Llano Estacado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈʝano estaˈkaðo], (meaning Palisaded Plains), commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North American continent, the elevation rises from 3,000 feet (900 m) in the southeast to over 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in the northwest, sloping almost uniformly at about 10 feet per mile (1.9 m/km). At such a gradual slope, however, the elevation change is imperceptible to the human observer.

The Llano Estacado lies at the southern end of the High Plains section of the Great Plains of North America; it is part of what was once called the Great American Desert. The Canadian River forms the Llano's northern boundary, separating it from the rest of the High Plains. To the east, the Caprock Escarpment, a precipitous cliff about 300 feet (100 m) high, lies between the Llano and the red Permian plains of Texas; while to the west, the Mescalero Escarpment demarcates the edge of the Pecos River valley. The Llano has no natural southern boundary, instead blending into the Edwards Plateau near Big Spring, Texas. This geographic area stretches about 250 miles (400 km) north to south, and 150 miles (240 km) east to west, a total area of some 37,500 square miles (97,000 km²), larger than Indiana and 12 other states. It covers all or part of 33 Texas counties and four New Mexico counties.

Thomas George "Tom" Russell (born March 5, 1947/1948^{[dubious – discuss]}) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Texas Country music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, Tex-Mex, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Johnny Cash, k. d. lang, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Nanci Griffith, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Iris Dement, Dave Alvin, and Suzy Bogguss. Tom has also done collaborative work with renowned cowboy poet Paul Zarzyski. They have worked together on a few songs which have appeared in Tom's works over the years.

In addition to his music, Russell also paints folk art, and has published a book of songwriting quotes (co-edited with Sylvia Tyson), a detective novel (in Scandinavia),and a book of letters with Charles Bukowski (Tough Company; Mystery Island Press).

Russell was born in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a master's degree in Sociology of Law (criminology). In 1969, he spent a year teaching in Ibadan, Nigeria during the Biafran War. He has also lived in Spain, Norway, and played music at a circus in Puerto Rico. He began his musical career in earnest in the early 1970s in Vancouver playing strip bars, then later relocated to Texas and formed a band with singer-pianist Patricia Hardin. In 1977, they moved to San Francisco, performing regularly in clubs there as Hardin & Russell, during which time they recorded the second of their two studio albums. They eventually split in 1979, at which point Russell drifted out of the music industry for a while.

Brian Burns is an American film and television writer, producer and director. Brian was born and raised in Long Island, New York (he was raised in the Gibson area of Valley Stream, New York and graduated from Hewlett High School). He is the brother of American filmmaker Edward Burns.

Brian, along with his brother, developed That's Life and The Fighting Fitzgeralds, which starred Brian Dennehy and Connie Britton.

In 2002, Brian wrote and directed You Stupid Man starring David Krumholtz, Milla Jovovich, William Baldwin and Denise Richards. The film premiered on October 18 at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

Burns went on to serve as a writer and Supervising Producer on the HBO hit series Entourage, where he wrote several episodes, including the fan favorite, "Return of the King," which is colloquially known as "The Yom Kippur Episode."

Since he left Entourage, Burns wrote and produced the ABC show Big Shots, and has several film and television projects in development. Brian and Edward Burns have a production company called Irish Twins, a play on the fact that they are only a year apart in age.