Texas artists Lyle Lovett, Michael M. Murphey to perform at wildfire benefit

The Murphey Western Institute, in partnership with the Starlight Ranch Event Center, presents headlining Texas artists Lyle Lovett and Michael Martin Murphey in The Rangeland Fire Relief Benefit Dinner and Concert later this month. The fundraising event is for families and individuals still recovering from the recent fires.

The event will be held Sunday, April 21, with events beginning at 4 p.m. at the Starlight Ranch Moon Palace, 1415 Sunrise Dr.

Much of the Texas Panhandle is still in recovery following the fires that burned across the region in late February / early March. Of those fires, the Smokehouse Creek Fire was the largest fire recorded in Texas history, burning over 1 million acres, causing over $4 million in damage, burning over 130 homes, killing over 7,000 cattle and taking three lives.

In addition to this, many homeowners and landowners are still recovering from the smaller fires that ravaged the area at the same time, such as the Wellhouse, Grape Vine Creek, Windy Deuce and Mills Creek fires that collectively burned an additional 200,000 acres.

Murphey, a longtime ranching advocate and genre-busting musical hitmaker, stated in a news conference held at the Starlight Ranch Wednesday afternoon that it was his "responsibility" to help the Panhandle community, where he then reached out to Starlight Ranch co-owner Bobby Lee and pitched the idea for the benefit fundraiser.

"I have a heart for this place because of the cowboy culture here, because I have always been involved in American agriculture and have been a spokesperson for it, particularly the cattle industry. I sing cowboy songs, and of course I was attracted to the Big Texan as a kid, because cowboys always wanna stop and have a good steak," Murphey said.

"This is aimed at families, and particularly the families that lost everything or almost everything. You will never hear a West Texas farmer or rancher say they lost everything, because they believe if they haven't lost their lives, they haven't lost everything. These people are the toughest people in the world. They are going to recover, and we want to do everything we can to further that along," Murphey added.

Murphey said he was moved to help the Panhandle after hearing the experiences of many, with one in particular standing out to him.

"I haven't met this fellow yet, but 1,500 cattle gone in five minutes - another group of people had built their herd up to a large herd, they took a loan out on the herd to get a café going in their area for their community. Now they have no way to secure that loan after losing their cattle. ... Our farmers and ranchers are the heart of our country. If you don't have a great agriculture situation like we do, a country can never be self sufficient. We have the greatest farmers and ranchers in the world here, and they have provided the food for us for years. Now it is our opportunity to provide and help them," Murphey said.

During the event, attendees can attend the cocktail hour and meet and greet event beginning at 4 p.m., enjoy the Big Texan catered steak dinner at 5:30 p.m., dance to the live performance from Murphey and Lovett beginning at 6 p.m., or attend all the above for an unforgettable night and benefit a good cause.

"We have a responsibility to this community. We have been very well supported for 65 years at the Big Texan, with people coming out of the woodwork to support our restaurant, so when we get the opportunity to do something back, that is what we are in business for," Lee said.

"I hope this encourages other businesses in the area to feel in any form or fashion that there is a responsibility to take care of the people that have supported our businesses, and hopefully they will see this as an opportunity to come out, help and have fun," Lee added.

Although no official goal is set for the event, Murphey said that to really make an impact for the local cattle ranchers, they would need upwards of several million dollars to truly make a difference.

Tables and individual tickets are available for purchase. For more information about the event, go online to https://www.bigtexan.com/starlight-ranch-event-center/ .

To purchase tickets, visit https://bit.ly/rangelandbenefit or http://www.michaelmartinmurphey.com/tour .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Lyle Lovett, Michael Martin Murphey to perform benefit concert