Texas musician Wayne “The Train” Hancock has been chosen as the headlining Saturday night act during the third annual Rockabilly on the Route festival in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on June 4-7.
Hancock is best-known for the song “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs.” He also owns an indelible connection to Route 66. He told this story to No Depression magazine back in 2001:
“I’ve broken down on my way to shows and gotten there early. I was going through Vega, Texas, and my generator goes down and I pulled in the first place I see which is the Vega Motel on Route 66 and at 4:00 in the morning there’s a guy behind the desk. There’s never a guy at 4:00 in the morning so I figure he’s an insomniac.
“We get up the next day and it turns out there’s an auto parts store on either side of that motel and a garage in both of them. We got there two hours early. The next time I go through town I say, ‘Hey, let’s go through Vega. They got a cool motel there.’ The place is deserted and looks like it’s been closed for thirty years. The auto parts stores were closed too. I’ve got lots of stories like that.”
Hancock’s Here’s Hancock performing “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs” about 15 years ago during a taping of “Austin City Limits.” It sure sounds like a lonely trip down Route 66 in the western Panhandle of Texas.
While he’s at it, Hancock probably will perform this song at Tucumcari as well:
The festival also features these attractions:
- More than 20 music acts, including from Japan, Canada and Colombia.
- A swap meet
- A pop-up drive-in
- A tattoo contest
- A Rockin’ Bowl bowling event
- Classic car and motorcycle show
- A classic car cruise down Route 66
- A Rockin’ Gospel Brunch
- A tiki pool Party
The festival grew from 1,000 attendees in its inaugural year to more than 2,000 last year.
Festival passes can be purchased here.
(Image of Wayne “The Train” Hancock by Dena Flows via Flickr)