October 15, 2007
"'Cause the Devil's got a charcoal pit
And a good fire down below"
Posted by pete
at October 15, 2007 12:19 AM
"And the lucky winners are..."
On the album No. 2 Live Dinner, Robert Earl Keen uses the intro to his not-at-all overplayed "The Road Goes on Forever" to describe the apparent spontaneous combustion of a number of automobiles (including his own) at Willie Nelson's 1974 4th of July Picnic, held at Texas World Speedway south of College Station. The destruction of his car was captured on the cover of his 1997 album Picnic.
Curiously enough - REK was apparently on stage during this incident:
A grass fire in a parking area at a country music festival engulfed more than 20 vehicles, fire officials said. There were no injuries.
Authorities say the cause of Saturday's fire is under investigation. The two-day Big State Festival at Texas World Speedway carried on with acts including Lynyrd Skynyrd and Robert Earl Keen.
As Austin resident John Boston parked on Saturday afternoon, he said, he noticed smoke coming from under the car.
"I instantly knew what was going on and got back in the car to start it," Boston said. "When it wouldn't turn over, I just got out of there."
Before firetrucks could arrive, the blaze had spread to almost every vehicle in the row.
Maybe Keen should stick to concerts in West Texas, where there isn't any grass to ignite.
The concert was amazing but the fire was a tragedy - one of the winners on 9513’s website lost her truck to the fire, but she seemed happy to be there anyway =) No damper on that woman’s spirit!
For anyone livin’ in the Dallas area or just in Texas, have ya’ll gotten to tune in to the new station Lonestar 92.5? currently internin for em and helpin out with the website, etc - and if you’re a fan of alt/outlaw/classic country, come check em out at www.lonestar925.com
The station has limited commercial interruption, and they play everyone you heard at the Big State Fest. So if you were left wantin more, please stop by and show some love!
I was in Bryan/College Station on Saturday for a symposium, and we could see the smoke from the fire all the way from Navasota at around 4:00. I thought it was some effect gone wrong from the show.