This page is primarily for nominees who are considering participation in Texas Sounds, but it might be interesting for prospective audience members as well.

The Producers About Texas Sounds About East Texas Performance Details Quotes      

NOMINEES, PLEASE READ THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO GIVE YOU ALL INFORMATION YOU WILL NEED IN ORDER TO ACCEPT YOUR INVITATION.

About the Producers:
East Texas Performing Arts, Inc. (ETPA) is a U.S. 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit organization, established 2013 in Jefferson, Texas.
All proceeds from Texas Sounds go to fund charitable community services and performances of East Texas Performing Arts.

Our Mission:
East Texas Performing Arts, Inc. is dedicated to developing regional appreciation for, and participation in, drama and musical arts in East Texas. Special emphasis is on personal growth, especially of children, youth, and adults who have special needs, including financial, emotional, mental, and educational limitations. ETPA provides training and positive reinforcement in public speaking, movement, acting, and stage crafts, free of charge, to persons of all ages and abilities. ETPA sponsors amateur and professional presentations such as plays, musicals, concerts, and festivals, and provides performing arts education opportunities to the general public.

In all activities, ETPA’s goal and expectation is to elicit a professional level performance from each and every participant. Success begins with recognizing one’s strengths. No personal limitation is insurmountable.

All educational services are provided free of cost to the participants.

Texas Sounds is produced by, and is the major fundraising event for, East Texas Performing Arts, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Proceeds from the event, sponsorships, ticket sales, and merchandise/refreshment sales go directly to support ETPA.


Important facts about the Texas Sounds event:
This is a nonpaying gig. You are donating your performance to the East Texas Performing Arts nonprofit organization. You are responsible for all your expenses.

Please let me know of your acceptance and of any concerns that might remain. We have already had several international acts accept our invitation, some returning bands from previous Texas Sounds and quite a number of new acts.

This is the eleventh year for Texas Sounds. Our reputation worldwide is significant.

Texas Sounds nominees are selected solely upon what we see and hear online. Performers’ reputations and accomplishments are not a big factor in selection. Voice, instrumentalism, and performance ability are the criteria for nomination. Even so, we have hosted musicians who hold gold and platinum records, some who have sold millions of records, and many who have performed worldwide.

We are unusual in that award winners are decided by an independent panel of judges, based exclusively upon the competitive performances during the event. This is not a popularity contest. It is a test of skill, talent, and performance ability.

You will be competing for music awards/titles and you will have a good chance to win one or more awards (we award in numerous categories). 

Previous Texas Sounds award winners have expressed their delight at how greatly this award has benefited their careers. And, in coming years, any Texas Sounds award will mean a great deal more as our reputation continues to grow.

Approximtely a month prior to the event, September 15, we will order our 2023 Texas Sounds t-shirts. In order to have your name on the shirt, we need solid confirmation of your participation. This can be accomplished by sending photocopies of your airline tickets.

You will meet and have an opportunity to play with dozens of international musicians. The relationships that are established here at Texas Sounds can prove to be lifelong connections with your musical peers worldwide.

We recommend that you bring your own band, however, when needed, we will provide professional musicians to accompany you on stage at Texas Sounds, at no cost to you.

Please reply as soon as possible. As soon as you respond with your commitment to participating in Texas Sounds, we will begin promoting your name as one of our nominees.

We promote our event by promoting our artists. I am an online marketing professional. I devote my expertise to promoting every Texas Sounds performer. Promotional efforts extend all year. We are completely aware that the reputation of our event depends solely on the success of our performers. I will continue promoting our people indefinitely. Many of our participants have experienced huge career growth after performing in Texas Sounds.  Pablo Martin, from Mexico, launched his solo career after winning Male Vocalist of the Year in 2018. Several participants from each of our annual events are experiencing the promotional advantages gleaned from their participation in Texas Sounds. We help our participants succeed!

The following message was posted on Facebook By Joe Fields of Catalonia, Spain.
“Like I do in all the songs I write, I’d like to speak to you straight from my heart.
I’ve waited 2 months to write this appreciation post, but now it’s safe to say that my career experienced a boost I could not imagine possible. Two months full of TV and radio appearances that seemed unreachable two months and a day before. Two months since I came back from the Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards in Marshall, Texas, with the “Texas Balladeer Of The Year 2022” award.
It is not about the award. Well, it is not only about the award. To be honest, getting the award meant getting attention from the media in my home nation, Catalonia. Without the award, all these interviews on national radio and TV would not have happened. My IG followers would not have increased by more than 10%. Or my Spotify followers would not have tripled.
But, believe me, it is really not about the award. It is about the experience. It is about getting to know not only talented artists from all over the globe but getting to know the people of Marshall and Jefferson, Texas. Its community of citizens, musicians, volunteers, organizers, public servants,… all of them making us feel like home. Their hospitality is beyond anything you can expect.
Not to talk about the other participants in Texas Sounds. I went there not knowing any of the singers and musicians coming from all around the world. And now I’m proud to call some of them friends. One of them said that the word ‘competition’ did not appear until the awards ceremony. I couldn’t agree more. We all enjoyed the other performances and embraced a feeling of cooperation more than competition. What a powerful language music is. We all need more music in this world.
If you are a Country Music artist or singer-songwriter outside the US and you dream of enhancing your musical career, don’t you think twice: bring your three chords and your truth to East Texas. Texas Sounds is the real thing.
Thank you so much Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards! Thank you so much people from Marshall & Jefferson! I love you so much and I hope to see you all again pretty soon!”

Perhaps the most impressive thing we can say about Texas Sounds is that our major award winners, almost invariably, want to return.


About the City of Marshall, Texas and the East Texas Region:

People in East Texas take their music very seriously. Country music in all its variations is part of our daily lives.

The first million selling Country song was written and performed by Vernon Dahlhart who was born in little Jefferson, Texas, just a 15-minute drive from our Texas Sounds venue. Boogie Woogie originated in Marshall, Texas, the new home of Texas Sounds International. Bob Wills was the first performer to make Western Swing famous.  Tex Ritter was born in East texas near the city of Carthage, just 30-minutes from the Texas Sounds venue. Don Henley, of The Eagles, was born, and still lives, just a few minutes from Marshall. Boogie Woogie, Western Swing, Outlaw Country, and Red Dirt Country originated here. East Texans love Country music. It is part of our lives.

From Marshall you can drive in one day to Austin, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, or Chicago (albeit, it is a very long day’s drive to Chicago, 13 hours). With a bit of advance planning, you may arrange paying gigs for a professional tour here in the States.

Southern American hospitality is warm and friendly, no pretense, no worries, instant lifelong friendships.

An enjoyable part of the welcome you will receive is an evening meal each night of the event. Local restaurants provide delicious meals for participants and their travel companions, served buffet-style in our Green Room. Each evening is a different meal, Texas BBQ, Mex-Tex, Smoked meats, or Southern fried specialties.

Jefferson, Texas is a very small town just 15-minutes away that relies on tourism as our only industry. The little community is a destination for many travelers, and is blessed with more than 30 quaint/luxury/historic bed and breakfast businesses as well as modern and historic hotels. Some offer special discounts to our international guests. October is a busy time in Jefferson. Rooms will fill early.

Marshall has approximately 1600 rooms for rent, available in all price ranges.

Please make reservations as early as possible to avoid disappointments.

We hope you will stay in Marshall or Jefferson for at least the entire five days of Texas Sounds. We have special events planned for both Wednesday and Sunday as well as the evenings of competitive performances.


Performance Details:
You may have been nominated as a soloist, duo, trio, or full band. All nominees are welcome to bring accompaniment or a full band.

Texas Sounds has an outstanding house band. Solo acts, duos, and trios can choose to have our house band or specific house band members back them. Bands can have our band members fill in for any of your musicians who cannot attend.

Competitive sets are limited to 20-minutes.

Bring any wearable mics or in-ear monitors you wish to use.

Bands are encouraged to bring a premixed sound board.

We have a full backline and an assortment of instruments available for your use. We have double bass, keyboard, accordion, electric bass, acoustic/electric guitar, drum set, amps, DI boxes, mics, etc.

Most performers bring their own guitars, electric bass, mandolin, violins, etc.


Award Winner Testimonials:

From Max Tyler (Spain) 2018 Texas Heritage award winner:
“There is nothing like Texas Sounds anywhere in the world. Every performer should want to participate.”

From Florian Fox – 2020 Outstanding Live Production of the Year award winner:
Florian is from Switzerland and now living in Nashville.
“I am happy to tell you that the award keeps opening new doors for me which is very cool and exceeds all expectations, thank you again!
It is really astonishing what boost this award has been in starting my career as a solo artist. It came in the exact right point in time
The award was just what I needed after being 10 years in the business with my group The Black Barons, and now launching my own project.”

From 2015-16 award winners, Heidi Gabrielle and Fox Gino (Belgium and Netherlands):
?We have been working really hard at our music and acts etc… This is going be our year… The gigs are coming real fast now… Thanks to the award… Yes, believe it or not, but now we’re harvesting the fruits of the award… We are very happy with that… So, thanks again…”

I hope to hear from you soon and that we will see you October 12, 2023!