Stone Temple Pilots, Lisa Loeb and All-4-One are among the musical acts that will headline Sherman’s annual Hot Summer Nights concert series and annual Lights on the Lake Fourth of July celebration. Organizers for the concert series announced the lineup for this year’s events on Friday during the monthly Coffee with the Mayor event.

This year represents the 31st year for the annual celebration of music. Previous years’ events featured travelling artists ranging from the Village People and The Beach Boys to Scott Stapp and Easton Corbin, among others. This year’s concert series features a mixture of musicians from the 80s and 90s to some that are still actively recording.

“We are so excited for our 31st season of Hot Summer Nights,” Main Street Director Sarah McRae said. “We always love the support we get from the community on these shows and anticipation surrounding our announcement of the bands each year.

“Even if it’s not your favorite genre for that week, we guarantee that if you show up, you will enjoy some wildly talented musicians and hopefully leave as a new fan of that week’s band!”

This year’s concert series will begin on June 5 and feature a new musical act each Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Kidd-Key Park outside the Sherman Municipal Building. The exception will be on July 3 when the city holds its annual Lights on the Lake concert at Pecan Grove Park — West.

The first concert will feature alternative rock band Everclear performing on June 5. The band rose to fame through the 90s with hits like Santa Monica and Everything to Everyone.

“They had a lot of pop-rock hits in the 90s and early 2000s-time frame, but definitely ones that your mom probably knows,” McRae said. “You hear their songs out and about, but they are a big name for us and we are excited to kick off the concert series with Everclear.”

The second concert of the series will come on June 12 when Pal Tillis performs in Sherman. Tillis rose to fame in the early-to-mid 90s with her own classic country songs.

“If you grew up listening to country, she had songs you would definitely recognize,” McRae said.

While country and rock concerts are a staple of the concert series, McRae said organizers were able to to fulfill of a long-time goal of adding R&B to the lineup this year with All-4-One, who will perform on June 19.

“Out of the ones that are touring with gits that are recognizable to most, we have not has as many of them as we would like to,” she said. “We are typically a little more rock led in our series, but I am excited. We’ve been trying to get this particular act for some years. This is the first time their schedule aligned with ours, and that it was possible to get them as a part of the series.”

The Eli Young Band will headline the concert on June 26. McRae said she expects this to potentially be the biggest concert of the year as the band has proven to be extremely popular with country music fans.

“I predict that June 26 will be our biggest show, crowd-wise, of the season,” she said. “They are a huge name in country music and our country shows do typically bring in the biggest crowds.”

July 3 will see Stone Temple Pilots play in Pecan Grove Park as a part of the city’s annual Lights on the Lake concert and fireworks show. McRae said organizers are planning a bigger celebration this year than in previous years.

STP formed in San Diego in 1989 and were a breakout band in the grunge movement of the early 90s. Perdida, the band’s most recent album, was released in early 2020.”

This year’s sole cover band, the Windbreakers, will perform on July 10. McRae referred to the band’s musical style as “yacht rock” with a mixture of soft-rock and easy-listening sound.

“It doesn’t have to be a specific decade, so those could be songs from are happening now back to like the 70s,” she said. “It is soft rock, maybe some things in the disco lane, but it is mainly just catchy melodies.”

McRae first heard the band several years ago when they were performing at the Island Bar in Pottsboro. Each year, the band plays a one-night concert near Lake Texoma, she said.

Concert organizers hope crowds will stay on July 17 for Lisa Loeb’s performance. Loeb rose to fame in 1994 when her breakout single Stay topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts, marking the first time an artist topped the chart before being signed to a record label.

Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses will headline the July 24 show and play many of the band’s classics. 

“I would say I am still a huge Guns N Roses fan, and that doesn’t embarrass me at all,” McRae said.

Traditionally, the last show of the year has been a difficult one due to the summer heat and other factors. However, organizers plan to reuse a strategy that drew large crowds in 2024. For the final show on July 31, organizers have booked Liberación will perform.

In 2024, organizers closed out the season with a Spanish-language show that saw large crowds show up to see A.B. Quintanilla II and The Kumbia All Starz. This year, organizers hope to see a return of these large crowds for Liberación.

“We had proof it worked really well. Last year, we had a wonderful turnout for A. B. Quintanilla and this act is a huge success in their lane,” McRae said. “They have a lot of hits and a lot of fans, and we really hope to see a great turnout for this show to wrap up our summer.”

The concert series is primarily funded using the city’s hotel occupancy tax revenues. These taxes are collected based on hotel rentals and are used to promote tourism and other programs that attract people to spend the night in Sherman. In turn, this creates more HOT revenues for the city.

“In a typical season, about 70 percent of the people coming out to the shows are not from Sherman, so it’s doing what we want it to do as far as bringing visitors into our city,” McRae said. “But it’s really an exciting time with all the growth we are experiencing here lately and having so many new Sherman residents join in on these long-running traditions that are so special to us.

“Having amenities like these and our beautiful city parks, and unique downtown shops and restaurants are what bring people into our city and help bond the people who live here and create a real sense of community.”