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Sherman, TX -- Texas legend Billy Joe Shaver will kick off the 2003 Hot Summer Night season on June 12, 2003. Hot Summer Nights is a free concert series on the Sherman Municipal Lawn with live music every Thursday evening through August 7, 2003. Designed to allow families, grandparents, little kids and even the hard-to-please teen to hear live music in a venue free of smoke and rowdiness, Hot Summer Nights has grown from true grass roots into a highly anticipated attraction for people from all over Texas and Oklahoma.
“We’ve created an atmosphere that singers and songwriters really enjoy – the audience actually listens and participates and appreciates the talent that we showcase each year,” says Ginger Nye, event coordinator and Sherman’s Director of Tourism. “Artists such as Brave Combo, Jack Ingram, Trout Fishing in America, Charlie Robison, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jim Lauderdale, Sara Hickman, Terri Hendrix, and Slaid Cleaves have all played the Oliver Dewey Mayor Gazebo and this year’s line up is the most exciting yet.”
Collecting talent as varied as the audience’ tastes makes for an interesting job and this year’s series includes songwriting legend Billy Joe Shaver who was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Austin Music Awards on March 12, 2003. The past year also saw Shaver as the subject of a documentary film which was funded and directed by actor Robert Duvall, a huge Shaver fan.
The 2003 season will feature a little bit of rockabilly, some deep R&B, a big band/jazz group and a creator of blues. Nye has trouble describing Austin-based combo, The Gourds but press materials call their music “a disarming blend of traditional, bluegrass, Cajun, rock, country & western, gospel and folk music.” Nye says that after last year’s overwhelming reaction to Brave Combo, “the Gourds should be right up our quirky Shermanite alley.”
Scheduled to appear this summer along with Shaver are Radney Foster, Chemistry, Corner Pocket, Doyle Bramhall II, Gina Lee, The Gourds and closing the series will be Austin singer/songwriter Bruce Robison. Robison has penned number one hits for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Lee Ann Womack, the Dixie Chicks, Gary Allan and Kelly Willis. Usually thoughtful and deep, Robison’s latest single is anything but, entitled “What Would Willie Do?,” a tribute to Willie Nelson.
The music starts at 7:30 and goes until the band gets tired on Thursday evenings from June 12 through Aug. 7. Bring your lawn chairs, bug spray, kids and friends. Concessions by the Lions Club are available and gourmet picnics from Cock of the Walk Café & Catering will be delivered right to the grounds. Hot Summer Nights is once again made possible by season sponsors American Bank of Texas, Nat McClure State Farm Insurance, Wilson N. Jones Medical Center and the Sherman Dep’t of Tourism. For more information and directions to the Sherman Municipal Lawn, go to the beautiful and informative new website (designed by DSB WorldWide) at www.hotsummernights.org or call 888-893.1188 or 903.893.1184.
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