Day One of 2026 Two Step Inn Ends in Rain, Brooks and Dunn Canceled
The worry was that weather would become a factor Saturday (4-18) for the first day of the massive Two Step Inn in Georgetown, TX, just north of Austin. It turned out to be a big one.
A brisk cold front blew in early Saturday morning. Then lightning appeared right as Kaitlin Butts and Shenandoah had taken the fest’s two side stages at 5:30. Then as folks were told to shelter, the sky opened up and a deluge came down. It probably didn’t help that temps were in the mid 50s with a stiff north wind, making conditions pretty miserable once patrons were drenched.
Kaitlin Butts had just started singing Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” as part of her “Yee-Hoedown” set that was scheduled to feature lots of guests when the mics got cut, and big warning signs flashed on the screens side stage.
Over at the other stage featuring Shenandoah, the same thing happened, but Marty Raybon wasn’t having it. He convinced someone on the sound crew to cut on a mic, and then started singing “Two Dozen Roses” with the crowd joining in. It was one of those “you had to be there” moments before eventually everyone had to scamper for shelter.
Meanwhile backstage, Wyatt Flores, Evan Honer, and Kaitlin Butts started jamming in a green room trailer, with Butts broadcasting it on Instagram Live.
Two Step Inn later announced that the Kaitlin Butts, Shenandoah, Goo Goo Dolls, Wyatt Flores, and Tracy Lawrence sets were all cancelled, but they would try to have headliners Brooks & Dunn take the stage at 7:00 pm. As soon as they made that announcement, a new round of rain hit, and more lightning, and many of the last holdouts scampered for the exits, with Brooks and Dunn washed out as well.
Two Step Inn is unique in how there’s little to no on-site parking. Since most people shuttle or ride share, there were no vehicles to shelter in place in. That was always a challenge with this fest if a big rain event hit. Two Step Inn has some 60,000 patrons each year.
Before the rain delay, Elizabeth Nichols, Tyce Delk, Brent Cobb, Bayker Blankenship, The Band Perry, Muscadine Bloodline, Evan Honer, Wade Bowen, and BigXthaPlug were all able to perform full shows. Stay tuned for Saving Country Music’s coverage of these sets. But many fans took to social media to lobby for refunds as usually happens in these instances.
UPDATE: On Sunday afternoon, Two Step Inn organizers announced that they would be giving 100% refunds to Saturday ticket holders, and 50% refunds to two-day ticket holders.
Wyatt Flores announced that he would be playing a pop up show at Sagebrush in Austin at 11:00 Saturday due to the cancellation.
Two Step Inn is not the only Texas festival this spring that has been snake bit by weather. Chilifest held in Snook, TX had to cancel the Saturday (4-11) portion of the event after heavy rain washed out the festival site, sidelining performances from Parker McCollum and Braxton Keith. Cattle Country Festival in Gonzales, TX also had to cancel Sunday, April 12th due to muddy conditions. This means most all of the country-themed Texas festivals in Central Texas for 2026 have been affected by weather.
Right now Two Step Inn is scheduled to resume on Sunday with headliners The Red Clays Strays and Chris Stapleton. Georgetown continued to experience heavy rain on Saturday, so hopefully the festival grounds hold up.
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April 18, 2026 @ 11:05 pm
66-68-year-old Raybon/McGwire/Shenandoah and 70-72-year-old Brooks + Dunn have fans who will brave a hurricane to hear them reprise their 30-40-year-old hits.
That’s pretty cool.
BTW, it’s a good thing that Marty Raybon and Ronnie Dunn both returned to their bands etc. after going off on their own, because it doesn’t matter who does the heavy lifting or who’s the best vocalist this side of Pavarotti–The magic is there only when the group takes the stage.
April 19, 2026 @ 5:06 am
I’ve been a Country musician for fifty years and I’ve hated 99% of the outdoor gigs I’ve played. It’s always something! Rain, wind, cold, heat, humidity, flying insects, some idiot revving his Harley nearby, always something!
Nope! Give me an indoor venue every time! Back in the day, these honkytonks were smoky as hell. I didn’t care! I loved it, even though I’ve been a non-smoker all my life.
April 19, 2026 @ 8:16 am
As a Georgetown resident who has never attended this event due to the insanely high ticket prices and horrible layout, the Mrs. and I spent the evening with friends on the square at our favorite watering hole amongst hordes of soaking wet patrons from Two Step Inn who were not happy about the outcome of the event. It is like this every year. Every single year this event has taken place it has rained. You would think that the event planners would move this to May or take it to an indoor location somewhere. Honestly, most Georgetown residents wouldn’t be sorry to see this event take place elsewhere due to the strain it puts on our small city.
April 19, 2026 @ 8:35 am
Dude I feel so bad for the organizers of this event. It’s tough all around. They’ll probably have to pay the bands regardless, because it costs just as much to show up and not play as it does to show up and play, but the public feels like they got ripped off, and I understand that too. What a mess.
April 19, 2026 @ 12:33 pm
I would hope they bought cancellation insurance. Held a festival once and we go lucky with weather in July- we had it.
Just seen a post from the festival. All single day ticket holders get 100% of money back and two day ticket holders get 50% back.
April 19, 2026 @ 8:41 am
I went to a show in Philadelphia around 1981, called the Roundup, , 5 southern rock bands including MTB and the Allman Brothers. It was at JFK stadium around 80k people, was humid as hell, hot and so crowded, worst show I ever went to, plus the fact that there were huge gaps between bands. I swore off outdoor shows after that. What is the saying in Texas about the weather? If you want to see the weather change, just wait a few minutes, or something like that.
April 19, 2026 @ 9:27 am
That’s why you got an insurance.
April 19, 2026 @ 5:55 pm
@Jersey–I saw the Rolling Stones at JFK Stadium the same year. That was the year they released “Start Me Up,” their last iconic, canonical hit, so they were still a current act. It was the first stop on their U.S. tour that year and drew something like 90,000 people. I don’t remember there being any problems, though if you wanted to watch Jagger prance and dance, you definitely needed to bring your binoculars or a camera with a very long lens. I thought they were old then. I never would have imagined they’d still be at it when I’m older than they were, then.