Cheatham Street Warehouse

Cheatham Street Warehouse is located along the railroad in San Marcos, Texas. It was opened in June 1974 by Kent Finlay and Jim Cunningham. On opening night, there were so many people in the warehouse that the bartenders could barely keep up with opening and distributing to consumers. The warehouse was destined for honky-tonk fame from the start. On October 13, 1975, George Strait made his first appearance at the Warehouse, playing with the Ace in the Hole Band; it was their first gig as a band.

Cheatham Street is also well known for its Songwriter Circle nights, when it invites local musicians to workshop their new material. Randy Rogers, Todd Snider, James McMurtry, John Arthur Martinez, Terri Hendrix, Hal Ketchum, Adam Carroll, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Big John Mills, Shelley King, Monte Montgomery, Charlie and Will Sexton, Slaid Cleaves, and others are among the names that have participated in these Songwriter Circles.

In 2006, the property was purchased by Texas State University professors Gregg Andrews and Vikki Bynum in order to save it from demolition. The Cheatham Street Music Foundation  was then created in order to permanently preserve the Warehouse and preserve Kent Finlay's legacy. Finlay continued running the Warehouse until his death in 2015. It was then taken over by one of his proteges, Randy Rogers.

Cheatham St. Warehouse. History. Accessed 10/14/2020. www.cheathamstreet.com/history.