Owen Temple

Owen Temple plays McGonigel's Mucky Duck on Thursday, October 22, at 6 PM. He's a Texas-born troubadour whose music sits at the intersection of folk wisdom and honky-tonk poetry. Born in Kerrville and now rooted in Austin, he writes story-driven songs about characters on the fringe: farmers, dreamers, wildcatters, and the weary hopeful.

He's been at this for a while. Across nine acclaimed albums, he's built a following as one of Texas' most thoughtful songwriters. His breakout General Store came in the late 90s, and Dollars and Dimes topped the Euro Americana Chart in 2009. More recently, he released Rings on a Tree in 2023. The Italian blog Roots Highway called him "one of the leading names on the Texas scene."

He's also a winner of the B.W. Stevenson Songwriting Competition and was a Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Finalist. On stage, he plays as an intimate, guitar-driven act. This show comes on the heels of his 2026 record, produced by Gordy Quist, which includes songs he wrote with longtime collaborators Walt Wilkins and Kelley Mickwee. Each single from the album is paired with an original watercolor by Temple, and those are gathered in the art book Watch It Shine: Selected Drawings, Watercolors, and Lyrics.

So, if you're into folk and country that leans on the storytelling side of things, this is right up your alley. Owen Temple at McGonigel's Mucky Duck in Houston, Thursday, October 22, at 6 PM.