HOF in ATX
The Texas Music Hall of Fame announces intent to launch next year (and hosts aparty to celebrate)
- GSD&M co-founder Roy Spence (l) with Texas music legend Lee Roy Parnell.Photo by Kevin Benz
- Ed Fair, CEO of the Texas Music Hall of Fame, introduces the TMHOF AdvisoryBoard.Photo by Kevin Benz
- Texas music legend Marcia Ball addresses the crowd.Photo by Kevin Benz
- Author Joe Nick Patoski (l) with Steve Moore (r), CEO of the Country MusicAssociation in Nashville.Photo by Kevin Benz
- HAAM Executive Director Carolyn Schwarz (l) with Susan Antone (r).Photo by Kevin Benz
- Carla Black (l) with TMHOF Advisory Board member Rose Reyes (c) who serves asMusic Marketing Director for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, andCasey Monahan (r), Director of the Texas Music Office.Photo by Kevin Benz
The Texas Music Hall of Fame (TMHOF) is real. Well... kind of. Actually it's more like a big mutual admiration society right now, but it's coming. On Wednesday night, GSD&M co-founder and TMHOF advisory boardmember Roy Spence hosted a party filled with Austin's music movers, shakers, and legends to announce the start of the Texas Music Hall of Fame.
Notables on the business side included Louis Messina founder of The Messina Group, Steve Moore (CEO of the CMA in Nashville) and Danny Eaton, Senior Vice-President of Live Nation.
On the musician side, Ray Benson, Marcia Ball, Lee Roy Parnell, Paul Wall and Van Wilks were among many others.
"We need a Hall of Fame in order to put good people on the map," said Marcia Ball to the crowd gathered. "When people talk about Texas, they talk about Texas music. So thanks to the people who are realizing our dream for us."
Austin needs a hall of fame. After all, music is what we are known for. But talking about it and creating something special are two different things. Too often this stuff gets discussed, parties held, money raised, only to be lost in the din of real-life. Let's see if this one, with some serious power-brokers behind it, can get off the ground. They intend to induct their first five honorees next year.