Strawberry Sounds

Famous Texas strawberry fest adds new opening night of free live music

Berry Bash Musical Thursday debuts nearly eight decades into the festival's history.

Somehow, the Poteet Strawberry Festival — about 115 miles from Austin, near San Antonio — has gotten even sweeter. It's hosting its first-ever Berry Bash Musical Thursday, which kicks off the now four-day festival with a free night of music. The inaugural headliners on April 10 are the Tejano group David Lee Garza y Los Musicales.

Garza was born and raised in Poteet where he learned to play accordion with his father. Los Musicales are a family band, also featuring Garza's brothers Richard and Adam on bass guitar and drums, respectively. They're joined by Ricardo Rios on saxophone, Billy O’Rourke on bajo sexto (a large 12-string guitar) and vocals, Daniel Fernandez on keyboards, John Cruz on electric guitar, and Cezar Martinez on lead vocals.

Fans will get to dance on a mobile dance floor during the set. The band's website promises "hit after hit with a combination of easily danceable melodies and earthy roots music blend of Country, Tex-Mex and straight up Tejano."

Three headliners round out the rest of the festival: De Parranda with Como La Flor on Friday, That Mexican OT on Saturday, and William Beckmann on Sunday.

Garza is no stranger to this festival, having played it since 1988. However, this is the first time the festival is dedicating an opening night to live music. It'll be presented by Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails.

The festival itself has been around for much longer — since 1948 — and expects more than 100,000 visitors each year. It's like a county fair, complete with live music, a rodeo, a parade, an arts and crafts fair, and a strawberry auction keeping it on-theme. That's all spread across 100 acres.

The Poteet Strawberry Festival will be held April 10-13 at at 9199 N. State Hwy 16 in Poteet. Individual tickets for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday start at $20 online. Group tables and three-day passes ($50) are also available at poteetstrawberryfestival.com.

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The Crooner and The Cowboy

Leon Bridges and Charley Crockett team up for tour stopping in Austin

Photo courtesy of Leon Bridges and Charley Crockett

Leon Bridges and Charley Crockett are going on a Texas-themed tour together.

Two Texas musicians in different genres with a lot of Lone Star pride are hitting the road together. Leon Bridges and Charley Crockett are stopping at Austin's Moody Center on Tuesday, September 23.

Bridges was raised and got his career started in Fort Worth, and Crockett is from the Rio Grande Valley and now lives in Austin. However, the The Crooner & The Cowboy Tour only stops in two Texas cities: Austin and The Woodlands outside of Houston on September 21. The Austin date ends the tour.

It all kicks off at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on June 5, with more than a two month break before the second date in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are 21 dates in all.

Both Texas shows will feature Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore as openers. The two first teamed up for their 2018 album Downey to Lubbock, which references their hometowns in California and Texas. Gilmore now lives in Austin.

A press release shares that the tour will celebrate Bridges and Crockett's "shared roots, longtime friendship, and the rich musical heritage of Texas." It'll be an interesting night for fans with broad tastes, as Bridges brings R&B and Crockett brings country. However, both are known for their organic takes on old-fashioned styles, and both emphasize their pasts as buskers in Texas.

Crockett just released his new album, Lonesome Drifter, on March 14, 2025. Pitchfork rated it 7.2, describing it as "flush with doubt and humanity"; Paste Magazine psychoanalyzes his first foray into releasing music via a label.

Bridges is coming off the release of his fourth studio album, Leon, which he released during the Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 4, 2024.

Presales start Tuesday, March 25, at 10 am via Seated; public sales start Friday, March 28, at 10 am.

Every ticket sold will contribute $1 to Bridges' charity with football coach Gary Patterson, The Big Good. The nonprofit helps amplify the causes of four North Texas partners, including a food bank, a students' organization, and more.

Dates for The Crooner & The Cowboy Tour

6/05/2025 Hollywood Bowl // Los Angeles, CA (Show already on sale)

8/26/2025 BMO Pavilion // Milwaukee, WI !

8/27/2025 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill // Sterling Heights, MI !

8/28/2025 Budweiser Stage // Toronto, ON !

8/30/2025 Broadview Stage at SPAC // Saratoga Springs, NY !

8/31/2025 Thompson's Point // Portland, ME !

9/01/2025 Thompson's Point // Portland, ME !

9/04/2025 Forest Hills Stadium // Forest Hills, NY @#

9/05/2025 The Mann Center // Philadelphia, PA @

9/06/2025 Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront // Richmond, VA @

9/07/2025 Merriweather Post Pavilion // Columbia, MD @

9/09/2025 Blossom Music Center // Cuyahoga Falls, OH @

9/10/2025 The ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park // Cincinnati, OH @

9/12/2025 Red Hat Amphitheater // Raleigh, NC @

9/13/2025 Credit One Stadium // Charleston, SC @

9/14/2025 St. Augustine Amphitheatre // St Augustine, FL @

9/15/2025 The BayCare Sound // Clearwater, FL @

9/17/2025 Coca-Cola Amphitheater // Birmingham, AL %

9/19/2025 Walmart AMP // Rogers, AR %

9/21/2025 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion // The Woodlands, TX %

9/23/2025 Moody Center // Austin, TX %

! – Noeline Hoffman opening

@ – Reyna Tropical opening

# – Honky Tonkin’ In Queens opening

% – Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore opening

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