Larry Joe Taylor Texas Music Festival- Day 1 “Small, but strong”

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Larry Joe Taylor Texas Music Festival kicked off last night with Larry Joe Taylor, Deryl Dodd, Dave Perez, Cody Canada and the Departed. Pat Green kicked off the first night of a cold and rainy Larry Joe Taylor Festival.

Starting the festival was the traditional singing of the National Anthem sung by Larry Joe Taylor, Deryl Dodd and Dave Perez. Following the National Anthem was a prayer by Dave Perez. Then, the music started.

Taylor, Dodd and Perez broke out acoustic guitars and an accordion to entertain the small crowd before Cody Canada and the Departed took the stage. While the acoustic trio was playing, fans jokingly complained about the weather, but stuck they it out.

Then, the country/rock band Cody Canada and the Departed took the stage. Canada came out and said, “Thanks for joining us on this wonderful spring day!” But the weather did not hold them back.

The band jumped into their set head first without paying mind to the near 40 degree weather. As the night went on, the temperature dropped, the wind kicked up, the rain fell and the band got hotter. Being professional rockstars, CC&TD did not hold back. They were at LJT and they knew what the fans wanted- a party. That is what the band gave them. Throughout the set, Canada (on vocals and guitar) and band mates Jeremy Plato (on bass), Seth James (on vocals and guitar), Steve Littleton (on the keyboard) and Chris Doege (on drums) had fans locked into a frenzy, setting the stage for the legendary Pat Green.

Pat Green came on stage and said “We’re small, but strong” referring to the small LJT crowd full of faithful Texas Music fans who chose to fight the cold, wind and rain.

During Green’s set, Josh Abbott of the Josh Abbott Band and the singer William Clark Green snuck into the crowd to enjoy the set. It was not long before they were discovered.

Green played old favorites like “I Like Texas”, “Texas On My Mind” and “Southbound 35”. Throughout the set, Green told stories of when he first started playing at LJT, and how after playing one night, he somehow made it to Clifton, Texas and fell asleep in his car. After a night of sleeping with his foot on the brake of a running car, a cop woke him up. Green showed his comedic side when he told the cop that he would have to ask Larry Joe Taylor how long he had been in the car because he could not remember.

His story was soon to be over when the band jumped back into the music. At the end of his set, he was not even off of the stage before the ‘small, but strong’ crowd started yelling to get him back on stage to sing one more song.

Green obliged to the music hungry crowd and came on to sing the song “Wave on Wave.” Josh Abbott, William Clark Green and even Larry Joe Taylor joined him on stage for the last song of the night.

Pat Green had my favorite set of the night last night, just because of the fact that he played his old music that originally got me into the Texas Music scene.

Not to knock anything from CC&TD’s set. I dug their set with their almost rock sound, high energy and their quality musicianship. I loved their show.

Another thing I liked about LJT was Crusty’s Wood Fired Pizza. The food vender offered different kinds of delicious freshly cooked pizza. I had the BBQ chicken pizza, which was amazing. Another thing I liked about it, the guys that work there were very polite and let me stand by the fire to warm up while my pizza was being cooked.

Tonight promises to be just as good as last night, if not better. The weather is supposed to warm up to 63 degrees and the bands are Green Light Pistol, Bart Crow, Stoney LaRue, Casey Donahew Band and Josh Abbott Band.