HWY 261

Today on HWY 261 The Rev does something a little bit different. We've played covers of songs by Texas artists or artists w/ Texas connections, but this week we're featuring one artist (Lyle Lovett) doing a series of cover songs by Texas or Texas connected artists released on the double CD Step Inside This House (1998).

Tracks played on this episode were: Bears (Steven Fromholz); Texas Trilogy: Daybreak, Train Ride, Bosque County Romance (Steven Fromholz); Step Inside This House (Guy Clark); Teach Me About Love (Walter Hyatt); Sleepwalking (Willis Alan Ramsey); West Texas Highway (Michael Martin Murphey & Boomer Castleman); More Pretty Girls Than One (Traditional, ft. Alison Krauss on background vocals); Lungs (Townes Van Zandt); Texas River Song (Traditional)

As a tip of the hat to both the successful benefit show held for Sterling on 2-28-26 at Cheatham St. Warehouse, and to the success of the latest KZSM show Live from Cheatham Street: Kent Finlay's Songwriters Circle, The Rev spins tracks from Texas artists, or tracks with some connection to Texas, that all come from live releases from the respective artists. Artists included in this episode include Asleep at the Wheel; Jerry Jeff Walker; Adam Carroll; Dallas Burrow; The (Dixie) Chicks; Delbert McClinton; Jamie Lin Wilson; Robert Earl Keen; Lightnin' Hopkins w/ Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, & Big Joe Williams; Pearl Jam; Foscoe Jones.

This week marks the 90th live broadcast of HWY 261, so The Rev celebrates with a playlist of Texas-connected tunes that were all released between 1990-1999. Tracklist:

Hello, I'm Gone* (1990)-Kevin Welch; Concrete and Steel (1990)-ZZ Top; Spanish Moon (1992)-Arc Angels; Highway Patrol (1993)-Junior Brown; Levelland (1995)-James McMurtry; Airways Motel (1997)-Jack Ingram (w/ Todd Snider); Blue on Black (1997)-Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band; g.o.d. (good old days) (1998)-Fastball; Sister's Apartment (1998)-Terri Hendrix; Darkness on the Face of the Earth (1998)-Willie Nelson; Devil's Full Moon (1999)-Nathan Hamilton

*-first few seconds of song were cut off of this week's podcast recording...apologies to KW and fans of the album!

The Rev takes a deep dive into the early career of Texas songwriting legend Townes Van Zandt by way of the Texas Troubadour Box Set, which collects every studio and live album TVZ released on the Poppy and Tomato record labels between 1968-1978.

On today's episode The Rev welcomes Austin-based singer-songwriter Rita Bliss into the KZSM broadcast booth. She played four great songs live on the air (You Can Go; Two Dollar Bill; We Will Sing; Mountain Time). We also talked about where Rita's music is online, where fans can find her website, and where she'll be playing live in the upcoming weeks/months. The Rev also spun prerecorded tracks from Willis Alan Ramsey, Freddie King, Roy Orbison, The Bottle Rockets, Augie Meyers, Robert Earl Keen, and Junior Brown.

Dallas Burrow makes his 3rd appearance in the KZSM broadcast booth with The Rev. We talk about his career, Willis Alan Ramsey, and the time he met Bob Dylan before Dallas played his fantastic song The Very Best live in the studio Pre-recorded tracks included songs from Reckless Kelly, Dallas Burrow, Adam Carroll, Texacala Jones & Her T.J. Hookers, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Texas Sapphires, and Foscoe Jones.

Today on HWY 261 The Rev takes a deep dive into tracks included on the Puff Bunny Records 15th Anniversary Sampler CD released in 2024. Puff Bunny Records was founded in 2007 in Fredricksburg, Texas and it's mission is to record quality folk and Americana artists in live and studio settings. Tracks included on this week's show include songs from Ruby Lovett, George Ensle, Shake Russell & Michael Hearne w/ Mike Roberts, Taylor Pie, Michael C'Connor, Greg Whitfield, Renfree Isaccs, and Taylor Pie & Debbie Nims.

Sterling is in the hospital recovering from a rather nasty fall, so The Rev is flying solo in the booth. Today's playlist is made up of artists who are finalists for San Marcos Music Awards (SMMAs)in various categories: Missoula Slim, The Trips, HalleyAnna Finlay, Sam Downing, Tracy Weinberg, Justin James Bridges, The Rev Jason Woolery, Bartly, Loose Screws & Rusty Hearts, Amber Elison w/ Charles Ramsey, Chief & the Doomsday Device.

The Reverend welcomes Sammy Wells back into the KZSM studio for the first broadcast of the 2026 calendar year. Sammy is part of San Marcos' hottest band, The Trips, but he's also a solo artist. On today's episode Sammy previews the title track of his forthcoming sophomore solo album, Take Two. In addition to that live performance, he played Karmalita off the forthcoming record. Prerecorded tracks included New Year's themed songs from Hill County Gentlemen (The End of Something), Slaid Cleaves (New Year's Day), Kathleen O'Keefe (Now's a Good a Time as Any), Jeremy Steding (A Damn good Ride), and The Band of Heathens (One More Trip).

Sterling is on a beach vacay with the fam, so The Rev has his youngest daughter, Layla, in the booth as co-host for the final HWY 261 broadcast of 2025. Tracklist for the 12-26-25 episode:

The Boxer-Simon & Garfunkel

Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues-Slaid Cleaves

Song for Sonny Liston-Mark Knopfler

Walk of Life-Shooter Jennings

River-Good Medicine Band

Slew Foot-James McMurtry ft. Joe Ely

Love Hurts-Roy Orbison

Across the Rubicon-Dustin Welch

Little Mama-Ray Wylie Hubbard

The Speed of Trees-Ellis Paul