Some of my favorite memories of my XM days are the events we would get to do every year. There was MusicFest at Steamboat Springs, and Bonnaroo, and ACL, and Farm Aid, and of course, Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic. Most of the years we broadcast that live, it originated from Ft. Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas yard - the back 40. Those days would start with the cattle being driven down the street from the Stockyards in the morning, a bit of true Texas drama. Our tour bus was our home base, and artists would come by to hang out with us while were broadcasting the music from two stages, and doing interviews and performances in between. It was always a treat to ride in the late Rick Smith’s golf cart – then with Robert Gallagher, over to Billy Bob’s for a bit of cool shade, rocking music, and a libation of some sort. Everything is bigger in Texas, even still, the legacy of Billy Bob's is quite remarkable.
When it opened in 1981, it instantly became a mover and shaker on the scene. In 1999, they started recording albums at Billy Bob’s, which was a head’s up thing to do. Here is the backstory. It is an honor to be asked to record there, and Micky & The Motorcars did just that back in 2009. The three disc set, Micky & The Motorcars Live at Billy Bob’s Texas is a two disc and one DVD set. Micky and company have been cranking along like a well-oiled machine. There are a bunch of Texas dates coming, and of course they will be taking part in the upcoming Reckless Kelly Celebrity Softball Game, happening in Round Rock, TX on April 22. We dig into the Fog Bank for today’s tune, the Music Fog solo recording of one of the songs you will find on the Billy Bob’s album, “Long & Lonely Highway,” filmed at MusicFest at Steamboat Springs 2011.
- Jessie Scott
