Recorded live in Austin, Texas and San Antonio, Texas from August 29 to September 1, 1995.

"That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Lyle Lovett (vocals, acoustic guitar); Willie Green, Jr. , Francine Reed, William "Bill" Greene, Arnold McCuller, Sir Harry Bowens, Sweet Pea Atkinson (vocals); Ray Herndon (electric guitar); Andrea Zonn (fiddle); John Hagen (cello); Steve Marsh (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Harvey Thompson (tenor saxophone); Vinnie Ciesielski (trumpet); Charles Rose (trombone); Matt Rollings (piano, keyboards); Dan Tomlinson (drums); James Gilmer (percussion).

Audio Mixers: Josh Nelson; Mark Wilshire; Nathaniel Kunkel; Tony Flores.

Recording information: Austin, TX (06/29/1995-09/01/1995); San Antonio, TX (06/29/1995-09/01/1995).

Photographer: Michael Wilson .

In a way, Lyle Lovett has operated on two different levels since the beginning of his career. For many listeners, including critics, he's an exceptionally talented songwriter, revealing himself as the equal to such inspirations as Randy Newman. However, unlike most singer/songwriters, he's an entertainer, putting on one hell of a show every time he takes the stage. And that may be why Live in Texas is such a good album: For the first time, Lovett the entertainer has been captured on record. Not that his previous albums have been dry, but it's a pleasure to hear Lovett play with an audience (they love it, laughing at the punch lines in "Here I Am" and listening dead quiet to "North Dakota") and his songs, delivering vibrant, loose-limbed performances that confirm what a rich catalog he has. Recorded in Austin and San Antonio just prior to the release of his 1998 covers album Step Inside This House, Live in Texas is nearly a greatest-hits collection, graced with a couple of idiosyncratic choices (including a showcase for vocalist Francine Reed, "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues") that are nice additions to a uniformly excellent set of songs. Since Lovett never breaks from his recorded arrangements, what brings Live in Texas to life is the spirit of the performances, which not only rival the original recordings, but at times are more energetic or humorous. That doesn't necessarily make it a better album than any of his studio efforts -- like most live albums, it plays better if you already know the material -- but it's undeniably hard to resist. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In the course of making eight studio albums, not only has Lyle Lovett amassed an impressive backlog of songs, but he's also developed a reputation as an extraordinary live performer thanks to a coterie of musicians known as His Large Band. For the 1995 Austin and San Antonio shows compiled on LIVE IN TEXAS, Lovett's band was 17 strong and featured five background vocalists along with a horn and string section.

The Texas singer-songwriter has always had a uniquely unclassifiable sound that flits between folk, country, blues and rock. Nowhere is this more evident than in a live setting where Lovett easily changes gears between the Texas swing of "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" to the gospel-soaked fun of "Church." Throughout any stylistic shifts, Lovett's lyrics reflect a variety of off-beat characters ranging from the sardonic wit of a hen-pecked husband in "She's No Lady" to the lovelorn weirdo skulking around in the wonderfully brassy "Here I Am." As a singer, Lovett's dry delivery works well whether he's duetting with Ricki Lee Jones on the heartbreaking "North Dakota" or trading sassy ripostes with Francine Reed during "What Do You Do."