Celebrate World's Largest Honky Tonk's Birthday With Virtual Concert

Billy Bob's Texas celebrates 39 years of live music and honky tonk entertainment on Wednesday, April 1. This year, the celebratory entertainment comes directly to the comfort and safety of living rooms across the world with a donation-based streaming concert benefitting the Creative Industry Relief Fund of Fort Worth.

Performances by Abraham Alexander, Austin Allsup, Bonnie Bishop, Chad Prather, Brad Thompson, Grady Spencer, Jack Barksdale, Jerrod Flusche, Johnny Cooper, Josh Weathers, Kris Luv, Matthew McNeal, Michael Lee, Rob Redwine, Smooth Vega, Summer Dean and more!

"Though we are moving through unprecedented times in the entertainment industry and the world with the COVID-19 pandemic, we still wanted to find a way to honor this milestone," says Keitha Spears, Director of Marketing at Billy Bob's Texas. "Parties at Billy Bob's Texas typically take place on our dancefloor and in the showroom with several thousand of our closest friends, but that just isn't an option this year. This watch party is a way for us to celebrate 39 incredible years in the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards while staying safe and doing our part to flatten the curve. We are thrilled to partner with Visit Fort Worth and United Way of Tarrant to showcase local musicians and raise money for our creative community."

All donations from the watch party will go directly to the United Way of Tarrant County, Hear Fort Worth, Film Fort Worth Creative Industry Relief Fund which was developed to help support musicians, visual artists and filmmakers who have lost work due to COVID-19. The initiative spearheaded by Hear Fort Worth is an extension of Fort Worth musician Rachel Gollay's Artist & Service Worker Relief Fund.

Visit Fort Worth, parent organization of Hear Fort Worth and Film Fort Worth, will manage the application process and United Way of Tarrant County will spearhead collection of donations and fund distribution. Fort Worth Weekly, the local music resource featuring local musicians is the first promotional partner for the effort, helping spread the word through its publication, website and network.

"Members of the creative community have been ambassadors for our city and we need to support them in this crisis," said Mitch Whitten, executive vice president of marketing and strategy at Visit Fort Worth. "We want to support musicians, artists and filmmakers who have lost so much work and income. We're grateful to Rachel Gollay for starting this initiative and to the United Way for helping us expand it."

The goal is to reach a total of $20,000, however, the fund will stay open as long as donations continue to come in. Gifts to the fund will be 100% tax-deductible, with tax acknowledgements provided by United Way of Tarrant County for any individual donations of $250 or more.

"United Way of Tarrant County is honored to partner with Visit Fort Worth to assist the creative community who have been impacted by COVID-19," said Leah King, president and CEO of United Way of Tarrant County. "With so many artists relying on hourly or one-time income from large social gatherings in establishments now closed, this population has been hit hard by the virus. We encourage the community to support this initiative."

The fund is open to Tarrant County musicians, filmmakers and visual artists. Qualified applicants will be eligible for a one-time grant of $300. For more information or to donate, visit https://www.unitedwaytarrant.org/CREATIVES

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