Honky-tonk tune up

Longtime Texas honky-tonk tunes up showroom to improve concert sound and viewing

Billy Bob's is making upgrades.

The world's largest honky-tonk hasn't necessarily been the world's greatest concert venue, but some renovations coming to Billy Bob's Texas are aiming to improve the concert-going experience.

The Fort Worth venue revealed July 5 that they're embarking on two major upgrade projects to the showroom:

Removing the two thick columns in front of the Main Stage that obstruct views.
Raising stage-left to the level of the rest of the ceiling, for consistency.

"This, along with our digital ticketing improvements, will revolutionize the way we sell tickets, process our guests to their seats, and book shows," said Billy Bob's Texas general manager Marty Travis at a press conference. "These renovations will be an equally improved experience for the artists, as well as our guests."

He said the improvements are in response to guest feedback.

"We send surveys to all of our online ticket buyers after every show, and our two biggest and most consistent survey complaints are: sound and vision, sound and vision, sound and vision," he said. "So I said, 'We're gonna help beat our biggest problems — they're right in front of us."

He said the renovations will help sound travel better and improve views for 30 to 40 percent of the seats in the building.

The upgrades to the 41-year-old venue come just a few months before the opening of Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall, the new, nearby Stockyards concert venue from Tim Love and Live Nation, set to open in October.

Billy Bob's will stay open during the estimated three weeks of construction, but concerts will not take place on the Main Stage.

For the next two weekends, all shows will be performed on the Honky Tonk Stage, officials say.

The first two shows back on the Main Stage will be Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen's two-night "Hold My Beer and Watch This" tour stop, July 22-23. The final night of July will feature Fort Worth native (and fan-favorite) Josh Weathers.

In the press conference, Rogers said he'd "heard rumors for years" about the planned venue upgrades and is glad they're finally happening.

"This place, to me, is a dream come true to play," the Cleburne native said. "I get my family, I get my friends, the people I grew up around, and the people who love me the most come to see me play at Billy Bob's more than any other venue in the United States."

The building dates to 1910, when it served as an open-air stock pen to house cattle, a release notes. A roof was added in 1936 as part of the Texas Centennial project, and during World War II, it became a hub to build airplane parts to help with war efforts. In the 1950s and 60s, the building became Clark’s Department Store, "which quickly became famous because all the employees stocking product wore roller skates to make their way around the massive facility," they say.

It opened as Billy Bob's Texas on April 1, 1981.

concerts preservation

Now hear this

New Texas museum shines spotlight on Tejano music history

Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum, San Antonio, tejano music

Photo by Edmond Ortiz

Roger Hernandez serves as board president of the Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum.

For a city that proudly calls itself the capital of Tejano music, San Antonio has long been missing a permanent place to honor the genre’s pioneers and preserve its history. That gap officially closed In December with the opening of the Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum at 1414 Fredericksburg Rd.

The music couldn’t have found a better steward than its founder and board president. Roger Hernandez has had his finger on the pulse of Tejano music for decades. His company, En Caliente Productions, has provided a platform for countless performing artists and songwriters in Tejano, conjunto, and regional Mexican music since 1982.

Hernandez says his wife, who ran a shop at Market Square years ago, would often get questions from visitors about the location of a physical Tejano music museum, a thing that simply did not exist. In 2022, he banded together with friends, family, and other local Tejano music supporters to make the nonprofit Hall of Fame a reality.

“I decided I've been in the music scene for over 40 years, it's time to do a museum,” Hernandez recalls.

Hernandez says a brick-and-mortar Tejano music museum has long been needed to remember musical acts and other individuals who grew the genre across Texas and northern Mexico, especially those who are aging. Recently, the community lost famed Tejano music producer Manny Guerra and Abraham Quintanilla, the renowned Tejano singer/songwriter and father of the late superstar Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Both deaths occurred roughly one week after the Totally Tejano museum opened to the public.

“They're all dying. They're all getting older, and we need to acknowledge all these people,” Hernandez says.

The Totally Tejano Museum — named after Hernandez’s Totally Tejano Television Roku streaming — has 5,000 square feet of space packed with plaques, photos, promotional posters, musical instruments, and other memorabilia honoring the pioneers and stars of the beloved genre. Mannequins wear stage outfits from icons like Laura Canales and Flaco Jimenez, and a wall of photos remembers late greats. Totally Tejano Television plays legendary performances on a loop, bringing the exhibits to life.

The newly opened Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum includes a growing collection of memorabilia. Photo by Edmond Ortiz

Hernandez says the museum will soon welcome permanent and rotating exhibits, including traveling shows, a Hall of Fame section, and an area paying homage to Chicano music crossovers, such as the late Johnny Rodriguez, the South Texas singer-songwriter who blended country with Tex-Mex music. Plans call for the organization to hold its inaugural Hall of Fame induction in February 2026.

Eventually, a 2,000 square feet back room will be converted into additional display space and host industry gatherings, community symposiums, and record and video release parties. The museum also plans to add a gift and record shop and a music learning room where visitors can listen to early Tejano music and browse archival photos. Hernandez is already talking with local school districts about educational field trips.

Much like Tejano itself, the museum is a grassroots production. Hernandez and fellow board members have used their own money to rent, renovate, develop, and maintain the museum space. The board also leads the selection of the Hall of Fame honorees and curates the exhibits.

Hernandez has been heartened by the museum’s reception, both from media outlets and music fans around Texas and beyond.

“We had a radio station come in this morning from Houston to interview us,” he says. “People have come in from Lubbock, Texas. We have had people from Midland, Texas. We have another person who emailed us who’s coming in from New York. People are learning all about us.”

That includes many of the musicians who helped shape the genre. Johnny Hernandez, Sunny Ozuna, Elida Reyna, and Danny Martinez from Danny and The Tejanos are among the luminaries who have already graced the halls.

The Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum is now open 10 am-6 pm, Tuesday-Sunday, and closed Monday. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. Fans can call 210-314-1310 for more information.

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