Luckenbach Goes Bluegrass for 4th Annual Festival

When you think of Luckenbach, TX, you think of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Viva Terlingua! You think of Willie and Waylon and the boys. Bluegrass isn’t what immediately comes to mind. But for the fourth year, Luckenbach hosted a one-day bluegrass festival in the heart of central Texas with top-level bluegrass talent, held on Saturday, April 19th in 2025. It’s the perfect combination of seeing some of the most blistering, brake neck pickers in music, while hanging out in one of the most easygoing, laid-back places in the universe.

This year the fest included the towering work of bluegrass legend Dan Tyminski and his all-star band, Brennen Leigh and her beautifully-rendered throwback country, Western swing, and some bluegrass stylings too, rising bluegrass legend Bronwyn Keith-Hines, Austin-based bluegrass band Invoke, with The Owens Brothers, and Caroline Owens & New Company opening the show.

Similar to Luckenbach, you don’t really think of Austin as being synonymous with bluegrass. But along with the legacy of the Grammy-nominated bluegrass band Wood & Wire, Invoke has proven that Texas music can be inspired by bluegrass traditions too, and perhaps contribute a few of their own.

But as was emblematic of Brennen Leigh’s set, the country subgenre most embraced by Texas is Western swing. Though mostly acoustic, Brennen did have steel guitar wizard Kevin Skrla behind her, along with a couple of noted performers themselves in her band, namely singer/songwriter Rebecca Patek, as well as Georgia Parker on bass who won the 2020 Ameripolitan award for Western Swing Female.

“Talent abounds” was the theme of the day as it wasn’t just the names on the poster who delivered eye-popping performances. Bronwyn Keith-Hynes is quickly putting together one of the most respected resumes in bluegrass music. She was already a Grammy winner as a member of Molly Tuttle’s backing band Golden Highway. Then her latest solo album I Built A World was nominated for a Grammy as well. She also happens to be an IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year.

Along with Bronwyn’s incredible fiddle work, you were also treated to Wesley Corbett on banjo, Zeb Snyder on guitar, Vickie Vaughan on bass, and Reed Stutz on mandolin in Bronwyn’s band. Though Bronwyn’s set mostly featured her original songs, they finished with a super fun bluegrass version of The Grateful Dead’s “Loose Lucy.”

Then it was Dan Tymiski’s turn, and he proved why he didn’t need to saddle up again with the reunited Union Station behind Alison Krauss to punch his meal ticket, or seal his legacy in bluegrass.

Dan showed up to Luckenbach looking like Christoper Lloyd right after his character in Back to the Future hit his head and dreamed up the flux capacitor. But while on stage, the purest form of passion for the bluegrass art form flowed through Dan Tyminski like a funnel, and resulted in an indelible memories beneath the oak trees of Luckenbach for all those who were there to bear witness.

From near the beginning of his set, folks were calling out, “O Brother Where Art Thou!” as if it was a song for him to perform. Of course what they were actually talking about was “Man of Constant Sorrow” that Dan Tyminski sang in the legendary 2000 film, and helped popularize bluegrass in the modern era, even though it was George Clooney who the audience saw. Tyminski recalled how the opportunity came up, saying,

“I was excited, and I called home to tell my wife that I got this part, I said, ‘Honey, it looks like I got this voiceover. And she said, ‘Dan, a voiceover, that’s great. What is that?’ And I said, ‘You’re gonna see George Clooney singing on the big screen and you’re going to hear my voice coming out.’ And she said without hesitation, ‘Dan, that’s my fantasy.'”

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As much as a bucket list item as it was to see Dan Tyminski sing “Man of Constant Sorrow” live, his whole set was full of noteworthy moments, and mostly bluegrass standards. For many, it was the final song—his version of “Old Home Place”—that really stole the show.

Dan Tyminski’s band included reigning IBMA Resophonic (Dobro) Guitar Player of the Year Gaven Largent, Jason Davis on banjo, Nathan Aldridge on fiddle, Aaron Ramsey on mandolin, and Grace Davis on bass.

“Man, I just love traditional bluegrass music,” Dan Tyminski said at one point of his set, and you could tell he meant it. That’s how everyone else in Luckenbach felt by the end of the day, if they hadn’t before. A weather forecast that threatened rain but never delivered, and it being the day before Easter meant the crowd was a bit more intimate than it was in 2024. But nobody walked away not raving about their experience in Luckenbach.

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All photos by Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos. For move photos and videos from live events, follow Saving Country Music on Instagram.

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