This year, Texas country music fans can double their listening pleasure as the festival expands from one day to two. Thousands will set their blankets down on the LBJ Library Lawn on the University of Texas campus to see 20 artists perform on two stages the weekend of Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5.
The lineup, which includes a who’s who of Texas country bands and singers, was released Monday. Lone Star Jam 2013 features returning favorites, including Stoney LaRue; Texas country staples like Cory Morrow and Roger Creager; and local crossover artist, Bob Schneider.
The full lineup includes:
Saturday, May 4: Stoney LaRue Reckless Kelly Roger Creager Aaron Watson Charlie Robison Whiskey Myers Granger Smith Curtis Grimes William Clark Green
Sunday May 5: Jack Ingram Cory Morrow Kyle Park Bob Schneider Dirty River Boys Cody Johnson The Cadillac Black The Rankin Twins
As if that list wasn’t enough to get your toes tappin’, one more Saturday headliner and two more Sunday headliners have yet to be announced.
A limited number of early bird two-day passes sold out last week. The next two-day passes go on sale this Friday, February 1 for $60 each. You can order tickets for the sixth annual Lone Star Jam at texasperformingarts.org, by calling 1-800.982.BEVO, and at all Texas Box Office Outlets.
A new podcast by Texas Monthly explores the crimes of Erik Maund and his hired hit men.
There’s something about murder for hire in the air this summer (raise your hand if you saw Linkater’s latest), and Texas Monthly is adding to the cultural intrigue with a new podcast.
The Problem With Erik tells a uniquely Austin story about a rich, well-known Austinite, Erik Maund, and a series of misguided plots to hire people to kill his former escort, Holly Williams, and her boyfriend, Bill Lanway. The first two episodes are out now, with more to be released weekly.
This true-crime tale has everything: wanna-be hit men, secret FBI informants, an exclusive man cave called The Sh*thole — you name it.
Holly Williams was an escort in Nashville whom Maund, a married man, would hire while traveling. But meddling in Williams' business affairs was her jealous and abusive boyfriend, Lanway, who texted Maund demanding $25,000, or he’d tell Maund’s wife everything. The blackmail attempt set off a deadly chain of events, resulting in Williams and Lanway being kidnapped, shot to death, and left in a car near a construction site in March 2020.
Police investigate the car.Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
Erik Maund was a familiar local name thanks to the success of his family business, Charles Maund Toyota. Now, he’ll be remembered for his crimes, as Maund was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire by a Tennessee jury in November 2023. Three of his middlemen (including Charlie Sheen’s former bodyguard) were also found guilty of various charges, including kidnapping resulting in death.
Austin-based podcast producer Ana Worrel (who previously produced the podcast Gone South and HBO’s Euphoria) grew up hearing car and TV commercials for the car dealership, along with plenty of other Austinites. So when Erik Maund was arrested in 2021, Worrel and others she knew had a big reaction.
In the podcast’s first episode, retired Chevrolet dealer Wallace Lundgren says, “If you say the Maund name in Austin in a 7-Eleven, two people say, ‘I bought a car from him.’ ” Worrel’s own mother owned a Toyota Highlander.
“It was just really shocking to hear something [like that about what] felt like such an Austin institution to me at the time,” Worrel says.
Texas Monthly’s print story on Maund’s crimes came out this month, but Worrel, who attended Maund’s criminal trial, knew that audio would be an excellent medium for telling this story.
“There was a whole undercover FBI operation with all of these recorded phone calls and recorded meetings that we incorporate throughout the show; between this undercover FBI informant and the hitman, between Erik and his middleman,” Worrel says. “It's pretty shocking to hear. A lot of them are just the hitman chillingly describing how to get away with murder.”
Worrel and podcast host Katy Vine dig deep into the backstory of Maund and his conspirators’ crimes with plenty of clandestine audio from the criminal investigation. They also weave in personal interviews with involved parties including Williams’ friends and the men who used to hang around the Sh*thole, the nickname for a concrete hangout behind a gas station where Maund and friends would meet up.
Listeners will hear about Maund’s privileged cluelessness and tendency to throw money at his problems; Williams’ up-and-down relationship with Lanway and his attempts to chase away her steady clients; and the men who asked Maund for a total of $750,000 to solve his extortion problem “permanently” — one of whom used digital passwords like “Hitman3A,” Worrel says.
Erik Maund will be sentenced later this year and faces life in prison. Until then, all the twists and turns will drop weekly on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.