TROUBADOUR FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR THIRD ANNUAL EVENT

FEBRUARY 5, 2025 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AGGIELAND, TX – Troubadour Festival, heralded as a Texas BBQ & Music Experience, is set for its third rendition at Texas A&M’s Aggie Park on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Today the festival announced its lineup of musical artists and participating barbecue restaurants for its annual event in Bryan-College Station.

Texas Music superstars Shane Smith & The Saints are set to headline the Wood Stage sponsored by Optimum, and they’ll be joined by Texas Country legends Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen together on their “Hold My Beer & Watch This” Tour. 49 Winchester, Josh Meloy, and Hudson Westbrook are also scheduled to perform on the Wood Stage. Other performers include Tyler Halverson, Jacob Stelly, and JoJo DiSalvo on the YMCA of the Brazos Valley Stage.

Along with live country music on two stages, this year’s festival will feature many of the best and most celebrated barbecue restaurants and pitmasters from all over Texas. Twenty-five of the state’s best restaurants will be on hand to sample various smoked meat offerings to festival attendees.

Also new in 2025: Troubadour Festival and 44 Farms are proud to present “Meat Church & Friends: A Live Fire Experience.” Meat Church BBQ pitmaster and CEO Matt Pittman is teaming up with four other Texas pitmasters and 44 Farms to showcase various forms of live fire cooking, with plenty of samples to be provided for festival guests. Joining Pittman for the Live Fire Experience include: Dayne Weaver of Dayne’s Craft Barbecue (Aledo), Nolan Belcher of B4 Barbeque (Mabank), Steven Rossler of Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue (Harker Heights), and Jordan Jackson of Slow Country Consulting (Tyler). More details on the Live Fire Experience are still to come.

The 25 participating barbecue restaurants include: 1701 Barbecue (Beaumont), 1775 Texas Pit BBQ (College Station), 2M Smokehouse (San Antonio), Bar-A-BBQ (Montgomery), Black’s Barbecue (Lockhart, Austin, San Marcos), Blood Bros. BBQ (Houston), Brett’s BBQ Shop (Katy), Brick Vault Brewery & BBQ (Marathon), Brotherton’s Barbecue (Pflugerville), CM Smokehouse (Austin), Eaker Barbecue (Fredericksburg), Guess Family BBQ (Waco), Hurtado Barbecue (Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mansfield), Hutchins BBQ (Frisco, McKinney), InterStellar BBQ (Austin), Kreuz Market (Lockhart), LJ’s BBQ (Brenham), Opie’s Barbecue (Spicewood), Roegels Barbecue Co. (Houston, Katy), Rollin Smoke BBQ (Austin), Smokey Joe’s BBQ (Dallas), Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew (Austin, Dripping Springs, Cedar Park), Teddy’s Barbecue (Weslaco), Tejas Chocolate & BBQ (Tomball), and Vaqueros Texas BBQ (Allen).

Fifteen of the participating restaurants were named on Texas Monthly’s 2021 top 50 list, with five on the magazine’s honorable mention list, and three more (Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue, B4 Barbeque, Bar-A-BBQ) named in the Top 25 Best New & Improved BBQ Joints in Texas in 2023.

Three restaurants were recently honored by the prestigious Michelin Guide at the first Michelin Guide Ceremony held in Texas in November. InterStellar BBQ was awarded a coveted Michelin Star, while Blood Bros. BBQ and Tejas Chocolate were awarded Bib Gourmands.

“We are so stoked to have the opportunity to come back to Bryan-College Station and bring Troubadour Festival to Aggie Park for a third time. We think this is our best Aggieland lineup yet and hope to welcome thousands of new and returning Texas barbecue and country music fans to the area,” said Chase Colston, the festival’s promoter and co-owner of Double Tap Entertainment, LLC, which produces Troubadour Festival. “We are excited to welcome back the best BBQ joints in Texas, as well as unveil our new Live Fire Experience with one of the biggest barbecue brands in the world in Meat Church, along with other great Texas pitmasters. Music-wise, we really think the talent on stage this year is unmatched. We can’t wait to see it come to life yet again.”

Tickets for 2025 Troubadour Festival are on sale now at troubadourfestival.com. The festival is excited to announce more affordable tickets this year, with all ticket levels on tiered pricing to give guests the opportunity to pay less than before. Once the allotted number of tickets for each tier sell out, prices move to the next tier. All options and pricing tiers can be found at troubadourfestival.com.

The event has four ticket options: Troubadour VIP, Music VIP, BBQ & Music, and Music. Troubadour VIP tickets include hour-earlier entry (12:00 PM) into the barbecue sampling, a festival t-shirt, two beverage vouchers, and access to an exclusive VIP grove with a private cash bar, seating, air-conditioned bathrooms with flushable toilets, and access to a standing-room only area in front of the stage. VIP Music tickets include all VIP perks but for the Wood Stage concert only (3:45 PM gate time). BBQ & Music tickets (1:00 PM entry) include both access to the food sampling and the concert. Music tickets (3:45 PM entry) are good for the concert only.

The festival is also offering a limited number of discounted Student Music tickets, as well as BBQ & Music tickets for students, active and retired military members, first responders, and educators with valid ID.

Locals and out-of-town guests can start their musical weekend early at the Official Troubadour Festival Kickoff Party, presented by Destination Bryan, on Friday, May 16, at The Palace Theater in Historic Downtown Bryan.

The Wilder Blue is headlining the pre-party, with support from The Droptines and Jerry Almaraz. The free, all-ages event is scheduled from 7:30-11:30 PM.

“We are thrilled to once again host the Official Troubadour Festival Pre-Party in Bryan,” said Amanda Kile, Tourism Events Coordinator at Destination Bryan. “Destination Bryan is proud to sponsor Troubadour Festival to bring a weekend full of music to Aggieland.”

Local food trucks will be on-site to provide other food options, and barbecue restaurants have the option to sell food after sampling ends at 3:30 PM if desired. The festival also will feature multiple full bars, local and regional market vendors, and many interactive sponsorship activations.

More information on tickets, the lineup, directions, FAQs, and other festival information can be found at https://troubadourfestival.com. Sponsorships and market vendor spaces are also available. Inquiries can be sent to sponsors@trouabdourfestival.com or interested parties can fill out the application on the festival’s website.

Media Contact:
Chase Colston
Co-Owner/Festival Promoter
Double Tap Entertainment, LLC
chase@troubadourfestival.com

About Double Tap Entertainment, LLC:
Double Tap Entertainment, LLC, is a boutique, locally owned entertainment company based in Tyler, Texas, and produces Troubadour Festival. Troubadour Festival is a multi-location Texas BBQ & Music experiential festival highlighting the best in Texas barbecue and Country, Texas/Red Dirt, Americana, and Southern Rock music. The company, founded in 2021, has produced eight Troubadour Festivals since its inaugural event in Celina, Texas, in November 2021. Double Tap Entertainment is co-owned by East Texas natives and lifelong friends Chase Colston and Cody Johnson. Colston created and produced Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival in Tyler for six years (2014-2019) before the COVID-19 pandemic.

2025 ARTISTS:
Approved artist assets, including posed and live photos, and videos can be downloaded here. Please do not use any other assets without reaching out to the festival or artist management.

Shane Smith & The Saints are among the greats in the independent Texas Country/Red Dirt Music scene, having built a massive following since they hit the road in 2011. The Austin-based five-piece has released four studio albums including their most recent, Norther, which was released to widespread critical acclaim in March 2024. Their music has been featured several times on the smash television series Yellowstone – the third episode of the show’s fourth season is titled, “All I See is You” after the band’s song of the same name. The band also appeared on the show in the Season 5 premiere, in which they played three songs at the inauguration of John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner.

Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen are two of Texas Country’s biggest legends, each having performed in front of sellout crowds for two decades. On their Hold My Beer & Watch This Tour, the best friends perform country hits they wrote together, along with some of their own favorites. They have released four Hold My Beer EPs since 2015, with the latest (Vol. 4) coming out in 2024.

Castlewood, Virginia, natives 49 Winchester have been on the road for the better part of a decade, but it has been in the past few years where the 49 Winchester name has reverberated throughout the Texas/Alt-Country scene and beyond. Their 2022 album, Fortune Favors the Bold, launched them into stardom with the smash hits “Russell County Line” and “Annabel.” Isaac Gibson and Co. followed up with Leavin’ This Holler in 2024 to similar critical acclaim.

From the plains of Oklahoma, Josh Meloy has built his career brick by brick. A storyteller at heart, Meloy will capture your imagination with every song. From wearing out the dive bars of Oklahoma to more recently playing the historic Ryman Auditorium, Meloy has finally captured a national audience. With a brand new album “Where You Came From” released in June of 2024, he shows no signs of slowing down. His smash hit, “Porch Light,” has been streamed more than 250 million times on Spotify.

After an explosive arrival and a series of grassroots hits, Hudson Westbrook is now taking his place among a new generation of country singer-songwriters. Self-taught and proudly rough-around-the-edges, the rising star made his splash debut with “Take It Slow” in 2024 (while still enrolled at Texas Tech) and is now pushing ahead, revitalizing the organic country-rock of the Red Dirt revolution – but refusing to be held down by his roots. Hailing from the small town of Stephenville, Texas, he began playing guitar in 2020 and wrote his first song after enrolling in college in 2023. His self-titled debut EP featuring new singles “Pray Your Name” and “Take Your Time” is out now.