Grammy-winners Headline FiestaJAM 2025

I'm pleased to share our official press release. Also, a quick update on the new album with Mike Blakely, John M. Greenberg. We've settled on a title, Follow the Music, and were into the final stages of studio work.

MARBLE FALLS, Texas – Eight-time Grammy-winning Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel will headline the first spring edition of FiestaJAM, the musical celebration staged each year in Marble Falls. The gathering will take place May 1-3 at Johnson Park Amphitheater, 230 S Avenue J, about an hour outside of Austin in Texas’ Hill Country. FiestaJAM will share the park with MayFest, Marble Falls’ annual spring festival. Admission to FiestaJAM is free, though a limited number of three-day VIP tickets go on sale today at $75 each ($100 per couple). They can be purchased at fiestajam.org. 

Since co-founding Asleep at the Wheel nearly 55 years ago, frontman Ray Benson and his band have popularized the jazz-meets-country sound of Western swing around the world, while keeping the spirit of genre father Bob Wills alive for generations of new listeners. They’ll perform on the final night, along with Mike Blakely and FiestaJAM co-founder john Arthur martinez, and the Lake Travis Fiddlers.

Eight-time Grammy-winning Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel will headline FiestaJAM, May 3, 2025.

Martinez also will perform on the festival’s first night, a celebration of songwriters also featuring Bernie Nelson, Susan Gibson and headliners Verlon Thompson and Shawn Camp. The second night, a nod to Latin music, features martinez’s band Tejas, plus headliner Ruben Ramos & the Mexican Revolution. Camp and Thompson often perform together in tribute to famed songwriter Guy Clark, with whom each collaborated and performed. Thompson toured with Clark for years, and earned Grammy nominations for co-producing two Clark albums. Camp earned a Grammy for producing Clark’s final album, My Favorite Picture Of You, and co-produced This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark, named 2012 Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Camp also earned a Grammy for his work as lead singer of the Earls of Leicester, Jerry Douglas’ Flatt & Scruggs tribute band, and wrote the title song on Willie Nelson’s 2023 Best Country Album Grammy winner, A Beautiful Time.

FiestaJAM features Grammy-winners May 1, May 2, & May 3.

Double Grammy winner and Tejano Music Hall of Famer Ramos, aka El Gato Negro, has been thrilling audiences for decades while carrying on his family’s long musical legacy. Ramos formed his band, the Mexican Revolution, after stepping out from his uncle’s band, the Alfonso Ramos Orchestra. He earned his first Grammy for performing on the Los Super Seven album and his second for his own Viva La Revolucion. Fusing his Texas roots, Mexican American heritage and love of the Southwest into compelling original songs, martinez gained fame after earning second place on the inaugural season of the TV talent competition Nashville Star. His songs have since been recorded by artists as diverse as Flaco Jiménez and Alan Jackson. On May 3, he’ll perform with songwriter and author Blakely, who’s released 14 albums and written 19 novels. (Martinez and Blakely also comprise two-thirds of the trio the Outlaw Firm.)Martinez created FiestaJAM with Robert Linder in 2014 to showcase, honor and support his community. “I was raised here. This community has done a lot for me,” martinez told Dailytrib.com last year. “This is just a way of giving back, not because I have to, but because I want to something for the place that has supported me so much.” 

Events will kick off at May 1 at 9:30 a.m. with a songwriting seminar led by Gibson (who wrote the Chicks’ No. 1 hit, “Wide Open Spaces”), followed by a 1 p.m. session led by Nelson (co-writer of the Confederate Railroad hit, “Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind”). The Kent Finlay Texas Song Search finals will take place at 5 p.m., followed by the evening’s performers. Semi-finals for the event, honoring the late Cheatham Street Warehouse founder and singer-songwriter mentor, were held during the October 2024 FiestaJAM. (For more details about performers and the contest, visit fiestajam.org.) 

The contest winner will receive the Tillman Award, whose namesake is credited with helping to create Western swing, along with recording time to create a radio-ready single for servicing by Jenni Finlay Promotions. Jenni is the daughter of Kent, fondly remembered as one of the first performers appearing at the martinez-hosted 1987 Floyd Tillman’s Pickin’ in the Park event.Festivalgoers may bring lawn chairs and blankets; VIP tickets include access to chairs in a special front-of-stage seating area, as well as VIP restrooms and beverage service; food and beverages will be available for purchase at the event (coolers are not permitted). MayFest, a free four-day event hosted by the Marble Falls Chamber of Commerce, will also feature food offerings, along with craft vendors, a corn hole tournament, ticketed carnival rides and other attractions. 

About FiestaJAMFiestaJAM is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to support and promote regional youth music education programs. Proceeds from FiestaJAM aid music education programs at Marble Falls Independent School District and Harmony School of Creative Arts.Media Contact: Heidi Labensart, 512.698.2621, heidi@mcguckinpr.com