This Baton Rouge musician just played one of the largest festivals in the US

Guitarist Edward Piña learned he’d be playing one of the country’s biggest music festivals just 24 hours before he took the stage. 

On Friday, Oct. 2, Piña received a call from his band’s manager while putting his son down for a nap at his home in Baton Rouge. The call informed him of the biggest opportunity of his music career so far, and on Saturday, Oct. 3, Piña played on the Beatbox stage at Austin City Limits.

Piña has been playing guitar full time for LeTrainiump, an Austin-based independent artist who is originally from Mamou, since 2022.

In 2024, Piña and his wife moved to Austin to join the scene Piña calls “the live music capital of the world.” There, Piña and the whole LeTrainiump crew played gigs, festivals and open jams, making connections within the community. 

After his son was born in 2025, Piña and his wife moved back to Baton Rouge, where they are from, to be closer to their families, and he frequently travels to meet the band for gigs.

LeTrainiump has played venues including Chelsea’s Live in Baton Rouge and Tipitina’s in New Orleans, as well as festivals such as Jazz Fest and Gretna Fest. In fact, the band played at Downtown Alive! in Lafayette on Oct. 2, less than 24 hours before they needed to appear at ACL. 

Because of the band’s connections in Austin, they learned of a last-minute cancellation at

ACL and were asked to fill the spot. They had 30 minutes to decide, and for them, saying yes was a no-brainer. 

On that Friday, the band played their set at Downtown Alive! at 8 p.m., then drove through the night to arrive in Austin by 5 a.m. the next day. 

This whole experience was an exercise in adaptation. After the last-minute trip, weather delays pushed back the festival’s schedule by more than an hour. Instead of playing a 45-minute set, the group was asked to play for 30 minutes. Pina says the group’s mindset prepared them for moments like this.

“We were running on adrenaline, but there’s a famous quote that we always say in our group,” he says. “Always be ready, so you don’t have to get ready. So you have the opportunity given to you, but you’ve been practicing your whole life so you can knock it out of the park.”

Piña says playing this festival felt surreal. He was ecstatic to play at a festival headlined by huge artists including Lorde, 21 Pilots and Kings of Leon. During the show, he was very aware of how big the opportunity was.

“There’s so much space on that stage,” Pina says. “It sounds so good, and you can see the skyline of Austin in the background, and I’m here. This is our moment. This is my moment. We’re going to have to seize this.”

After the guitarist returned to Baton Rouge and got a few days of rest, LeTrainiump was asked to return to ACL for the second weekend on Saturday, Oct. 10. 

This time, the whole crew was better prepared. Piña’s family traveled to Austin with him to share the experience. He says all of his shows are a family affair, but this occasion was special for a few reasons.

“It was just a super surreal experience because a year before that we used to live in Austin,” Piña says. “My son was 3 months old, and I was taking him to Zilker Park and having picnics at the park that’s right across the street from where our stage is now, where my son’s running around with my wife.”

The band’s performance this second weekend saw a crowd of 50,000.

As for playing at such a big event, Piña says the crowd size or the festival’s caliber didn’t affect his performance. After more than 15 years as a musician, he was ready for an opportunity like this. 

Now that this year’s ACL is in the rearview, the musician says he hopes to keep growing his roots in Baton Rouge and expand LeTrainiump’s reach. His dreams include playing at Austin’s popular outdoor music festival Blues on the Green and headlining Chelsea’s Live here in Baton Rouge. 

Follow the guitarist on Instagram.