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Texas star: City a natural fit for annual gathering
BASTROP — Veteran Texas actor and storyteller Barry Corbin will help usher western entertainment toward Bastrop County next month with a feature performance, as the Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering expands beyond its longtime home in Alpine.
The annual event will ride into Bastrop for the first time Wednesday, Feb. 18, with “An Evening with Barry Corbin,” a program Corbin said is built around conversation, shared memories and audience engagement to help decide where the night goes “I enjoy the conversation — I like to bring the audience into it,” he said. “I will learn a little bit about you and you can learn a little bit about me.”
Corbin will hold a press conference the following morning, ahead of three full days of poetry readings, live music and shared stories.
“The Norse have their mythology of the Vikings and then you got Greek mythology. We’ve got the cowboys over here.”
— Barry Corbin The “Urban Cowboy” and “Yellowstone” star said he has visited Bastrop before and its history along old cattle trails makes it a natural fit for cowboy poetry.
While the festival has traditionally been held in Alpine, part of the gathering is moving to Bastrop this year because of scheduling and lodging constraints at its original home. Organizers said Bastrop’s central location and history of western culture made it a perfect choice for expansion.
“It’s our mythology — the Norse have their mythology of the Vikings and then you got Greek mythology,” Corbin said. “We’ve got the cowboys over here.”
Most shows will be held at the Bastrop Convention Center, 1408 Chestnut St., with additional acts planned downtown at the Bastrop Public Library and Bastrop Museum and Visitors Center. Dinner and supper shows will be held at Film Alley, 1600 Chestnut St.
Corbin plans to spend several nights in Bastrop during the gathering, introducing performers, signing autographs and visiting with the community. He started his career acting on stage for 20 years and said events like this give him something he missed when he left stage work to pursue acting on screen.
“I always like to have contact with the audience. This gives me that outlet,” he said. “Y’all come on out and see us, because we’re going to have a good time.”
Tickets and more information are available at lonestarcowboypoetry.com.
