TV SHOW

Lawmen: Bass Reeves 

Paramount +, November 5 

Bass Reeves’s legendary exploits have led many to speculate that he was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Although that’s probably not true, Reeves’s story is made for the screen. More than a century after his death, he was depicted briefly in the 2019 HBO miniseries Watchmen, then more fully in 2022’s Netflix movie The Harder They Fall, in which he was portrayed with intimidating swagger by Delroy Lindo. Lawmen: Bass Reeves, a miniseries dedicated to telling his story, or at least his legend, stars David Oyelowo as Reeves and was executive produced by Weatherford’s Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the Yellowstone franchise. 

BOOK 

Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs, Willie Nelson and David Ritz

HarperCollins, October 31 

With the help of music biographer David Ritz, the ninety-year-old icon, who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, takes a deep dive into about 6 percent of his catalog in his new book. Named after a track from 2022’s A Beautiful Time, the volume shares the backstory on career-defining tunes and deeper cuts close to Willie’s heart. 

ALBUM 

Chronicles of a Diamond, Black Pumas 

ATO Records, October 27 

The Austin-based psychedelic funk duo of Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada follow their 2019 Grammy-nominated debut with a record that is hard-charging but aching with love. It will be a foundation for a run of live performances: Texans can catch the Pumas in Austin, Dallas, and Houston in early December. 

FESTIVAL 

Honeyland Festival 

Crown Festival Park, Sugar Land, November 11–12 

What place could be better at hosting the Honeyland Festival, a celebration of Black excellence and creativity, than one of the country’s most diverse cities (and Sugar Land is a city), just twenty miles southwest of Houston, itself a capital of Black talent? Honeyland’s inaugural lineup includes chefs (Marcus Samuelsson and Christopher Williams, the cofounder of Houston’s Lucille’s) and superstar musicians (Mary J. Blige and H-Town’s Tobe Nwigwe, plus Scarface, Slim Thug,  and Paul Wall). 

This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Four Reasons This Is a Great Month in Texas Culture.” Subscribe today.