ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons has just released a new solo song called “Livin’ It Up Down in Texas.” The grooving, blues-rock track arrives as Gibbons is about to begin a new tour with his solo band The BFGs.
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Gibbons co-wrote “Livin’ It Up Down in Texas” with actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton and veteran country singer/songwriter Mark Collie. The song first was heard in a recent episode of Paramount+ TV series Landman, which co-stars Thornton and Collie.
“It seemed really natural to team up with Billy Bob and Mark to write a song for Landman,” Gibbons said. “‘Livin’ It Up Down in Texas’ isn’t, per se, autobiographical, but does encapsulate the oil-stained Lone Star lifestyle as seen each week in the series.”
Gibbons has been friends for many years with Thornton. When he was younger, Billy Bob played drums in a ZZ Top cover band called Tres Hombres, which Gibbons has called “the best little cover band in Texas.” Thornton also co-founded and has played drums for nearly two decades in the band The Boxmasters.
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Gibbons produced “Livin’ It Up Down in Texas” in Nashville. The track is expected to be included on the his upcoming fourth solo album with The BFGs. Gibbons’ previous solo records, Perfectamundo, The Big Bad Blues, and Hardware, were released in 2015, 2018, and 2021, respectively.
“Livin’ It Up Down in Texas” is available now via digital formats.
About Gibbons’ 2025 Tour Plans with The BFGs and ZZ Top
Gibbons’ 2025 tour with The BFGs kicks off Friday, January 17, at the Blue Note Hawaii in Honolulu. It’s part of a three-show residency at the venue that runs through January 19. That engagement will be followed by a four-date stand, January 21-24, at the Blue Note Napa in Napa, California.
The tour will proceed to hit venues across the U.S., winding down on February 20 in Bristol, Tennessee.
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The current incarnation of The BFGs features the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ longtime collaborator Mike Flanigan on keyboards and drummer Chris Layton, who was a member of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band Double Trouble.
After the solo outing, ZZ Top will launch a 2025 edition of its Elevation Tour. The trek begins with a U.S. leg that runs from a March 5 concert in Dothan, Alabama, through an April 12 show in Forrest City, Arkansas.
The Texas trio then will head Down Under for a 12-date trek. That runs from an April 26 concert in Bendigo, Australia, through a May 18 gig in Wellington, New Zealand.
ZZ Top’s itinerary also includes a Canadian tour that currently features 15 concerts. That leg begins June 1 in Victoria, British Columbia, and is mapped out through an August 23 show in Richmond, British Columbia.
More About Landman
“Livin’ It Up Down in Texas” was featured in an episode of Landman titled “WolfCamp.” The series is set in the oilfields of West Texas and stars Thornton as a Tommy Norris, a man who performs various duties for an oil company.
Landman was co-created by actor/director/writer Taylor Sheridan, who also involved with the creation of the hit series Yellowstone and its prequel spinoffs 1883 and 1923.
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