Trio of country hitmakers to headline Come & Take It

What do Little Texas, Confederate Railroad and Doug Stone all have in common?

Not only are they three legendary musical acts that ruled the Billboard Hot Country music charts for the year 1993 — but all three will be performing at the 2023 Come and Take It Celebration in Gonzales Oct. 6-8 with no admission charge!

And if that wasn’t enough, they will be joined by Latin Grammy and Tejano Music Award winner Marcos Orozco y Grupo Rebelde as one of the headlining acts for the festival, which celebrates the Lexington of the Texas Revolution.

The Come and Take It Celebration Committee announced the musical lineup for this year’s festival on Friday, Aug. 25. While it may have seemed that following up last year’s headliners of Bart Crow and Neal McCoy with comparable talent would have been an impossible task — the committee delivered and then some. One could even say, “God Blessed Gonzales!”

Speaking of which, Little Texas will headline the Friday night street dance, supported by opening acts Nathan Colt Young and Lost Cause Band.

Little Texas has earned the moniker the “Hardest Working Band in Country Music” with 12 Top 20 singles and multiple Grammy, CMA and ACM nominations. Their music remains timely — Joe Jonas covered “God Blessed Texas” for a season 2 episode of HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones.” Rightfully so, band members are proud they have written or co-written, recorded and played every note on every single they have released to date.

Expect them to play such favorites as “What Might Have Been” and “My Love” as well as top 5 singles “Kick A Little” and “Amy’s Back in Austin.” The group currently is comprised of original band members Porter Howell (lead guitar and lead vocals), Dwayne O’Brien (rhythm guitar and vocals), Duane Propes (bass and vocals) and drummer Del Gray. 

Confederate Railroad will be the first of three big acts taking the stage on Saturday night after daytime performances by Los Gavilanes and Taylor Branch & The Lone Star Ramblers.

Headed by founder and frontman Danny Shirley, Confederate Railroad was the backup band for both David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck before they got their big break by signing with Atlantic Records. What followed were hits including “She Took It Like A Man,” “Jesus and Mama,” “Queen of Memphis” and their signature song, “Trashy Women,” which led to a Grammy nomination and being named ACM’s Best New Group for 1993.
With 18 total charted hits and millions of albums sold, “The Railroad” never stops rolling. Shirley, the lead singer and vocalist, and his mates, Mark Dufresne on drums, Mo Thaxton on bass and vocals, Rusty Hendrix on lead guitar and Joey Recker on keyboards and vocals, love meeting their fans on the road and playing their hits for appreciative audiences.

Following CRR will be country crooner Doug Stone & The Stone Age Band, who know a thing or two about perserverance and what it takes to get to the top.

Doug Stone made his debut on Epic Records when he was already in his 30s with the single, ““I’d Be Better Off (In a Pine Box).” After that came such hits as the Grammy nominated “In a Different Light,” “A Jukebox and a Country Song,” “Too Busy Being in Love,” “Addicted to a Dollar,” “Why Didn’t I Think of That” and others — with a total 22 charted singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs.

He battled through quadruple bypass surgery just as his third album, “From the Heart,” was being released and has overcome obstacles such as a non-cancerous lump in his nostril, an ultralight plane crash that broke his ankle and cracked his rib and a long battle with alcoholism that brought him closer to God as he has now celebrated more than five years of sobriety.

The final headliner, Marcos Orozco y Grupo Rebelde, features a man who began his career as the lead vocalist for Los Fabulosos Cuatro in the early 1990s before joining David Lee Garza y Los Musicales for a six-year stint that brought him enough recognition to go solo.

He has won numerous awards from the Texas Talent Musicians Association and BMI for his songs as well as two Grammys for his collaboration with Jimmy Gonzales on the CD “Forever Mazz” and for “Just Friends” with David Lee Garza. Orozco now has his own record label, Oromar Records.