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10 Thursday,May 7, 2020 The McGreGor Mirror

Jhobe Smith

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Son of Jerry and Nikki Smith

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915 W Mcgregor Dr Ste A Mcgregor, TX 76657 254-840-3838

took root. In the 1970s, ground breaking Punk Rock and New Wave bands called this area of Texas “home.” But Blues was the backbone of it all.

“Clifford Antone [at the original Antone’s on Guada-lupe] would book these acts and they would show up at my store and need equipment,” Ray said. “I would loan them the equipment and Clifford would make sure they had a gig. That is how we kept these bands here. Clifford would give a lot of these guys jobs and not even know if they could play or not.”

More often than not, they could, and Antone’s became a bell weather for Blues in Tex-as attracting ground breaking musicians like Buddy Guy and Bobby “Blue” Bland.

“That is what really made Austin the Live Music Capital of the World,” Ray observed.

While Austin may be the “Live Music Capital of the World,” Hennig said it was accomplished in spite of the city.

“They didn’t do anything to help, in fact, they fought the Austin music scene virtu-ally every step of the way,” Ray said. “And they’re still doing it.”

While he sent thousands of guitars out the door over the years, no single instru-ment Ray ever sold would elevate the fame of HOT as did the one he sold blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughn. Ray sold him the famed “Number One,” which Vaughn affectionately called his “First Wife.” According to legend, the guitar was a 1959 Fender Stratocaster, although others claim it was actually a Chocolate Sunburst Strato-caster produced in 1961.

After purchasing the in-strument in 1974 from HOT, First Wife was Vaughn’s main performing instrument and he used it on all of his studio al-bums.

Vaughn claimed that he knew First Wife was a great

instrument on sight and was struck by the thick, oddly shaped D-neck.

“I didn’t even have to play it — I just knew by the way it looked that it would sound great,” Vaughn said before his death in 1990. “I was carrying my ‘63 Strat and asked if [Ray] would like to trade. Thank God he did,”

Vaughn switched the tremolo bar to the left hand as a nod to his idol Jimi Hendrix. The change left a large gap in the body which was covered by a “custom” sticker. Later, he placed his SRV initials on the guitar, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Ray says musi-cians come from all over the world to purchase cop-ies made by Fender that are dressed up to look just like Vaughn’s.

“I don’t ever advertise that I sold him that guitar,” Ray said. “I always tell folks that just because you purchase a guitar like Stevie Ray’s, doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to play like him.”

The truth is that he doesn’t need to advertise that Vaughn bought his beloved First Wife from HOT. People literally come by the bus loads to see the store where the leg-endary blues guitarist — argu-ably the best of his genre ever — bought his favorite axe.

“I always oblige and tell what I know when asked,” Ray said.

While he may have sold Vaughn his “First Wife,” Ray also knew the man who invented the brand — Leo Fender.

“I met Mr. Fender first on a trip to California,” Ray said. “Later he came to the Waco store. He wasn’t a man of many words, but he did share some secrets with me because I was such a big dealer for him.”

Ray has met an array of stars in his career and has made close friends with many.

“I guess Dwight Yoakam was as big a surprise as any of

them,” Ray noted. “He came to Austin to film a movie and spent a lot of time here. He was just as nice a guy as you would ever want to meet. He would talk to customers and was just a fantastic person. Very down to earth guy.”

It isn’t uncommon for one of his famed customers to drop by for a visit.

“One day a while back, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top dropped by and spent an en-tire afternoon here,” Ray said. “We had a great time. He was a customer of mine dating back to my Waco days. We first met back in the 1960s and he kinda disappeared for a while. Then ZZ Top hit it big. It was really good to see him rolling in here. I guess I kinda recognized him in a way. Of course when I first knew him, he didn’t have the long beard. But he was just the same old guy I remembered. He even bought a guitar that he could have had for free just for old times sake.”

Most of the musicians Ray meets are not famous and certainly not rich.

“Musicians hardly ever have any money,” Ray said. “So it is important to me to get them a guitar that they can afford and will also be a good instrument for them.”

In many cases over the years, Ray has essentially given guitars away to a host of struggling players.

“I think that kind of thing come back to you,” Ray said. “I wasn’t broke when I got into this business, so I had enough money to help a lot of starving musicians. At least it has really come back to me in a wonderful way. Every day I have people who walk in here and thank me for helping them years ago. These folks become regular customers, and better still, they become friends.”

He has seen the cookie-cutter, mass chain music stores come and go. Ray said he likes to stick with what works and his three keys to success are “Martin, Gibson and Fender.”

“I don’t sell keyboards,” Ray said. “I read once where keyboards were the number one thing that puts most music stores out of business.”

For years, HOT sold more Fenders than any other store in the nation. He has a wide variety available on the showroom floor — and then there’s a special stock of more expensive guitars for the more discriminating player who is willing to part with a few grand for a first-class instru-ment. Sometimes Ray opens the store on off hours and even the occasional Sunday to accommodate big name stars coming through town looking for a new guitar.

“I don’t like to open the store on Sundays,” Ray said. “I’m a serious Christian and my dad always said that if you had to open your business on Sunday, perhaps you should look for another job.”

However, Ray said he will soon start opening the store on Sunday afternoons to accomodate a flood out-of-

town customers.Ray is so iconic that he is

the inspiration for the music store owner on the Fox net-work’s “King of the Hill” se-ries. The State of Texas even declared Ray Hennig Day during the 1980s.

Over the years friends, musicians and politicians alike have written testimoni-als about Ray’s contributions to the Austin music scene, as well as his legendary generos-ity.

The future of HOT is secure with his youngest son Shane ready to take the helm. For years, Shane has run the pro audio side of the business, setting up a host of national acts with custom PA systems wired with acoustic precision tailored specifically for the venue and performer.

“Shane is something of a genius when it comes to sound,” Ray said. “He’s just a natural at it. And he un-derstands the business very well.”

Natural, perhaps, but it probably didn’t hurt Shane’s knowledge base to grow up in a music store meeting some of the best in the business.

“It is good to be able to work around your family,” Shane said. “And the work is really interesting.”

Ray’s eldest son Steven, also a Lakeway resident, is working on a Branson-style project in San Antonio.

His wife Mary Jo takes all the commotion that seems to never stop in the store in stride.

“We have amazing peo-ple who come in here ev-ery day,” she said. “I get to here great stories and it is a real blessing to be in such a family-styled atmosphere. All of our grandkids have practi-cally grown up at the store.”

The two met in 1975 and have been inseparable since.

Ray purchased land on Lake Travis years ago.

“I bought the highest hill on the lake,” Ray said. “A sub-division, Hennig Heights, that has come out of that property over on Flintrock Road.”

Ray has two sons — Ste-ven and Shane, and two step-daughters — Dee Ann and Debbie. The Hennigs have seven grandchildren. One

grandson, Zack, wowed the 2008 graduating ceremony for the Lake Travis Independent School District with his ren-dition of “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

While Shane is set to take over HOT eventually, Ray doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. He still loves mixing it up with his custom-ers and setting up players with a good instrument that will allow them a full creative ex-pression. Suffice it to say, re-tirement probably isn’t in the cards for him.

In was stated in an Aus-tin American Statesman ar-ticle it said Hennig’s Austin store was an anchor of the Lamar Square shopping cen-ter from 1974 until the early 2010s, when it was torn down to make way for a new resi-dential complex and a rede-signed Alamo Drafthouse theater that currently occupy the location.

According to his son Steve, a celebration of Ray’s life will be held at an appro-priate time in the future.

NICE RAINFALL HAS KEPT THE MOC TANKS and creeks brimming full of water. Here is a picture of a tank outside the city limits of McGregor that is providing plenty of drinking water for thirsty cattle and wildlife.

I MIGHT NOT HAVE PROMISED you a rose garden, but the Crawford Post Office surely has. This photo was taken several weeks ago when the roses were blooming at their best. This was a beautiful sight to behold that shows that the spring season is in full swing.

Hennig—Continued from Page One