With today being Texas Independence Day, the Governor took the opportunity to hold a press conference in Lubbock, regarding the State’s response to COVID-19.
And he’s decided to open it all up.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has officially ended the statewide mask mandate, and starting next Wednesday, March 10th, all businesses across the entire state, of any kind, will be allowed to fully open up at 100% capacity.
If they want to limit capacity, of course they are still free to do so.
From Montelongo’s Mexican restaurant in Lubbock, Governor Abbott told the people of Texas:
“Too many Texans have been sidelined from employment opportunities. Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills. This must end… It is now time to open Texas 100%… Everybody who wants to work should have that opportunity, every business that wants to be open should be open.”
Citing the increased number of vaccinated Texans, as well as the drop in hospitalizations, he also cautioned folks that personal safety and responsibility are still very much important:
“Each person has their own role to play in their personal safety as well as the safety of others.”
So what does this mean for the country music world?
Of course, this news comes after Miranda Lambert and even Thomas Rhett have booked shows at the iconic Billy Bob’s honky tonk in Fort Worth. But with Texas being virtually the only place that country artists can play consistent shows right now, it remains to be seen if even more artists will flock to Texas knowing they can play much larger rooms than they would be able to play in other states.
For example, Billy Bob’s has been holding socially-distant, limited-capacity shows, but a packed house can hold 6,000 people… I’m pretty sure you can’t go anywhere outside of Texas and find a concert crowd that large right now. Are we going to see more Nashville artists playing the Texas country circuit? Will Texas start hosting full capacity shows?
We’ll just have to wait and see, but if you live in Texas right now, you might be in for a whole mess of shows headed your way.
Here’s the full press conference:
