The Outlaws, Jason Boland to kick up dust at Big Sky PBR

Outlaw Partners PBR coverage

BIG SKY – Cornerstones of the annual Big Sky Pro Bull Riders weekend, the free after-party concerts begin the moment PBR fans start streaming out of the Big Sky Town Center arena.

In years past, Big Sky PBR has hosted renowned cover bands including Zoso, Hell’s Belles and Pinky and the Floyd, as well as original country-rock musicians like the Kris Clone Band and Big Sky’s own Bottom of the Barrel.

This year, the free music will kick off Thursday, July 28, with a Music in the Mountains performance by Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real—making their first Big Sky PBR appearance since a memorable 2012 show—on the stage in Town Center Park.

The music moves to the PBR vendor village Friday night, when southern rock legends The Outlaws bring their “guitar army” to fans at the SAV Stage. Each year, Big Sky PBR hires a flatbed stage to host the after party concerts where revelers can enjoy the many food vendors and libations offered.

Founded in 1972, The Outlaws having been touring on and off for more than 40 years, most recently in support of their 2012 album “It’s About Pride.” The opening lyrics of the record’s title track sums up the trials and tribulations—and especially redemption—of a band that’s been touring nearly half a century:

“I’m proud to be a part of something/That started long ago/A southern band of brothers/Bound together by the road.”

The Outlaws will arrive with their triple-guitar rock attack and three-part country harmonies on tracks from “It’s About Pride,” as well as classic cuts from their early career. These include “There Goes Another Love Song,” “Green Grass and High Tides,” and “Freeborn Man,” songs from their Arista Records years and classic rock radio essentials.

The Outlaws have toured with southern rock luminaries including The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band, and they’ll bring this pedigree to Big Sky Town Center.

After the championship round of bull riding on Saturday night, Jason Boland and the Stragglers take the SAV Stage to put an exclamation point on the sixth annual Big Sky PBR.

Boland plays a brand of music called Red Dirt Texas Country that has its roots in North Texas and gets the “red dirt” grit from Boland’s home state of Oklahoma.

The Dallas Observer in 2015 named Boland’s “Pearl Snap Shirts” No. 28 on its list of the 50 best Red Dirt Texas Country songs.

“There are not many constants in this world, but there will always be Texas Country music, cheap bourbon whiskey and pearl snap shirts,” wrote the Observer. The No. 1 song on that list was “The Road Goes on Forever (And the Party Never Ends)” by Robert Earl Keen, which many Big Sky PBR fans will remember lighting up the final night of last year’s event.

Jason Boland and the Stragglers are sure to carry that southern torch into this summer’s party on July 30.

The Big Sky PBR after party music will be held July 29 and 30 on the SAV Stage sponsored by SAV Digital Environments.