Gearing Up & Scaling Back: A Forecast for 2016’s 4th of July Picnics
Now that we are well into May, many people are wondering where the announcement for Willie Nelson’s annual 4th of July Picnic is. The country music institution, started in 1972 with the Dripping Springs Reunion (not officially held on the 4th) has been going strong ever since, despite skipping a couple of years here and there, or naming events around the 4th as the official picnic even if it was a formality.
Since lineup announcements have regularly dropped in March, or at least by April in recent years, some are on edge if there will even be a Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic in 2016. But indications from the Willie camp is an announcement might be coming mid May. So don’t count it out of your 4th of July plans just yet.
Last year was arguably one the biggest 4th of July Picnic years in history. After holding the annual event at Billy Bob’s Texas in Ft. Worth for numerous years, Willie switched back to Austin, and held the Picnic on the grounds of the new Circuit of the America’s speedway, which also includes an ampitheater and ample grounds for a festival. Performers included Eric Church, Merle Haggard, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Asleep at the Wheel, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Billy Joe Shaver, Kris Kristofferson, David Allan Coe, Jamey Johnson and many others. The event was promoted by Austin-based C3 Presents.
But not to be outdone, Billy Bob’s Texas put on their own 4th of July Picnic, and made it into a 2-day production. Performers included Merle Haggard, Ryan Bingham, Chris Stapleton, Turnpike Troubadours, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hayes Carll, Shinyribs, and Whitey Morgan & the 78’s.
This year, Billy Bob’s has elected to scale back their 4th of July celebration to just four bands, and move it back to July 2nd so it falls on a weekend night. The Turnpike Troubadours are scheduled to headline, with Shinyribs, Billy Joe Shaver, and Mike & The Moonpies filling out the roster.
“Last year was a pretty big blowout. It was awesome,” says Chris Spinks, Director of Marketing for Billy Bob’s Texas. “We had Stapleton right before he took off. This year we just picked four of our favorite artists and decided to roll with them. We just scaled it a little bit. We’re excited. We love the lineup. We love the Turnpike Troubadours. It’s just a fun band to have on the 4th of July.”
Potentially, part of the reason for scaled back lineups and delayed release of rosters at some 4th of July events might have to do with availability of talent. With so many artists on major tours in 2016, events all across the country are looking for headliners and finding less options. This also coincides with a massive buildup of festival inventory in 2015, which has resulted in the bursting of the country music festival bubble. Both Billy Bob’s and Willie Nelson’s Circuit of the Americas events saw full crowds, but scaling back the lineups might be part of a greater trend.
Nonetheless, the tradition of 4th of July Picnics in Texas will survive, and hopefully we have an announcement of Willie Nelson’s annual event soon.
May 6, 2016 @ 10:14 am
I love Mike and The Moonpies and Billy Joe Shaver, but I don’t wanna drive all the way up to Fort Worth to see them. Hope they announce a Willie show in Austin.
May 6, 2016 @ 10:16 am
I’ve been wondering about this for a while, thanks for posting Trigger. And yeah, I was a little scared that there might not be one, with Merle dying and other artists on their own tours. Can’t wait for the lineup to be announced.
May 6, 2016 @ 11:08 am
I still feel so blessed to have had pit tix to last year’s picnic. Was that the last time Willie and Merle played together? 🙁
May 6, 2016 @ 11:49 am
No, they toured together after the release of “Django and Jimmie”.
May 6, 2016 @ 12:02 pm
ha of course! my bad
May 6, 2016 @ 12:24 pm
REK is having a free show in Kerville right along the river.
May 6, 2016 @ 5:34 pm
Hey Trigger, I didn’t know where else to ask this. Did Willie, Merle, and Kris ever get around to recording that “Musketeers” album? Or did Merle die before they had a chance too?
May 6, 2016 @ 11:49 pm
That’s a good question. If they did, there hasn’t been any official word on it. Every time they talked about it, it was always a “when we get the time” kind of deal. I kind of considered the Django & Jimmie project as a replacement for it. We’ll just have to see if it ever surfaces.
May 7, 2016 @ 6:04 am
I just saw a clown that looked like yankee carpet bagger cindy lauper perform heartaches by the numbers on cbs morning show. boy her band is great. but she looks so out of place with pink dreadlocks and whatever the hell she was wearing that I couldn’t watch no further. How old is that broad by the way? 60? Seeing that reminded me of a few years ago when blakes new ole lady gwin stiffany sang wild horses with the stones and didnt no the words. She came out dressed like she was performing with lil wayne or dmx, totally out of place. Thats wut cindy lauper looks like dancing around like someones embarrassing hippy mom drunk at a wedding in front of an otherwise great sounding band. They said er new country album is called detour, how apropos.