Live at Billy Bob's Texas®
The live series Rick Smith Sr. created at the World’s Largest Honky Tonk in 1998.
The History
In 1998, Rick Smith Sr. (1956–2004) noticed that a lot of country music’s legends were between record deals or without one, but still filling rooms every night. He wanted to capture that energy on record.
He took the idea to Billy Minick, then head of Billy Bob’s Texas. They installed professional recording equipment backstage and set out to build a library of live country music with Billy Bob’s as the backdrop. Merle Haggard was booked for New Year’s Eve 1998. Before that, they needed someone to test the system, and an unsigned Texas singer-songwriter named Pat Green took that first session. On December 4, 1998, Pat Green recorded the first Live at Billy Bob’s Texas® album.
Over the years, the series recorded country legends alongside rising names from the Texas and Red Dirt scene.
Billy Bob's Texas
Billy Bob’s Texas opened in the Fort Worth Stockyards on April 1, 1981, in a building that dates to 1910 and once housed prize cattle for the Fort Worth Stock Show. Known as “The World’s Largest Honky Tonk,” it has hosted country music’s biggest stars for decades — a natural home for the series.
