Volume One: The Complete PR Guide for Texas Honky Tonks and Dancehalls
Read first. Apply second.
This book is the source. Its tools are the working extension.
Read in order or choose a chapter by problem. When a chapter has a useful companion form, calculator, checklist, or template, it appears at the end of the chapter and points back here.
For owners, managers, staff, and stewards of Texas honky-tonks and dancehalls.
chapters
7appendices
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Front Matter
4 sectionsAn Opening Note
There is a particular moment that anyone who has ever loved a honky tonk knows by heart. You’re in the parking lot, maybe still in the car, and you can hear it — the low thump of the band, a little muffled through the…
2 min read IntroductionIntroduction
Why This Book Exists, and How to Use It
4 min read Front MatterA Note on Legal Cautions
Running a honky tonk means navigating a web of real legal obligations — alcohol-service law, music licensing, gaming and gambling rules, food-safety regulations, employment law, and more — and getting any of them wron…
1 min read Front MatterHow to Use This Book Quickly
This book can be read straight through, but it is also built to solve real problems quickly. If something is already sitting on your bar top this week, use the guide below and start where the pressure is highest.
1 min readChapters
2 sectionsYou Are Part of Something That Has Been Here a Long Time
The History and Culture That Make Texas Honky Tonk PR Different from Every Other Kind of PR
23 min read Chapter TwoThe Venues That Define the Standard
A Working Guide to the Great Texas Honky Tonks and Dancehalls — and the PR Lessons in Each One’s Story
21 min readPart Two — YOUR PEOPLE ARE YOUR PR
2 sectionsPart Three — YOUR ENTERTAINMENT IS YOUR PR
5 sectionsEntertainment as the Engine of Your Reputation
Why What’s On Your Stage — and Your Floor — Shapes Everything Else
17 min read Chapter SixThe Texas Entertainment Landscape
The Genres, Their Communities, and Their Specific PR Ecosystems
22 min read Chapter SevenFinding and Booking Acts
The PR Dimension of Every Booking Decision
19 min read Chapter EightThe Artist as PR Partner
Turning Every Booking into a Two-Way Marketing Engine
19 min read Chapter NineThe Honky Tonk on Screen
Film, Television, and Music Video as a PR and Revenue Channel
17 min readPart Four — THE ACTIVITIES
11 sectionsWhy the Activities Are a PR Engine
How What Your Customers Do Builds Your Reputation
18 min read Chapter ElevenFloor Games and Leagues
Pool, Darts, Shuffleboard, and the League as a Loyalty Machine
17 min read Chapter TwelveYard Games
Cornhole, Washers, Horseshoes, and the Patio as a PR Asset
15 min read Chapter ThirteenBingo and Trivia
The Games of Chance and Knowledge — and the Law You Have to Know
16 min read Chapter FourteenDancing
The Two-Step, the Dance Floor, and the Lessons That Fill It
18 min read Chapter FifteenKaraoke and Open Mic
The Nights Your Customers Become the Show
16 min read Chapter SixteenFixtures and the Rodeo Connection
The Jukebox, the Bull, and the Things That Are Always There
16 min read Chapter SeventeenWeekly Specials and Named Nights
Giving Every Night of the Week an Identity
15 min read Chapter EighteenThe Living Scrapbook
Customer Rituals and Traditions That Make People Part of the Place
16 min read Chapter NineteenOnly-in-Texas Traditions
The Customs and Celebrations That Could Only Happen Here
15 min read Chapter TwentyFood, Drink, and the Distributor Relationship
The Plate, the Pour, and the Partners Behind the Bar
16 min readPart Five — TELLING THE STORY
4 sectionsSocial Media
Turning Your Room Into Reach
17 min read Chapter Twenty-TwoEmail and Text
The Audience You Own
16 min read Chapter Twenty-ThreePress and Media
Getting Other People to Tell Your Story
17 min read Chapter Twenty-FourCommunity Relationships
Being Part of the Place, Not Just a Business in It
17 min readPart Six — FILLING THE ROOM AND PROTECTING IT
5 sectionsPromoting an Event
Turning Your Channels Into a Campaign
16 min read Chapter Twenty-SixThe Calendar
The Rhythm That Gives a Venue Its Pulse
16 min read Chapter Twenty-SevenPrivate Events
Weddings, Parties, and the Room Full of Strangers Who Become Regulars
16 min read Chapter Twenty-EightLicensing and TABC
Staying Open, Staying Legal, Staying Trusted
16 min read Chapter Twenty-NineWhen Things Go Wrong
Crisis, Controversy, and Protecting the Reputation You Built
17 min readPart Seven — THE LONG GAME
4 sectionsOnline Reputation
The Front Door Everyone Sees Before They Ever Walk In
18 min read Chapter Thirty-OnePreservation
Stewarding the Building, the Heritage, and the Legacy
18 min read Chapter Thirty-TwoThe PR Budget
Doing It All Without Spending a Fortune
17 min read Chapter Thirty-ThreeThe Future
Keeping the Tradition Alive for the Next Generation
14 min readAppendices
7 sectionsThe Texas Regulatory Quick-Reference Card
This card gathers, in one place, the regulatory basics a Texas honky tonk lives by — the license types, the hours, the big liabilities, the music and gaming and drink-special rules, and the numbers to call. It is a qu…
3 min read Appendix BThe Crisis Response Kit
Chapter 29 explained how to think about a crisis. This is the grab-it-in-the-moment version — the fill-in-the-blanks kit to complete now, while things are calm, and tape inside the manager’s office door. When somethin…
5 min read Appendix CThe Texas Honky Tonk Activities Master List
The A-to-Z Reference — Every Activity, What It Takes, and the PR in It
10 min read Appendix D36 Templates for Running a Better Honky Tonk
Here are thirty-six ready-to-use templates pulled from across the book — the press releases, pitches, checklists, worksheets, agreements, and scripts referenced in the chapters, gathered in one place so you can copy,…
10 min read Appendix EThe Four PROs
If music plays in your venue — a band, a DJ, a jukebox, a karaoke rig, a playlist over the speakers, a livestream of your stage — you are publicly performing copyrighted songs, and that almost always requires a licens…
5 min read Appendix FKey Organizations and Resources
Throughout this book, certain organizations come up again and again — the people who can help you preserve your hall, stay legal, license your music, reach tourists, run your leagues, keep your guests safe, and care f…
4 min read Appendix GThe Consolidated Legal, Safety, and Health Disclaimers
Every “Heads Up” in the Book, in One Place — Hand This to a New Manager
6 min read