Weekend Preview, Aug. 7–9: Muscadine Bloodline, Two Tributes and a Garcia Séance
The first full weekend of August is a fat one, and the geography tells you everything about how Amarillo entertains itself: touring country in Canyon, tribute nights on the edge of town, and the roots-and-rock true believers holding down Sixth Avenue. Here's where to point the truck.
The out-of-town headliner is Muscadine Bloodline, the Mobile-bred duo whose sharp, guitar-forward country has quietly become a red-dirt-circuit favorite. They play The Lumberyard, 850 N. 23rd St. in Canyon, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 (tickets $43.30). The Lumberyard has been the region's hottest mid-size room all summer — Aaron Lewis and Josh Meloy are both routed through in the days that follow — and this is the weekend's best bet for a real touring-act experience without a five-hour drive.
If you'd rather stay in Amarillo and keep it cheap, Sixth Avenue delivers. Friday, Aug. 7, Matt Martindale and Charlie Shafter take the Golden Light Cantina (2906 S.W. Sixth) at 9 p.m., while Geezers Gone Wild hold down Smokey Joe's up the block. Saturday night, Old Tascosa Taproom and Brewery (3100 S.W. Sixth) hosts Jamarillo, a local Jerry Garcia tribute — bring your tie-dye and your patience — at 7 p.m., and Broken Spoke Lounge (3101 S.W. Sixth) keeps the no-cover lights on with Kickback 2 at 9.
For the tribute-band devotees — and Amarillo has many — the double bill of the weekend is at Shark Beach Burgers, 1505 E. FM 1151: Blake Nation (a Blake Shelton tribute) and Kaitlyn Sparks (Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood) share a 7:30 p.m. Saturday stage, $20 in advance. It's a burger joint doing arena-country cosplay, and it's more fun than it has any right to be.
Rounding out the slate: the Candlelight string concerts at Amarillo Little Theatre's Mainstage (a Juan Gabriel tribute Friday, Coldplay and Imagine Dragons later that night), Next to Kin and other locals at Smokey Joe's, and The Stray Sons at the Blind Pig (609 S. Independence). Downtown, Six Car Pub & Brewery runs its weekly Wibby Wednesday songwriter night to open the week.
Why flag a weekend this ordinary? Because it isn't ordinary anywhere but here. A city Amarillo's size sustaining touring country in Canyon, a half-dozen paying local gigs on one historic street, and a thriving tribute-circuit all on the same Saturday is the sign of a scene that's actually load-bearing, not decorative. You could see four shows this weekend and never repeat a genre.
Pick a lane. The music's spread all over the Panhandle — you just have to be willing to drive a little. Out here, everybody is.
Sources: Can't Miss with Chip Chandler, Aug. 4 (Brick & Elm); Muscadine Bloodline at The Lumberyard (Ticketmaster)