Stepping up during a time of unimaginable personal loss.
Last night, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum, and many other of their famous Texas friends and artists took the stage at the Moody Center in Austin for a star-studded benefit concert called Band Together Texas, which benefited The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, the leading charity behind the ongoing flood relief efforts, and Central Texas Community Foundation.
Of course, South-central Texas was ravaged by flash flooding over the 4th of July weekend earlier this summer, and over 130 people lost their lives in the Texas Hill Country region. The Guadalupe River rose dramatically due to torrential rainfall, leading to widespread flooding, and a significant number of the fatalities occurred in Kerr County. The devastation has been unimaginable, and while nothing will be able to replace the loved ones who lost their lives, it does bring hope to know that people are so willing to step up during a time of great need.
And even though legendary Texas singer-songwriter Pat Green suffered a “heartbreaking and deeply personal loss” as a result of the flooding, which claimed the lives of Pat’s youngest brother, John Burgess, his wife, Julia, and two children, who were all swept away in the flood. Their young daughter, Green’s niece, did survive and clearly had her life changed forever, losing her parents and siblings in ways that are just unimaginable and heartbreaking:
“Over the weekend, during the devastating flooding that hit Central Texas, my family – like so many others – suffered a heartbreaking and deeply personal loss. We are grieving alongside countless Texans whose lives have been upended by this tragedy.
Right now, we kindly ask for privacy and space as we mourn, support each other, and begin to process what comes next for our family. Thank you for your love, prayers, and compassion.”
They were staying in the Texas Hill Country to go pick up their eldest daughter at a camp that was not impacted by the flooding. The family had rented a place at the Blue Oak RV Park in Kerr County, which was the region most affected by the floods. When the Guadalupe River began to rise, the RV park was a location that was nearly washed away by the floodwaters.
While mourning the loss of his family members, Green still put together his own incredible benefit concert to help others in need, and on July 16th, country artists gathered at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, for Pat Green and Friends: Texas Flood Relief Livestream. The concert raised an astonishing amount of money, with over $1 million raised for flood victims ad recovery efforts, and it was beyond impressive that he was able to carry on like that and do so much good during what I’m sure has been the most difficult time in his life.
And he continues to do so, appearing last night onstage with Lukas Nelson for a duet of Ernest Tubb’s 1965 song “Waltz Across Texas,” which was written by his nephew Quanah Talmadge Tubb. It became one of his most requested songs, and you’ll often still hear it played dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons.
Lukas first took the stage and introduced Green by calling him a “Texas legend,” who was going to help him honor another Texas legend:
“Hello. Tonight is a special night. We’re honoring a lot of people tonight, and I’d like to bring up a Texas legend to help me with this. Pat Green, will you come help me sing? We’re gonna honor another Texas legend, Ernest Tubb. Crisp, Texas.”
Green joked that he was nervous because he was singing songs he didn’t fully know:
“Crisp… I don’t even know where that is. I’m a little nervous, Lukas. Lukas is making me sing songs I’ve never sang before. Y’all have fun, at least try to with my sorry intonation here.”
If he didn’t know it, you sure wouldn’t know by their performance… they did an incredible job, and following “Waltz Across Texas,” they sang Lukas’ original “Just Outside of Austin,” which is one of my personal favorites and very fitting for this event.
It’s just so impressive to see Green continuing to step up and help out others who have experienced tragedy similar to his in this time, and I know they both made all of their fellow Texans proud with this performance last night:
