Willie Nelson to headline Island music festival

 South Padre Island will be rocked in October by a different kind of hurricane.

Willie Nelson, the 75-year-old country-music renegade internationally acclaimed for his blues-flavored vocals and soulful guitar, will hit the Island Halloween weekend to headline at this year's South Padre International Music Festival.

He is the "cross-genre music legend" the festival's production team was searching for, said Tim Hayden, executive producer for the music fest.

"People like rock, people like gospel, people like country...but they all love Willie Nelson," Hayden said. "We knew we had to have a name like this."

This year's second annual music festival will run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 and boasts a lineup of 50 bands spread over 10 venues at South Padre beaches. The lineup is purposely 15 bands shorter than last year so that music fans have ample time to make it to their favorite shows, Hayden said.

"Last year we had a lot of people tell us they would have loved to be at two different places at one time since bands they wanted to see where playing at different ends of the beach," Hayden said. "This year the bands are less, but the names are bigger."

Also performing at the festival will be Tex-Mex rock group Los Lonely Boys from San Angelo and Ghostland Observatory, an Electro and funk-infused rock duo living in Austin.

After consultation with radio stations in South Padre, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, the production team added classic rock outfits Foghat and Blue Oyster Cult, Hayden said. Alejandro Escovedo, a longtime Austin local who had his start in the 1970s with the first-wave, punk group The Nuns, is also expected to be one of the night's top performers.

As South Padre Island recovers from a hard hit last week from Hurricane Dolly, hotels and venues are quickly bouncing back in time to prepare for the festival, Hayden said.

With more than 20,000 spectators from around the world expected to attend the biggest music event in Texas south of Austin, the island is going to need its "we can do, we will spirit."

South Padre International Music Festival lineup:

Willie Nelson

Foghat

Los Lonely Boys

Blue Oyster Cult

Ghostland Observatory

Alejandro Escovedo

Del Castillo

Grupo Fantasma

Fastball

Sara Hickman

Vallejo

Airline

meridianwest

Nakia & His Southern Cousins

Pelican West

The Last Vegas

Ginger Leigh

Twanguero

Bongodogs

Stewart Mann & the Statesboro Review

James Speer

Big Burn

Brownout

Phillip Thomas Kellogg

Suzanna Choffel

Eric Hanke

Bree Stevens

More to come...

Ticket info:

Three-day, weekend passes to SPI Music Fest are available at an early-bird discount rate of $70 plus tax and service fees until August 24th. A portion of the ticket proceeds will go to help benefit hurricane Dolly relief efforts in the Rio Grande Valley. To buy tickets go to http://www.spimusicfest.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets including Macy's, and select HEB stores. To charge tickets by phone, call (956) 668-7740 or the Ticketmaster Express Line (866) 448-7849.