Live Music: Giovannie & The Hired Guns

Giovannie & The Hired Guns are a country-rock band from Stephenville, Texas, led by frontman and songwriter Giovannie Yanez. With a visceral sound that merges alt-metal, Red Dirt country, Latin pop, and Americana, the Stephenville-based five-piece have ascended from local honky-tonks to major festivals and arenas, drawing a crowd ranging from cowboys to metalheads to skate punks.

Their rise has been fueled by a relentless live show and a genre-defying approach. They scored a No. 1 radio hit with the single “Ramon Ayala” and won the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Artist in Alternative & Rock. “Ramon Ayala” climbed to #1 on both the Active Rock and Alternative radio charts — the first time in over 15 years an artist’s first career-charting single topped both at once. Their albums include Bad Habits, Tejano Punk Boyz, and Quitter.