Two Tons of Steel to close out series

Texas country and rockabilly band Two Tons of Steel will close out the Summer in the Park concert series tonight with their signature blended sound of country meets punk.

Founder of Two Tons Kevin Geil and his original band, Dead Crickets began in 1992. The San Antonio-based group began packing the small bars and local hangouts and quickly became an Alamo City favorite, which earned them a spot on the cover of Billboard Magazine in 1996. 

Releasing an album called “Two Tons Of Steel” in 1994 and then “Crazy For My Baby” in 1995 on Blue Fire Records, a sponsorship deal with Lone Star Beer quickly followed. The Dead Crickets renamed themselves Two Tons of Steel in 1996 and began gigging outside of Texas, even playing the Grand Ole’ Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, the National Theater in Havana, Cuba and lots of European tours. 

In 1996 they released “Oh No!” on their independent label Big Bellied Records. Two Tons of Steel has held a long-running residency at the legendary Gruene Hall. They play their iconic country and rockabilly tunes every Tuesday evening during the summer for Two Tons Tuesday. 

The band’s first national release, “Vegas,” produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Lloyd Maines on the Palo Duro label, took them to number seven on the Americana Music Charts and was one of the top 20 releases of 2006 and their album “Not That Lucky,” that released in 2009, hit number four on the Americana Music Charts.

Two Tons Of Steel features frontman Geil on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jake Marchese on upright bass, Will Owen Gage on Lead Guitar and Rich Alcorta on drums. 

During their 25-year career, the band has collected a number of awards. To date, Two Tons has cleaned up at home, winning “Band of the Year” on 12 separate occasions and “Album of the Year” for its self-titled debut. Two Tons has also been named “Best Country Band” by the San Antonio Current 10 times. Geil also has nabbed ‘Best Male Vocal’ honors four times.

They have continued to push the line between country and punk with their latest album “Gone,” which was also produced by Maines and released in 2017.

According to Geil, Two Tons is planning a performance that will be filled with familiar tunes from their discography along with the full album performance of their latest album “Gone.” 

Two Tons has been playing Summer in the Park for over 10 years now and according to Frontman Geil, they are ecstatic to be returning.

“We love it and always look forward to it,” Geil said. “We always have a record crowd and it’s fun to see everyone come out and just enjoy the music. We hope they won’t be too hot. It’s fun they know our songs and sing and have a blast and that’s what we do it for.”

Two Tons of Steel will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. and play until 9:30 p.m. at the San Marcos Plaza Park. The show goes on rain or shine, though if it rains the show will move to the San Marcos Activity Center.