Texas stalwarts channel Willie Nelson to honor iconic Lone Star State venue Floore’s Country Store
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by: Jeff Gage
The hill country of central Texas is steeped in music history, but there may be no place more legendary than Floore’s Country Store. The general store, meat market and honky-tonk outside San Antonio has hosted everyone from Bob Wills to Elvis Presley to a then-unknown Willie Nelson, who once played there every Saturday.
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While Helotes, the tiny town where Floore’s is located, wasn’t incorporated until 1981, Floore’s celebrates its 75th anniversary of live music in 2017. To commemorate the occasion, Randy Rogers and Robert Earl Keen – who have both recorded live albums at Floore’s; two of them in Keen’s case – convened to wax on about the place’s significance and, of course, its famous tamales. The pair, who still play at Floore’s each year, also recorded a cover of Nelson’s “Shotgun Willie,” which immortalizes the store’s founder, John T. Floore.
Rogers and Keen kick off Floore’s anniversary celebrations with a co-headlining performance at the store on April 14th.