Massive Two Step Inn Pulls Off Inaugural Fest in Texas
It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, you could only count on one hand the amount of annual festivals that put independent country artists at the forefront. Now not only are there scores of them and more coming online seemingly each week all across the country, we now have a handful of these mega festivals on massive sites with multiple stages drawing tens of thousands of people, and with names like Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers in the headliner spots.
The latest to make a bid as one of the best and biggest on the annual calendar is called Two Step Inn in Georgetown, TX, just north of Austin, which held its inaugural festival on April 15th and 16th. For a first year festival, it deserves credit for pulling it off with flying colors. Where we used to hope a few thousand people would show up to an event with artists not found on mainstream country radio filling out the lineup, Two Step Inn sold out almost immediately, and drew massive crowds over the two days, converting Georgetown’s San Gabriel Park into a teeming country music town with three stages.
Before we get to the music, let’s talk about the festival experience itself, which was surprisingly smooth for a first year festival, and for what they were trying to pull off. Throwing a festival with such a massive attendance with absolutely no on-site parking seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. For those who had to rely on Uber, it was definitely difficult when it came to leaving each night. But the fest’s shuttle bus system to the parking lots of two nearby high schools and a satellite lot in Austin worked surprisingly well.
The site was smartly laid out, and though it was super packed (especially on Saturday), you could make your way to the various shows, and with three stages going on simultaneously, you could take your pick of what to see. What you were missing was your biggest worry as opposed to what to do.
The food situation did get out of hand come dinner time on Saturday, which did seem to draw a bigger crowd than on Sunday. It could take you upwards of 45 min to an hour in line to get your grub. A second official food section somewhere on the grounds would probably be smart. But on Sunday, the food vendors were more ready for the surge, and things ran much more smoothly. Water and beverages were readily available throughout the fest, and easy to get to.
The other issue had to do with the ticketing tiers for the main stage. Though the two side stages were open to everyone, the main stage had two levels of VIP seating. Though of course people pay for the perks of VIP, the GA audience really seemed to get deprecated a little unfairly. There was so much empty space in the VIP sections, and so little room in the GA area between the VIP fence and a hill and road that ran through the center of the festival, it made it hard for those folks to feel like they were a part of what was going on.
Even moving everything up 12 to 15 feet would have still given VIPs plenty of room, and the GA folks much more space to get comfortable, and be in on the action. Meanwhile, your VIP pass did little for you when it came to getting a better view at the side stages, where anyone could park out in front.
When it comes to the music, there were really four types of performers: independent country artists that made up the headliners and much of the undercard, 80s and 90s country legends that were mostly on the “Showdeo” side stage but a few on the main stage as well, mainstream up-and-comers who played mostly the “Country Curios” stage, and a handful of DJ/hip-hop acts also on the Country Curious stage.
Saturday night headliner Zach Bryan was great (read full review) and so was Sunday night’s Tyler Childers (read full review), with firework displays after each set. Nikki Lane and Charles Wesley Godwin got opportunities on the big stage early on Saturday, and with the way Godwin is catapulting ahead thanks to Zach Bryan, you feel like it’s only a matter of time before he’s headlining big festivals of his own. Zach Bryan came out to sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with Godwin and his backing band The Allegheny High to end his set.
Speaking of catapulting independent country artists, the reception Kaitlin Butts received might have been the most remarkable moment of the entire festival. She was the opening act on the “Showdeo” side stage on Sunday, and even though it was super early, the crowd for her was massive, with folks chanting her name before she came out, and screaming “one more song!” when she left. Even better, this was the stage where the country legends like Pam Tillis and Tracy Byrd were lined up to play the rest of the day. A young performer singing authentic sad country songs didn’t just resonate with Kaitlin’s established crowd, it won over a new audience.
You also have to give credit to Austin, TX’s Honky Tonk Sweetheart, Katheryn Legendre, who was also a Sunday morning opening act. Anyone who knew what’s up made sure to show up early to catch her set. She’s a perfect example of a local Austin talent that deserves international attention, and along with her badass band including Brian Broussard of Mayeux & Broussard, they put on a killer set of Real.Country.Music straight from the Heart of Texas.
Kathryn had also been working her ass off as part of the crew of Two Step Inn all weekend, speaking to how much Austin music is a community effort, and how much Kathryn Legendre is part of that community. She also benefited from the fact that Drake Milligan canceled last minute, meaning that it gave Kathryn the whole site to herself, and folks who flocked there really enjoyed her set.
Even with the other big mega festivals like Born & Raised in Oklahoma or Under The Big Sky in Montana, opening performers are usually playing for small crowds, however dedicated they might be. At Two Step Inn though, that wasn’t the case at all. Every performance had a massive crowd, and for the most part, they were enthusiastic.
When it came to the 90s country legends like Doug Stone, David Lee Murphy, Diamond Rio, Shenandoah, Little Texas, Pam Tillis, Lonestar, Tracy Byrd and the like, they all proved why it’s a big mistake that Nashville has been so quick to put them out to pasture. The mix of country fans that the Two Step Inn assembled who were raised on country music both young and old, they were perfect for these performers
“Looking at this crowd—and I love it—a lot of you weren’t even born when this song came out,” Tracy Byrd said at one point during his set. It’s because just like a good pair of blues jeans, good country music never goes out of style. These acts aren’t “90s Country.” Their “County,” period. That is why their music has withstood the test of time.
On Saturday, newly-minted Country Music Hall of Famer Tanya Tucker played the main stage. And when you’ve been anointed a Queen of Country, you act like it. Or at least, Tanya Tucker does. She struts, poses, and sings the hell out of the great country songs that put her in the Hall of Fame. “Two Step Inn? I thought I was playing a Hony Tonk!” she said to the half a hundred thousand or so people at the fest.
It’s a shame that culture war politics have made Travis Tritt so polarizing, because it’s empirically true that he still puts on one hell of a show with songs that helped define “Class of ’89” country. Word is that he and Zach Bryan hung out backstage, and resolved some minor differences stemming from the stupid Bud Light bottle that has now been stricken from production. When it comes time for country music, it’s all one big community, and the Two Step Inn even helped facilitate that.
Wynonna Judd also had a big set on the main stage, mixing in her “Big Noise” material with a few Judds classics. Mavis Staples made for yet another queen to take the Two Step Inn main stage, and helped represent the soul and Gospel influence in country.
But two of the more classic performers that everyone was raving about were Saturday night Showdeo stage headliner Jo Dee Messina who put on a veritable sermon, and Sunday night Showdeo stage headliner John Michael Montgomery.
You could almost forget just how many hits John Michael Montgomery had back in the day. He came out holding a somewhat silly-looking Takamine guitar with an American flag graphic on it, and his set was almost wrecked by a power surge. But when he closed his eyes, stopped strumming, and crooned out classics like “I Could Love You Like That” and “I Love The Way You Love Me,” it could make you fall in love with anyone. How country music let this guy age off of radio is a travesty. Thank goodness for events like Two Step Inn that are putting these folks back on stages for appreciative audiences.
We thought we’d lost Texas country legend Charlie Robison forever. He retired in 2018, citing vocal issue after surgery. But ever since late last year he’s been probing a comeback. If his set at the Two Step Inn was any indication, Charlie Robison is back and in a big way, and doesn’t sound any worse for the wear. He may be sitting down these days, but it was a blazing set of Robison-style country rock backed by his legendary songs and everyone singing along.
Pound for pound, the performances at Two Step Inn fest were overwhelmingly positive. But there were some performers who were a big more spotty. Ben Burgess came out with plenty of bluster and attitude, name dropping Morgan Wallen who he’s written songs with. His set was fine, but he forgot his bass player back in Nashville, even though you still heard him on stage—a favorite cost-cutting trick from the Music Row world, but one that doesn’t fly down in Texas.
Alana Springsteen had definitely been through the school in Nashville that teaches you how to move around the stage, gesticulate, and point randomly into the crowd. But her music was light on substance, and she also had instruments in the mix that weren’t on stage, with electronic drum bursts peppering her pop country. Madeline Edwards also comes from the up-and-coming pop country world, but compared to her peers, put on a fully live and organic set.
You really wanted to love Pillbox Patti. After all, she’s the alter ego of songwriter Nicolette Hayford, who has written some quality songs, and she participated in Ashley McBryde’s Lindeville project. But I hate to say that it just didn’t work, at least not at Two Step Inn, with the DJ beats feeling out-of-place, and the main stage gobbling up whatever energy the performance had. It was like a punchline that didn’t land. Priscilla Block didn’t do much better, despite her peppiness. She still hasn’t figured out how to transition from Tik-Tok to being a true country star.
Hailey Whitters was a much healthier option from the Nashville crowd that made it to Texas. She’s spent a dozen year paying dues, and had the slickness of mainstream performance, but with quality songs and genuine appeal behind them. It’s hard to not root for Hailey.
And that brings us to the non country performers: T-Pain, Blanco Brown, and Diplo. These were the wild cards when this festival was announced, and folks wondered how they would go over. There were definitely people at their performances, but that’s just the way Two Step Inn was, and each of these acts offered something a little different.
Coming from the perspective of country music, it was super easy to criticize even including T-Pain in the lineup. That goes without saying. Why not give an opportunity to a country performer? But witnessing the crowd’s reaction, and taking an objective assessment of the performance and music irrespective of genre, it’s hard to not tip your hat to T-Pain. He went into a hostile environment, and absolutely won over an audience who was familiar with his songs, and appreciative for his presence. And these were Texas rednecks mind you, meaning dudes in cowboy hats, and girls in booty short and boots all bouncing up and down to his music.
You can forgive T-Pain in the lineup as a change of pace. He also fits the sort of retro programming of Two Step Inn, because let’s face it, he’s past his prime relevancy. Nobody is trying to pass T-Pain off as “country,” and he seems like a genuine guy. Blanco Brown on the other hand is sold as country, even though he’s about as country as T-Pain. And at least T-Pain has songs. Blanco Brown is a one-hit wonder—the store brand version of Lil Nas X—who just like Priscilla Block, never rally developed. Sure, with a DJ behind him playing samples of things like Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” he got the crowd engaged. But it was basically a generic DJ club set for basic bitches.
And that brings us to Diplo, who for years now has been making these long-winded missives about how he’s connecting to his country roots, and he’s been working with artists inside the country community like Sturgill Simpson. And then he came out behind a big table and put on a straight up DJ set with absolute no country instrumentation involved. This was supposed to be Diplo’s big country moment where he ingratiated himself to the genre, and it was nothing of the sort aside from some of the samples he used later in his set.
What Diplo did have was two women come out on and perform on stripper poles. Where Two Step Inn could have had a woman perform in that slot, instead we got Diplo’s objectifying presentation from a guy that’s been credibly accused by high-profile women performers like M.I.A. and Azealia Banks of using them and grooming young women, including Banks who was 17 at the time.
That ain’t country. Diplo is a misogynist and a con artist that has no business being at a country music festival. We don’t need this kind of guy in our community. And the same people who will try to cancel Miranda Lambert for writing a song with Morgan Wallen are curiously mum on this issue.
Did the people at Diplo’s set have a good time? Absolutely. He might have been one of the most buzzed about performers of the fest. Would the fest have still sold out without him? Absolutely. EDM and hip-hop festivals are not out there booking country acts. So why are we booking an EDM DJ of questionable character at a country festival? Book T-Pain or whoever as a change of pace if you must. But with country music’s emphasis on trying to support women in the genre, Diplo has no business being here.
But again, one of the great things about Two Step Inn with its three stages is that if you wanted to avoid Diplo or anyone else, you had plenty of other options, though it was a lot of running around trying to catch everything you might want to see. Expanding to three days, and trying to spread out the acts just a bit more next year might result in an overall more positive experience, along with working with the local cell providers to make sure service stays up since it was crashed out most of the weekend.
What Two Step Inn got right was that you can mix today’s independent country with country legends from the 80s and 90s, and even some of the cool up-and-comers in the mainstream, and have an event that breaks down barriers and cross-pollinates fans bases because it’s all great country music.
Here’s looking forward to Two Step Inn Fest 2024.
All photos Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos
April 18, 2023 @ 10:20 am
I didn’t catch everyone but my winners vocally from the festival would be Tracy Byrd (no drop off in 30 years), Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Diamond Rio and Clay Walker. Clay Walker’s MS was acting up so he had a noticable limp but the voice was there and he might be the undisputed champ when it comes to guitar pick flicking to the audience (lot of distance).
Predictions for 2024 as far as the headliners and nostalgia acts go: Turnpike (headliner), Cody Jinks (Headliner), Charley Crockett (could headline but not sure his base is as rabid as turnpike and jinks), Dwight Yoakam, Tracy Lawrence, Gary Allan, Clint Black, Sara Evans, Terri Clark, Sawyer Brown, Deana Carter, Suzy Boguss.
April 18, 2023 @ 11:14 am
Invite Suzy Bogguss and you might get Kathy Mattea as a bonus. They’re been touring together quite a bit over the past year or so.
April 19, 2023 @ 5:06 am
I am pretty convinced Diamond Rio was lip syncing the whole damn time.
April 18, 2023 @ 11:04 am
Sounds like an amazing event. A few questions/observations:
— Is Marty Raybon with the current incarnation of Shenandoah? His bluegrass-rooted voice was right up there with Keith Whitley’s, elevated even the tritest material.
— Why should real country fans care about Little Texas? They had no traditional cred at all, just sang a bunch of sappy heartbreak songs and mindless line dance ditties, IMO. Are they really remembered as nostalgically as Byrd, Tillis, Montgomery, Shenandoah, etc. are?
— I love Alana Springsteen’s voice, and “You Don’t Deserve a Country Song” is a (very) guilty pleasure of mine. But if you’ve heard her EP, you’ll probably know she’s been collaborating a lot with Mitchell Tenpenny, so we’re probably never going to get a chance to hear her do anything more substantial, or more country.
— The push that Elvie Shane is still getting, two years after “My Boy,” is inexplicable. He’s got a Stapleton Lite sort of voice (kind of like Shane Proffitt has a Combs Lite voice) and could be a decent performer of that style of bluesy country, but he’s been stuck on one-hit wonder for a long time now.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:51 pm
Little Texas played pretty early in the day. Just like with anything, there are tiers of popularity, and they were basically openers. I had just seen them at Key Western Fest, so I was covering the other stages when they played.
As far as Elvie Shane, my jury is still out on him. “My Boy” was fine. Last week Rolling Stone Country called his new single “Forgotten Man” the Merle Haggard “Working Man’s Blues” of our time. That’s almost scandal level ludicrous. I only saw a few songs from him. It reminds me much more of Mellencamp than Merle.
April 18, 2023 @ 11:29 am
What a great festival! Messina, Byrd, Diamond Rio, and Pam Tillis were next level. I agree about the issues with the big stage, as it was difficult to hear the performances (mainly Tanya’s) from the back. The Showdeo stage definitely had the best acts overall. Will definitely attend next year if they bring it back.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:03 pm
Greenville Country Music Festival announced the 2023 lineup yesterday. Huge disappointment. Especially considering last year featured Turnpike, Bryan, Godwin, Winchester, Flatland, etc. I erroneously thought it indicated an effort by the festival to seriously feature independent country music.I was seriously expecting to see Mike and the Moonpies, but got Brooks and Dunn instead.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:31 pm
Couldn’t agree more. As a Greenville resident, I was very much looking forward to seeing this year’s lineup after last year’s killer lineup. What a letdown. At least there’s some excitement around the announcement of a new Turnpike album in the (hopefully) very near future.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:43 pm
Yeah, I thought that lineup was a bit disappointing too, though I believe this event started as more of a mainstream events, so last year might have been the outlier. Cody Johnson is great live though. I also saw a TON of complaints about logistical issues from that festival. Hopefully they get that ironed out.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:56 pm
I met a couple who purchased Super VIP tickets, flew in on the final day, and only watched the Turnpike set. That is crazy.
At least Radio Room has had some great shows over the past year or so. Kendall Marvel, JRW, Arlo, Moonpies…
April 18, 2023 @ 1:14 pm
That’s some serious commitment right there to fly in just for Turnpike.
Agreed on Radio Room, though. They’ve had some great artists come through the past year or so. I randomly came to the realization that Radio Room was consistently booking Red 11 artists, so I reached out to the Moonpies booking agent, along with Wes at Radio Room, and they were able to get that show scheduled in February. With the show selling out so quickly, I thought that the Moonpies would be a killer addition to Greenville Country Music Fest this year.
I’ve now got my sights on the Fall for Greenville lineup this year, which has hosted some killer acts in years past (Turnpike, Old 97s, Whiskey Myers, Nikki Lane, Sturgill, American Aquarium, 49 Winchester, etc.). Would love to see Mike and the Boys there this year.
April 18, 2023 @ 12:25 pm
Blanco Brown hahahaha…ok…anyways check out the Georgia Country Music Fest happening in September in Marietta Ga. That one might be worth a plane ride for you.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/georgia-country-music-festival-2023-lineup-tickets-venues
April 18, 2023 @ 12:45 pm
I’m waiting to see how the undercard develops on this one. Cool headliners for sure, but it’s usually the up-and-comers I get most excited to see.
April 18, 2023 @ 2:31 pm
Wow! That’s not bad for a 30 minute car ride from where I’m at. Too bad I coach football and anything in the Fall is out of the question for me. Hopefully it goes well and maybe gets moved to the Summer.
April 18, 2023 @ 1:54 pm
Spot on recap. Thanks for the coverage.
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who thought Diamond Rio was one of the highlights of the festival. They weren’t on my radar as a must-see band on Saturday, but I thought they sounded as good as any of the best acts. Hats off to them.
April 19, 2023 @ 7:03 am
The Grand Ole Opry posted yesterday OTD in 1998, Diamond Rio became a member. They became the first group to join the Opry since The Whites in 1984 (14 years!!). There just isn’t a lot of country music groups especially at the time when Alabama ruled.
A little while back, a kid on TikTok created a video counting down the greatest Country Groups of All Time and it was really weak the bottom half. He did not include Diamond Rio. I wrote him to point out his omission and he reply he never heard of them. Hopefully, DR stages a small comeback and gets introduced to a n ew generation, because I without a doubt consider them in any top ten (but I was in high school at the height of their popularity).
April 19, 2023 @ 8:01 am
The guys of Diamond Rio are very nice, as well.
Great since of humor. Beautiful, easy smiles.
April 19, 2023 @ 8:04 am
*sense …
Love when phone types for me
April 18, 2023 @ 6:23 pm
I’m exhausted from just reading your recap. I enjoyed reading and the pictures. Thank you!
April 19, 2023 @ 1:02 am
The Uber experience Saturday night was terrible. Georgetown wasn’t prepared so no one had cell service and everyone tried getting on Rideshare wifi and then crashed that too. This left hundreds of people having to walk quite a distance and finding random strangers to give them rides to hotels. You couldn’t access cell networks or Wi-Fi and couldn’t get a hold of anyone. It was like this all day both days, incredibly frustrating. Especially since I had booked Saturday night Uber a week in advance and no one showed up.
Also, only 4 beer options and at $14 a pop!? That was stupid and led to no drinking at all.
The line up wasn’t bad, but a lot of the performers on the Big River stage seemed to have had mic issues? Couldn’t hear Tanya worth a shit along with a few others. Wish Pillbox had, had technical difficulties. That was terrible.
April 19, 2023 @ 6:38 am
The cell service issue is a big one, and comes up with almost every major event like this. It’s not just an issue for Rideshare apps. If folks can’t access social media, then they’re not posting photos and video and such from the event, which the event needs to help spread the word.
Also, it’s bad for all the locals who live in the area, and erodes support for the event because people who live around there don’t have any cell service either. There are companies that come out and can offer wi-fi hotspots for an event like this so folks can at least communicate with family/friends/Rideshare about transportation and such.
April 19, 2023 @ 5:52 am
Nice to see the legend Kathryn Legendre get some much deserved attention. She is way overdue for some new music though. Looked like a good show.
April 19, 2023 @ 6:59 am
Sounds like a festival I would have enjoyed.
Just one point – Drake Milligan had to cancel due to an accident on the road getting to the festival. Their touring van got hit by a flying tire, causing their van to collide with a concrete median. Drake and several of the band members sustained injuries and had to be treated in the hospital.
Everybody has been released and they were able to fly back to Nashville, while the festival Two Step Inn actually sent a truck to make sure Milligan’s band gear was rescued as well.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrKLe3HL_oL/
April 19, 2023 @ 7:18 am
Posted an update about this yesterday evening:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/drake-milligan-band-injured-in-vehicle-accident/
April 19, 2023 @ 3:24 pm
Disappointing as a person who reviews shows that you can’t tell the difference between artists using tracks and those who didn’t. Alana uses tracks hence why you hear instruments not on stage. Madeline however is live live and all sounds you hear are from the stage. Give these new artists more credit.
April 19, 2023 @ 5:08 pm
You are correct that Madeline Edwards did not play to backing tracks. The comparison in the review was supposed to be made between the two artists coming from the up-and-coming ranks of the pop country realm, and that opinion got garbled in a very long review. I just went back and corrected that portion of the review. My apologies.
April 20, 2023 @ 5:27 am
Pam Tillis… My god those first three trio of 90s albums… I am glad to see you state they country not 90s country. *paging Miss Twain* Especially Tillis, Byrd, and Messina who seems more overlooked than most of the 90s era.
I can’t tell you how frustrating it is living in the Bar Area being a country fan. When acts do show up they don’t get the same draw and audience energy. Tanya played Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and most folks had NO Idea who she was. It is so strange because Emmylou is like the patron saint of the festival.
April 20, 2023 @ 10:59 am
Thanks for the scathing review of Diplo. Did you find that Big River and Showdeo sound mixed? The sound was fairly good overall, but def improvements to layout could be had.
April 20, 2023 @ 11:19 am
What I noticed is that since you had three stages all basically pointing at each other and going simultaneously, if you were on the side of the stages, you could barely hear because they couldn’t project the speakers anywhere but forward, or it would interfere with the other stages, if that makes sense. So if you were right in front, everything sounded fine. But if you were off to the side, you really didn’t get the full experience unlike at other concerts/festivals.
This goes back to my complaints of how the VIP sections on the Big River stages were way too big. That forced a lot of folks to listen from the sides since there was only a sliver of land between the VIP fence, and the hill/swale/road where everyone was moving back and forth, and a lot more area to the sides of the stage for folks to set up their chairs, etc.
As far as Showdeo, the only sound issues I notice were during John Michael Montgomery’s set when everything went dead for a bit, but I was mostly moving in and out of the photo pit, so I didn’t really get the full experience there.
I do think they need to try and spread out the shows a bit more, perhaps expand the festival to three days next year, and have a few more gaps between performances. That also might help with the concern of overlapping sound from the various stages. I think there should only be two stages going at a given time max.
This was their first year. The hope would be they were witnessing these things too, and they tweak it for next year.
April 26, 2023 @ 11:19 am
Awesome coverage of what seems like a fun festival. I love how the “legacy” acts are all mixed in there… and these pics of Tanya Tucker are AMAZING.
April 26, 2023 @ 11:55 am
There always growing pains when a new large venue opens up. The Two-Step Inn is no different.
The merchandise sales area could have been better organized and if you are going to sell make sure you have merch for both days.
Loved the big stage and the seating for it but allowing everyone to just walk up and stand in front of others is not cool.
Food variety was pretty good but more vendors would have been nice.