For more than a decade, the Viva Big Bend summer music festival has brought world-class musicians (and world-class music lovers) to the communities of the Big Bend, but a big part of the festival has always been the local music scene: the venues that host Viva’s performances, the local audiences welcoming visitors to the area, and of course, the local musicians sharing stages with traveling acts.
The majority of performing musicians in the area don’t have recordings available on the various streaming services, but this playlist offers a cross-section of players in, from, or associated with Alpine, Terlingua, Fort Davis, Marathon and Marfa. These are some of the bands keeping the small, vibrant, and friendly local scene alive night after night. Queue it up next time you’re heading west.
