Kevin Morby plays the outdoor stage at Stubb’s on June 20 — and here’s what the booking tells you: a Lubbock-born songwriter who came up in Kansas City and spent years hauling gear as a bassist in Woods is now headlining a 2,500-capacity amphitheater on his eighth record, KUTX-presented. That’s a real arc. Morby has been one of indie rock’s slower burns — the kind that earns the room rather than jumps to one.
About Kevin Morby
Little Wide Open drops May 15 on Dead Oceans, produced by Aaron Dessner at Long Pond Studio in upstate New York. The collaborator list tells you exactly where Morby’s credibility sits right now: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Lucinda Williams, Katie Gavin of MUNA, Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, and Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso on the lead single “Javelin.” It’s the third in an unintentional trilogy following Sundowner (2020) and This Is a Photograph (2022), and Dessner pushes the palette toward its most twang-adjacent territory yet — banjo, pedal steel, and violin threading through songs about long-distance romance, American road life, small towns, and the slow weight of a touring career. Morby has called it the most personal and vulnerable record he’s ever made. At 13 tracks, with two running past 15 minutes, this one is built for the road — which makes a Texas date feel like the right place to hear it.
Support: Liam Kazar
Liam Kazar opens the night — a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based songwriter with jazz training and folk sensibility, a collaborative history that runs through Jeff Tweedy, and a 2021 debut record (Due North) that earned him a following in these circles. A solid pairing for the crowd this show will draw.
About the Venue
Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater is at 801 Red River Street — a 2,500-cap outdoor room that’s now part of the Austin concert landscape Live Nation absorbed a few years back. KUTX presenting means Austin’s NPR music station is behind this booking, which tends to bring a crowd that’s already familiar with the records.
Tickets & Show Details
This is an all-ages show. Doors open at 7 PM; the show starts at 8 PM. Tickets begin at $55. Morby is donating $1 from every ticket sold to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center through PLUS1.