Randy Rogers Acquires Texas Music Venue

Randy Rogers

On Dec. 20, 2016, Randy Rogers, along with Austin-based event production company KRR Entertainment, has become the official owner of longstanding San Marcos, Texas music venue Cheatham Street Warehouse.

Kent Finlay founded, owned and operated Cheatham Street from 1974 up until his death in 2015. The purchase was made from Finlay’s children, Jenni, Sterling and HalleyAnna.

In 1975, George Strait made his debut at the venue, and Guy Clark once sat in with Townes Van Zandt, playing well past midnight closing time. In 1980, Stevie Ray Vaughan had a regular Tuesday night gig, and Charlie and Will Sexton, then 12 and 10, would open for Vaughn and sometimes join him on stage. There was a time when each Strait and Vaughan played one night a week at the venue.

“We started out at the Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, Texas, a honky-tonk by the railroad tracks,” George Strait told USA Weekend in 2007. “We’d play Wednesday night, 50 cents at the door and ladies free. You’d be playing the song and — whoosh! — you’d hear the train go by. It was a cool place back then. We didn’t make much money. One time we left a club with $7 a piece in our pockets. But we always got the beer free.”

Rogers’ plans for the building include the addition of a permanent patio and food service.

In 2000, Randy Rogers was a student at then Southwest Texas State University, pursuing a mass marketing degree and cutting his teeth in the world of songwriting. Every Wednesday he would make his way to the unpretentious building by the railroad tracks to add his name to the “list” of those who would perform the open “songwriter night.”

Rogers credits those songwriter nights for launching his career. Rogers met and formed Randy Rogers Band within the walls of Cheatham Street, and when they signed their first major label deal years later, they did it there, with Finlay by their sides as a nod to him and “where they came from.”

“I still get butterflies when I step on that stage. I’m going to make sure other songwriters and musicians young and old get to experience that same feeling for many years to come. That’s my goal,” says Rogers.