A thriving long-running musician, a professional Nashville choreographer and two men with years of experience in the music world came together to create an iconic Western-style honkytonk in downtown Eclectic.
Alabama’s Little Bit of Texas features a Texas-style dance floor, pool tables, jukebox, a stage and suitable décor to imitate walking into a bar straight out of Forth Worth.
“Every single thing we built and put in here was a spittin’ image of a Texas bar – which is why we call it that,” said Freddy Lovvorn, co-owner of the bar and leader of Freddy Lovvorn and the HeadnSouth Band.
The concept was born when Lovvorn’s band needed a home base after touring for nearly two decades. The band has been together since 1993, traveled all over the world, did a 60-city-in-30-days radio tour and had two Grammy-nominated albums.
“Freddy is the star of the show, even though he’ll never admit it. But the band really comes alive when he gets on stage. They are probably the best band in Alabama, if not the country,” said George McCain, co-owner of the venue.
McCain and Lovvorn teamed up in 2015 to create an entertainment venue where HeadnSouth could be the local house band and have their equipment already set up, so the members could just plug in and play. The six-piece Texas-style band consists of a bass, two guitars, drums, piano and fiddle and plays mostly traditional country, with some rock and pop highlights. HeadnSouth plays most Fridays and Saturdays, with a cover charge of $5.
“Freddy researched me, saw what I had done in Nashville and thought I would probably be able to help him out,” said McCain, who has been in artist management on music row in Nashville and traveled with John Conlee.
McCain spent a lot of time at the Grand Ole Opry and met numerous Nashville stars, whose autographed photos are now hanging on the walls in Little Bit of Texas. A photo of Lovvorn and his cousin, Emmylou Harris, also sits framed on the edge of the bar.
“With my experience, coupled with Freddy’s experience, which is far more than mine, we felt like that formula would work the way we want it to be, and we’d be able to entertain people,” said McCain.
The 24-foot by 24-foot, two-inch floating Texas-style dance floor is made for boot stompin’ fun and ties in the second factor of the entertainment to complete the business model the team anticipated.
Tonya Moore, professional choreographer, teaches free line dancing classes every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and as many as 45 people have shown up to learn the Western moves. She used to be a choreographer and dancer on Nashville’s TV show Wild Horse Saloon in the mid-90s, has traveled with Chubby Checker, been in Country Weekly Magazine and done instructional dance videos.
“It doesn’t matter if someone has danced their whole life or never a step in their life, but I want them to come in and have the best time they’ve ever had. Relax. Have a good time with fun, friends, family and enjoyment. That’s what I try to bring to the table,” said Moore.
Line dancing is a crucial aspect of a Texas-style dance hall and adds to the formula of success, said Lovvorn.
Moore and her husband, Patrick, recently moved to Wetumpka after passing through the area for years to hear Lovvorn play. Patrick first met Lovvorn more than 30 years ago, and he has helped promote Lovvorn and his band throughout the country and Europe. Moore and he also own P&T Entertainment, as well as Six Pak Records.
The 5,000-square-foot venue is currently open Wednesday through Saturday, with karaoke with Tom Weldon, pool tournaments and Chicken Bingo, with a chicken named Elvis, on Thursday nights.
McCain and Lovvorn discovered the space where the bar currently stands with hopes to expand the entertainment in downtown Eclectic and draw in local business, as well as surrounding areas, such as Tallassee, Wetumpka, Alexander City, Montgomery and others.
“There’s a lot of diversity coming in to Eclectic. So if we put all these places together, and they’re all so different, you get more people coming to town. Eclectic is right in the center of a lot of areas, and it’s growing,” said Moore.
McCain and Lovvorn said it was the perfect location for what they wanted to do, so they renovated the place, bought Texas-style tables and chairs, built the bar and dance floor and ensured the ambiance and design matched the bar’s style.
“A lot of the decorations you see in here are ideas I’ve gotten from some places I’ve played before. That saddle hanging over the dance floor, I saw in Silver Saddle Saloon in Arkansas. The cowboy hat light fixtures over the bar were something I had seen in Las Vegas. Those little things are the things I’ve experienced that work, and I wanted to incorporate them here,” said Lovvorn.
Right now, Little Bit of Texas serves some basic bar food, including nachos and pizza, but is hoping to add grills to its back deck to expand its menu in the near future.
What makes the bar so unique is not only the entertainment concept, but that the closest bar similar to it is nearly 150 miles away in Dothan, said Patrick.
“Pretty much everyone that’s come, has come back, and we’ve been getting new people in every week from surrounding areas. The key is getting the word out because there’s no other place like it,” said Patrick.
Little Bit of Texas is located in downtown Eclectic at 38 Kowaliga Rd. Visit the Facebook page, Alabama’s Little Bit of Texas, for more information and a listing of upcoming events.
