Collective Soul booked for Sherman's Lights on the Lake; account of teen's on-stage guitar turn unverified

Collective Soul was the scheduled featured act for Lights on the Lake, a concert listed on Sherman's Hot Summer Nights schedule at Pecan Grove Park, on Thursday, July 2, according to the series page posted on shermanarts.org. An account received by GvilleTX Newsroom says a teenager was called out of the audience that night to play guitar with the band, but no public record reviewed before publication confirms that the moment took place.

According to the account, the invitation came as a surprise during the band's set, and the teenager played guitar on stage alongside the group. The account names him as Anthony Christopher, puts his age at 16 and gives Durant as his hometown. None of those details appears in the event's official schedule listing or in the City of Sherman documents reviewed by the newsroom, and neither source names a guest performer at the concert. The identification is reported here as an unverified account rather than an established fact. This story will be updated if the event's presenters or another source of record confirms the performance.

The concert itself is a matter of public record. The Hot Summer Nights page lists 2026 as the 32nd season of the series and credits the Sherman Department of Tourism as its presenter. Lights on the Lake appears on that page as part of the 2026 summer schedule.

City finance records show how the program is funded. Sherman's fiscal year 2026 budget classifies Hot Summer Nights and Lights on the Lake as municipal tourism activities. The same document states that revenue from the city's hotel and motel tax supports general tourism work and renovation of the municipal auditorium.

The city council adopted that budget on Sept. 2, 2025. The budget document records every listed vote by the mayor and council members as a vote in favor.

In neighboring Denison, the city held its 39th annual Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration at Munson Stadium and Forest Park, according to the City of Denison's event page. The listing said music for the celebration would air on KMKT 93.1 FM and that fireworks would begin at dusk.

This report draws on the published Hot Summer Nights schedule and on city records from Sherman and Denison. Details drawn from the unverified account are identified as such above.