Texas Highways, Volume 66, Number 8, August 2019 Page: 78
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OPEN ROAD I continued from Page 15
someone would take all the records away.
Oscar did die eventually, and when we
drive by on this trip, the place is now an
antiques store.
T HAT EVENING MY FOLKS AND
I arrive at The Stampede, 2 miles
outside of town on the Snyder Highway.
We're here to see Jody Nix and the Texas
Cowboys. My parents have danced here
more times than they can count, and
since I was a kid I've accompanied them
more times than I care to count (they are
my parents).
The Stampede has been a stop on the
Texas dance hall circuit, which includes
clubs as well as VFW and American
Legion halls, ever since Jody's father,
Hoyle Nix, along with Hoyle's younger
brother, Ben, opened it in 1954. Its 65th
anniversary celebration was held in May.
Along with Bob Wills, with whom he was
close friends, Hoyle was one of the top
connoisseurs of Western swing and prob-
ably best known for arranging and popu-
larizing "Big Ball's in Cowtown." The hall
is a venue for the Nix family, but over the
years a number of important musicians
have played here, including Wills, "the
king of Western swing;" Johnny Bush,
who wrote Willie Nelson's set opener
"Whiskey River;" and Bobby Flores, a
Grammy-award winning bandleader.
The Stampede's roughly 4,500-square-
foot, stucco-painted superstructure is
unassuming, with a logo on the outside
still declaring it "Home of Hoyle Nix
and his West Texas Cowboys." The inte-
rior walls were never finished, and the
exposed wood lends the place a rustic
feel. As Jody always says, "It was built to
dance in. It wasn't built for looks." Still,
there's a cozy warmth to the place with
its red tablecloths and glowing string
lights hanging above the dance floor. The
only nods to the passage of time are the
black light hand stamps at the door, the
"No Smoking" sign, and the fact that men
are now allowed to wear hats indoors.
We carry a small cooler filled witha few beers because The Stampede is
BYOB, but I'm a little embarrassed of my
Austin-brewed IPAs, which immediately
peg me as an out-of-towner. We sit at a
table near the stage, directly facing the
open, rectangular dance floor. Our neigh-
bors are a couple from San Angelo. They
tell us, "We don't like CMA country music.
We're into steel and fiddle." We enthu-
siastically agree. They say their favorite
was Ray Price, who they got to see once
at the defunct Stardust in Odessa.
Jody Nix begins with a moment of
silence for a woman who had been
coming to The Stampede for 30 years and
died earlier that day. Then he opens with
her favorite song, "Sugar in the Coffee,"
turning to his band and saying, "G chord,
boys." It's a fast one, and the dancers
jump right in.
Fashion is eclectic. My mom is in all
black, punctuated by her red cowboy
boots, and my father sports the "Cana-
dian tux" of denim-on-denim, his
uniform since retirement. As I look
around, there are people in vests and
monogrammed shirts and big turquoise
jewelry; 20-somethings in Vans and New
Balance tennis shoes; folks in sequins and
leopard print and camo print, and at least
two Stars and Stripes button-downs from
the George Strait clothing line. Eventu-
ally, some teenagers slink in wearing
letter jackets, and the night is complete.
From the stage, Texas Independence
Day gets a shout-out as do The Ameri-
can Rodeo Finals. The band launches
into "Key's in the Mailbox" and the floor
fills again. For me, the dance floor is as
much an attraction as the band itself,
the way the couples swim counterclock-
wise, sometimes in a coordinated swirl as
though all one organism, and other times
bumping along with little eddies spin-
ning off from the main surge of two-step-
pers. Onstage, Jody says, "How about a
little Bob Wills, boys?" and launches into
"Faded Love."
There are all ages and body types
here. The kiddos, traded around the
dance floor by various adults, are being
educated in more than dance moves; they
are absorbing an entire musical culture. Isee more Latino revelers than in the past,
but no African-Americans in the crowd
tonight. As much as I love this place and
the Western swing it celebrates, I can't
escape the ways in which country music
culture can be insular, even unwelcom-
ing. Today, the country music charts tend
to be lily-white.
When the band serves up "Jim,
Jack, and Rose," one of my late Uncle
Randy's favorites, my Dad and I two-
step together, singing the hard-partying
lyrics under our breath: "Jim Beam, Jack
Daniels, and Sweet Gypsy Rose." At one
point, Jody dedicates the Bob Wills song
"My Adobe Hacienda" to my parents,
"Joe and Alice Specht from Abilene." He
adds, "There's a man who knows more
about the Nix family than I do, and I'm
one of 'em." He's referring to my father's
music articles, which include The Hand-
book of Texas Music entries for both
Hoyle Nix and The Stampede.
As the night wears on, I wonder if I'll
have the chance to bring my daughter
here one day. Will The Stampede still
be around and, if it is, will she see it as
more than just a small-town curiosity?
Will she disdain rural life or, like Holly-
wood movies, fetishize it? Will she love
the twin fiddles and steel guitar like we
do, or roll her eyes and beg to go home
and tinker with her iPad? I'd like to think
that because of how I was raised, this
place will always feel like home. But the
truth is, I grew up and moved away, and
I'm not sure I can have it both ways.
Because of the isolated setting, it's
unlikely The Stampede will be over-
run by hipsters and tourists, as has
happened to dance halls in and near
Austin and Houston. But that's also
what makes it vulnerable. It has to stay
beloved by the locals to survive. Of
course, unlike the Settles and the glit-
tering parts of Big Spring's past, The
Stampede didn't shutter when the exec-
utives moved to Dallas or even when
the Air Force base closed. It's been here
through the booms and the busts, and if
this enthusiastic crowd of dancers is any
indication, it isn't disappearing anytime
soon. So, let's waltz, boys! L78 texashighways.com
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Texas. Department of Transportation. Texas Highways, Volume 66, Number 8, August 2019, periodical, August 2019; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1364237/m1/80/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.