Texas Monthly

1 day ago | texasmonthly.com | Bobbie Jean Sawyer

When singer-songwriter Laci Kaye Booth performed “George F***** Strait” at Nashville’s CMA Fest earlier this month, she warned the audience that her new song wasn’t for everyone. “It’s making a lot of old biddies on Facebook mad,” the East Texas native told the crowd, before launching into a sultry ode to the King of Country. “Lord, if I can’t have him / I’ll get on my knees and pray,” Booth sings over snarling guitars as the song builds from a simmer to a scorching fervor.

4 days ago | texasmonthly.com | David Courtney

Q: The country-classics radio station I listen to plays lots of songs about Texas cities. There’s George Hamilton IV’s “Abilene,” Marty Robbins’s “El Paso City,” Glen Campbell’s “Galveston,” and Larry Gatlin’s “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You).” Why are there so many country songs about Texas towns? Can any other state come close? A: As a longtime lover of country music and a lifelong resident of the state,the Texanist has not failed to note the abundance of songs about Texasplaces.

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Dan Solomon

By Sunday, Texans will know whether the hemp-derived THC products that have been legal in the state since 2019 will be banned as of September 1. During the Eighty-Ninth Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 3, which would end a $5.5 billion industry and which now sits on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Daniel Vaughn

Texas barbecue has drawn many cultural collaborations from around the world over the past few years. Joints have paired their smoked meats with Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Egyptian, and Japanese cuisines. At Parish Barbecue, in Austin, owner and pitmaster Holden Fulco is looking just across the eastern border, to his home state of Louisiana, for menu inspiration at his new food truck. He’s parked outside craft brewery Batch and has been serving on a regular schedule since March.

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Paula Forbes

Texas picked up several medals last night at the 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, held in Chicago. Arjav Ezekiel of the counter-service prix-fixe restaurant Birdie’s, in Austin, won Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, a national award. Best Chef: Texas went to Thomas Bille, of the Mexican-influenced restaurant Belly of the Beast, in Spring, outside Houston.