Micky and the Motorcars signed

The Real. Texas. Festival. entertainment schedule is starting to take shape. Offers are being made, mulled over and a few have even been accepted.

We've already signed our headliners. We have a couple of publicity embargoes as our headliners have shows booked in the area. We don't want to step on those shows so we'll wait until we've been given the green light to promote our headliners.

That green light will come Jan 1 ... so Jan. 1 at the stroke of midnight, be sure to check the Web site www.realtexasfestival.com for the announcement of the RTF headliners for 2011.

Trust me y'all ... it's big and Texas music fans will certainly not be disappointed. I say this every year, but we could have the largest attendance ever at the festival with the Friday and Saturday night headliners we've signed.

That being said, there are some signed entertainers that we can talk about.

For example, rising Texas music alt-country rockers Micky and the Motorcars have been signed for the festival. Micky and the Motorcars are an Austin-music scene stronghold and have been for a number of years.

I was unaware of the fact that Motorcars frontman Micky Braun is the brother of Reckless Kelly frontman Willy Braun.

Like many of the Texas bands and artists, they are true road warriors. They play some 215 shows per year and are traveling all over the state and nation. That's one of the things that sets Texas bands apart. They can log more miles touring in a year and some national recording acts -- simply by traveling the state.

Think about it ... from Kingsville to Amarillo and from Texarkana to El Paso -- that's a lot of miles.

The festival will also feature two of the hottest Tejano/Latino groups going today. One of them, Los Texmaniacs, won the Grammy for Best Tejano Album in 2010 for "Borders y Bailes."

Grupo Vida will be making a return performance at the festival, having played the event in 2010. The Electric Cowboys, as they are referred to from time to time, certainly entertain with an electric performance. They just might be the most versatile act on the bill.

The festival will also bring back the Battle of the Bands event for high school "garage bands." There are only eight performance slots available, but that doesn't mean more bands won't have the ability compete.

It has been our hope to have enough bands submit audition materials to where we can actually have preliminary rounds. And remember, there are no restrictions on the style of music that can be submitted for the Battle of the Bands.

True, the festival leans toward alt-country, country rock. But the Battle of the Bands event can feature anything or everything -- Rock, Rap, Metal, Grunge, Techno, Alternative, Emo, Thrash, Punk, Ska, Gospel, Hip Hop, Dance, Goth, Electronica ... it just doesn't matter.

The Real. Texas. Festival. prides itself on having one of the most diverse entertainment line ups and concert series out there.

The 2011 edition will be no exception.