Weekend Preview, Aug. 13–16: Josh Meloy, Dallas Burrow and a 35-Year-Old Dive That Won't Quit
The back half of August loads up fast, and this weekend is the archive window's grand finale — red-dirt in Canyon, Texas-country at Hoots, a sold-out blues duo on Sixth, and a beloved dive throwing itself a birthday. Plan accordingly.
Start Thursday, Aug. 13. Dallas Burrow, the New Braunfels songwriter with the outlaw pedigree and the road-worn baritone, plays Hoots Pub (2424 Hobbs Road). Listings disagree on the downbeat — Brick & Elm has him at 9 p.m., while Bandsintown lists 7 p.m. The same night, The Lumberyard in Canyon brings in Aaron Lewis & The Stateliners (8 p.m., tickets $68.60 and up) for the Staind frontman's solo-country act.
Friday, Aug. 14 belongs to Sixth Avenue. The Deltaz cap a decade of Amarillo shows with their first sold-out night at the Golden Light Cantina (9 p.m., 2906 S.W. Sixth) — some door tickets may surface, but don't count on it. Elsewhere, 9 Eyes work Hoots and Plemons Bridge play the donations-welcome room at The 806 Coffee + Café (2812 S.W. Sixth).
Saturday, Aug. 15 is the biggest night on the board. Josh Meloy, the Oklahoma red-dirt favorite with a devoted Panhandle following, headlines The Lumberyard (8 p.m., tickets $30.95) — the weekend's best value for a genuine touring draw. Back in Amarillo, Broken Spoke Lounge (3101 S.W. Sixth) throws a 35th Anniversary Party with Red Dirt Rockers, Karma, Mind Plays and Moon Dog, no cover, 9 p.m.; the Golden Light keeps rolling with Laredo and Matt Moran; and Smokey Joe's books Hayden LaBrier & The Lucky Strikes. Thirty-five years is a long time for any bar to keep the lights on, let alone a no-cover dive on the old Mother Road — go pay respects.
If you've got a Sunday hangover to nurse, the Amarillo Sod Poodles wrap a homestand against the Midland Rockhounds at Hodgetown (1:05 p.m., Aug. 16), a fine low-stakes way to close out the window under the Panhandle sky.
Why does this weekend deserve the last word? Because it's the whole scene in miniature: national-touring country twenty minutes south, a hard-won hometown sellout, a 35-year-old dive still drawing a crowd for free, and a ballgame to sleep it off. No single one of these is a blockbuster. Together, on one weekend, in one small far-flung city, they're proof that Amarillo's music economy runs seven days deep.
That's the pilot window, closed out. Six weeks, a couple dozen shows, one historic street doing most of the heavy lifting. Now go buy a ticket to something.
Sources: Can't Miss with Chip Chandler, Aug. 11 (Brick & Elm); Josh Meloy at The Lumberyard (Ticketmaster); Hoot's Pub schedule (Bandsintown)