out over only 4 albums. They opened with the first two songs from their debut album, Diamonds & Gasoline, the songs Every Girl and 7 & 7. I thought Keen’s crowd was loud but geez, 7 & 7 was magical. From their faster, more bluegrass-inspired material like The Winding Stair Mountain Blues and Before The Devil Knows We’re Dead, one of their best songs in general, to songs like Pay No Rent and Gin, Smoke, Lies, which have fantastic choruses perfect for playing live, the band made sure to touch all of the bases of their catalog. The sing-alongs were incredible. I almost couldn’t hear the band at moments during Good Lord Lorrie and Wrecked. As the show started to get closer to the end, the band left the stage as Felker and utility man Hank Early played the song Diamonds & Gasoline acoustic which was probably the loudest the crowd got the entire night and I may have teared up again but it was still hot so who knows, I might’ve started sweating out of my eyes. After that, Felker lent the mic to bassist RC Edward’s who sang Dawes’ song, All Your Favorite Bands, which was really touching given the events within the band leading to their hiatus and resolution. The band’s set ended with one of their signature songs, Long Hot Summer Days, with Felker playing the harmonica and leading the crowd into singing the chorus a few more times before they waved goodbye and disappeared backstage.
Overall, I had an amazing time in Hutto. While I think it’ll be tough for them to book another lineup near as perfect as Saturday’s lineup was for my taste, I can easily see myself returning next year. I want to thank the KOKE Fest team for being incredibly kind the whole weekend, I didn’t meet a staff member I didn’t like. I want to thank the other photographers I shared the photo pit with as they were all incredibly sweet as well. I also want to thank to artists I got to meet over the weekend, BJ Barham, Jamie Lin Wilson, Randall King, and Damian Green (of Aaron Watson’s band) for taking the time to be kind when they had much more important things to worry about. I hope I can get invited back next year!
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