On a Saturday afternoon, students and residents of Bryan-College Station began to trickle into the streets of downtown, attracted by live music projected on stage speakers. Even as shoes and jean hems became soggy with rainfall, it was never a question whether the festivities would continue. Rolling thunder and pelting rain may be enough to run-off the top soil of Texas dirt, but music roots run deep in Bryan-College Station.
On Oct. 25, the inaugural Bryan Texas Songwriter Festival wrapped up a weekend filled with performances from local songwriters and Texas A&M former students. Free performances were held across the mainstage, set up in the streets of historic Downtown Bryan, with pop-up events held at Hush and Whisper Distilling Co. Intimate VIP performances were hosted in venues such as the Grand Stafford Theatre and the Palace Theatre.
Festival origins
Singer-songwriter Kyle Hutton ‘92 attended A&M as a marketing student but found himself immersed in the music community of Bryan-College Station. Music followed him after graduation — even in his 13 years as a corporate professional — before he decided to pursue songwriting full time.
“Music has been a great opportunity for me to learn how to relax and be more transparent, be more authentic,” Hutton said. “It’s taught me a lot about managing anxiety. It’s taught me a lot about hard work. It’s taught me a lot about persistence because it’s definitely not an easy business.”
After establishing a musical presence in Houston with his contributions as founder of the Real Life Real Music Foundation, Hutton moved back to Bryan in 2023. Feeling the need to bring a music festival to the Downtown scene, Hutton pitched the idea to the City of Bryan and said he quickly gained its support, along with other entities like Destination Bryan and the Bryan Business Council. Hutton plans for all profits made from the festival to go toward the Real Life Real Music Foundation and their musical programming initiatives.
“We’re already looking at a handful of initiatives here in the Bryan area,” Hutton said. “Including an organization that’s wanting to start a songwriting event that’s to benefit mental health and showcase songwriters that have written songs based on their own mental health journeys.”
By February, planning was in full swing, and Hutton began to hand-pick each artist based on his personal admiration for their skills. Hutton stated festival coordination went smoothly — beside the caveat of finding the right weekend during the busiest season for Aggieland — football season.
Kick-off to the end
The second and final day of the festival kicked off with sets from students selected by the school of Performance and Visual Arts. Among them was the Nico Rey Band on the main stage at 1 p.m. The alternative indie band brought a fresh perspective to the primarily country singer line-up, with songs from their new album, ‘Lily.’ Lead singer and economics graduate student Nico Ruiz Barnes was joined by his bandmates, computer science junior Wyatt Soper and friend Alessio Sarmiento.
“If you want my best technical performance, you can listen to the album,” Barnes said. “I think the purpose of live music is just the artistic expression and the emotional release. When you get to share that with someone else in the crowd, it’s really fun.”
Quickly following the Nico Rey Band on the mainstage, the Tex-Mex-inspired group Tejas Brothers came to perform their energetic and impromptu set at 2:30 p.m.
“We don’t use set lists and there is never the same show ever,” Lead Singer for Tejas Brothers Dave Perez said. “ … It’s communication with the crowd. I’m going to read the crowd and say, ‘Hey, I think they’re ready for this.’”
Among their set, the Tejas Brothers performed ‘Red, White and Blue,’ which Perez said is an upbeat reminder to listeners that the values symbolized by the Texas flag belong to everyone. With harmonica and accordion solos, onlookers responded by dancing in front of the mainstage.
The Tejas Brothers’ Bryan performance was their first in 15 years thanks to their mutual artist connections with Hutton.
“This is a blessing for me to be here,” Perez said. “To be able to shake his hand [Hutton] and give him a hug. … Being around all the other artists, it’s like extended family. My band members are like my brothers, [the other artists] are like my cousins.”
Returning Aggies
While Mainstage performances continued throughout the day, VIP concerts were provided around the corner at the Grand Stafford Theatre and the Palace Theatre, featuring returning A&M former students. Artists like Julianna Rankin ‘18 gave festival attendees a personal performance in the Grand Stafford at 3:30 p.m.
Rankin said Hutton approached her with the songwriter festival idea after seeing her set at the Colorado Steamboat Music Festival in 2022. For her, it was never a question to return.
“I got a lot of inspiration from College Station,” Rankin said. “I went through a lot of emotions there, so it’s really cool to go back where it started.”
Rankin aims to incorporate a unique bluesy-country tone into her music — one based on her Texas roots. It is her style and work ethic that recently landed her an offer to sign with record label Big Loud Texas, an announcement she made during the show.
“The whole goal of music is to feel something,” Rankin said. “I want people to feel about my music the way that other artists have made me feel, whether it’s going through a heartbreak or if it’s a song to get you out of bed that day. … I love to write sad songs, because I know that somewhere out there, someone is hopefully going to relate to it.”
Rain or Shine
Back on the main stage, unfavorable weather conditions began to settle in, with dark clouds looming over the performance of the Band of Heathens at 4:30 p.m. Still, the band continued to perform for the live audience that gathered.
“We’re still humans,” Band of Heathens frontman Ed Jurdi said. “I think ultimately we have a desire to get together with other humans, especially in things like a songwriter festival, for example, or just going to see a live show. It’s a place where people who could be of all different backgrounds would get together because that’s something that they like in common.”
Through the light showers, the band was still able to connect with the growing audience. Long-time fans such as Huntsville resident Sarah Trow were willing to brave the inclement weather to see the band perform.
“I’ve had friends that told me, ‘What’s the point of going to see someone live? It’s going to be the same as the album,’” Trow said. “That means you’ve never seen them live, because it’s never the same as the album. So songs like ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Look at Miss Ohio,’ every time I see them live, they play them differently.”
Delays due to weather began after the Band of Heathens wrapped up their performance. As a result, sets for Ohio-raised country singer Kaitlin Butts and country singer Kolby Cooper were reworked and scheduled to move to the VIP venue at the Grand Stafford, but still remained free to those who came.
Butts and her band, The Mules, brought theatrical energy at 7:30 p.m with an audience-interactive drinking game during her performance of her original song ‘Wild Juanita’s Cactus Juice,’ while also showcasing vulnerability with her cover of ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World.
“The more people that are watching you, the more people are gonna have some negative things to say,” Butts said. “ … I was PMSing and not feeling very good, I just believed all those negative things. I went out to karaoke and this girl was singing ‘The Middle.’ … I looked at my manager and was like, ‘I’m gonna cry, this is like a beautiful song.’”
After Butt’s performance, VIP artists returned to the stage but continued to be free of charge for the rest of the night. Artists like Jamie Lin Wilson ‘03 and dynamic duo Heather Stallings and Max Stallings ‘91 performed together on stage at the Grand Stafford at 9 p.m.
“We’re going to end on a high note tonight,” Hutton said. “Because man, it can rain out there on the mainstage, but we’re gonna make lemonade.”
Wrapping up the night at 10:30 p.m were special performances by Kolby Cooper and Roger Creager ‘93 on stage together for the first time ever, a direct result of weather rescheduling.
“This is my first time seeing live music in a while,” communications junior Ella Claire Williford said. “I just think the atmosphere is so electric and just having that genuine encounter you get to have with the audience and seeing them face to face, it’s really special.”
