Ray Wylie Hubbard with Zander Dawson and Mary Clare @ Music On Main Concert Series Denison Texas

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

Duane Clawson

8/1/20263 min read

All Images © Red River Current Media / dc photowerx

First of all, before I tell you about Ray Wylie Hubbard and the final Music On Main show of the season, I want to extend my gratitude to the city of Denison, Texas! This concert series is among the best in the area, and it's completely free! The talent this year has been exceptional! The city and the production team collaborate seamlessly to ensure your concert experience is top-notch!

Being the season's last show, the atmosphere was a bit bittersweet, but Ray Wylie did a fantastic job uplifting everyone present with his great stories and wry sense of humor. Social media was abuzz following the show, with many claiming it was the largest audience they had ever witnessed.

Three young talents from Shawnda Rains Entertainment Group ushered Mr. Hubbard onto the stage. Mary Clare entertained the audience with a mix of covers and original songs. Zander Dawson, a college-bound pole vaulter, wrapped up the opening performances with his powerful voice and polished stage presence.

If you're familiar with singers and songwriters, you certainly know Ray Wylie Hubbard. With twenty albums to his name, he is poised to release his twenty-first album in 2026. After a struggling career in the eighties, he redirected his focus towards songwriting and reinvented himself as an Outlaw Country musician. This change proved beneficial as some of his best work has emerged in the nineties and two thousands.

Hubbard is no stranger to Music On Main, having performed at the concert series in 2015. I'm unsure of the attendance numbers from past concerts over the years, but I can say there were more lawn chairs than I have ever seen in Forest Park! Without wasting time, Ray Wylie dives into hit songs like "Snake Farm," "Screw You, We're From Texas," and "Drunken Poets Dream."

While Hubbard works his way through his catalogue, he also takes moments between songs to share stories, often ending with an unexpected humorous twist. The audience responds with "so well, so well, so well," a famous refrain from the song that launched him into the limelight, "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother!"

As the night draws to a close, all too quickly, Hubbard pulls out all the stops with his ode to Oklahoma, "Choctaw Bingo." Just as his stories and songs take unexpected turns, he surprises everyone by ending the night with a song that was truly fitting for the moment, Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes On Forever," with its well-known chorus, "the road goes on forever, and the party never ends!" Thank you, Denison, for keeping the party going!

Red River Current Media will return to Denison on September 12th,2026 for their grassroots music festival, Rhythm & Rails. Cya there!