One of Austin, Texas' fastest growing suburbs, Buda, welcomed a very special guest, Texas country legend George Strait, for the Sun., Nov. 10 opening of a brand-new Mavericks Dance Hall.
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Strait's Veterans Day weekend appearance honored local first responders and promoted "The Weight of The Badge," the current single off his 2019 album Honky Tonk Time Machine.
"He doesn't do these little dance halls like this. Not that we're little, but we're introducing ourselves to the city of Buda and he's just such a down-to-earth guy and he really wants to give back to the community," event organizer Tracy Scialla told ABC affiliate KVUE.
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Buda's new dance hall, a sister location to the Mavericks in Pflugerville, helps protect a fading trend that's a big part of the Lone Star State's country music tradition.
"These staples and these places where people want to keep the culture, the country culture, and their community alive are disappearing. So that's the main reason we built this place," said Leo Velarde, Mavericks Dance Hall's CEO and partner, told KVUE.
Per the Los Angeles Times, Texas was once the home to around 1,000 dance halls. It's now a dying trend, with Gruene Hall in New Braunfels and another San Antonio attraction, the John T. Floore Country Store, among the remaining dance floors built with the Texas two-step in mind.
Strait's no stranger to dance halls. He played those venues as well as roundhouses with his Ace in The Hole Band for six years before inking a mainstream record deal.
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