TCU football coach Gary Patterson to debut songs at charity concert at Billy Bob’s
TCU football coach Gary Patterson has been busy recruiting and preparing for the Horned Frogs’ upcoming season, but on Wednesday night he’ll take a break, hang up his whistle, pick up his guitar and head to a charity concert at Billy Bob’s Texas where he’s expected to debut a couple of new singles.
Fin Ewing and the Wrong Direction are headlining the show with Patterson and others serving as special guests.
“Wednesday night is going to be a lot of fun,” Patterson said. “We don’t think we’re Bob Seger and George Strait, but the music is going to be better than what you think it is. Fin’s band is unbelievable. They’ve got 12 or 13 people in it who have all been studio musicians or singers. These are people who do it for a living. They play in more than just Fin’s band.”
Patterson made headlines last offseason for his musical talents. With the COVID-19 pandemic providing more downtime than usual, Patterson wrote and recorded a couple of songs (“Take a Step Back” and “Game On”) that were well-received.
Tickets for Wednesday’s 8 p.m. concert are $20 and available through Billy Bob’s website. Proceeds will benefit The Big Good, a charity that Patterson started along with Grammy Award-winning artist Leon Bridges in 2020. The Gary Patterson Foundation is now part of The Big Good, which focuses on providing educational opportunities and improving the livelihood of children and families in North Texas.
Along with Patterson, other guests scheduled to perform include TCU graduate JT Hodges, who co-wrote and performed “Take a Step Back” and “Game On” with Patterson. Another TCU graduate who is in the music industry, Heather Morgan, is also set to play.
Patterson didn’t drop any hints on his new songs other than to say one of them will feature a fiddle player who used to play with the Eagles. (And that would be the band, not the team.)
“We’ll see how everyone likes them,” Patterson said.
Ewing, meanwhile, is president of the Ewing Automotive Group, and he started his band a few years ago. Their first show was at The Rustic in Dallas with special guests Larry Gatlin, Ricky Cavender and Ronny Duwe.
This will be the band’s first time to play at Billy Bob’s and the first with Patterson, regarded as one of the top college football coaches of his generation. For Patterson, though, the biggest benefit is raising funds for The Big Good.
One of the foundation’s signature events is feeding thousands a holiday meal during Thanksgiving. Patterson said they provided more than 19,000 turkeys in 2020 and have already ordered 25,000 turkeys for this year.
“It’s for a good cause,” Patterson said. “Fin has done so much for TCU and the Metroplex, too. It’s going to be fun.”
