The staff of the TX Citizen and Music of New Braunfels just successfully made it through our fourth year of Blowin' Off Steamboat Music Festival this past Saturday! We've had this event each year at Freiheit Country Store, and this year Freiheit changed things up and built a beautiful new bar and opened one side of the dance hall with a larger covered area, which helps people spread out a bit more and still enjoy the great music out of the elements.
This year, it was our honor to have Marsha Mudge as our beneficiary, and Marsha was feeling well enough on Saturday to spend a few hours with us! Marsha is a school nurse in NBISD, she is battling stage 4 breast cancer, raising two young boys and lost her husband Coach John Mudge a little less than two years ago after he suffered a cerebral stroke. Read more about Marsha's story at facebook.com/mudgestrong.
Our live music started as always with acoustic performers at noon. We enjoyed acoustic performances from BJ Thibodeaux, Nick Rogers, Bo Porter, Kris Smith, Bo Brumble, Brent Michael Wood, Tony Taylor, Alli Mattice, Doug Kent, Matt Kersh, Bret Graham, Tiffany Valentine & Colt Buckalew of Texas Crossing, Dan Adams, Jade Marie Patek, Bryan Catalani, Kori Free of The Groove Hounds, Breelan Angel, Andrae Blissett & Greg Francescon of Whiskey Rodeo, Jomo Edwards & Jess Clifford of The Possum Posse, Jesse Stratton and Daniel Thomas Phipps!
We also had 6 amazing full band performances from Dennis Jay & Lonesome Town, Carol Cochran & Two Way Street, Texas Renegade, Sour Bridges, Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros, and Matt Begley & Bitter Whiskey!
Walt Wilkins joined us for our inaugural event back in 2013 with an acoustic performance, and was gracious enough to return this year with his mighty Mystiqueros! Dennis Jay was an acoustic performer last year, and he returned with his band Lonesome Town on the heels of releasing a new Lloyd Maines produced album which should be released within the next month! Carol Cochran & Two Way Street have become a Blowin' Off Steamboat tradition, as they are the only full band to have performed for us every year, the remainder of the full band line up typically features bands we've never brought you before, so we can bring you as much variety as possible!
We also want to say a special thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors this year! Comaltex Insurance, Papa Murphy's Pizza, Keep Austin Country, NB Mattress, Lonestar Medical PA, The Purple Chair, Smokey D, Tri-County Paint & Spray, Gregersen Family Chiropractic, The Nut Doctor, Kitchen & Bath Solutions and Bonzai Japanese Steak & Sushi!
Last but not least, I have eternal gratitude for BJ Thibodeaux and Robert Steves. Each year they set up, run and tear down our sound system, and this year they built a wall of sound that made every performance sound amazing! Jeremiah Hamilton was on hand and helped them really dial it in.
Join us next year on Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Freiheit Country Store for our 5th Annual Blowin' Off Steamboat Music Festival!