LINDEN, Texas - Usually at this time of year, Music City Texas Theater has marquee singer-songwriter names on its list of upcoming shows.
With the current health crisis, though, MCT has retooled and temporarily closed its doors to concerts by such performers as Don Henley, George Jones, Robert Earl Keene, Jackson Browne and other ballyhooed names whose talents have shined upon its stage over the years.
MCT has one performer rescheduled: Gene Watson for a Saturday, Oct. 31 show at the venue.
Watson has been a perennial favorite there in Linden. Tickets purchased for the March 28 show will be refunded, according to an announcement at the MCT website.
"We're able to keep our doors open at Music City Texas Theater due to the generous support of our patrons and friends of the theater," said MCT Executive Director David Hulme. They appreciate that support given through the years, he said.
As to when they actually reopen, Hulme said it all depends. First, it depends on when performers head back out on the road. "One is when Nashville is ready to turn them loose, you know, down here," he said.
Another issue is that MCT is an intimate venue, all the more beloved for that special characteristic. "Everybody sits close together. We've got 400 seats. They're all right up against each other, so social distancing is completely out," Hulme said. If they tried to limit seating, it wouldn't be financially viable.
"That would be totally impossible actually because it's really hard to make any money even sitting close together," Hulme said, adding, "We'll just have to wait until everybody can come back in there and sit down beside each other.
Then there's the typical concert audience who attend MCT shows headlined by country and Americana artists. Hulme says they do about 10 to a dozen shows per year.
"Just like Gene Watson and a lot of these others we have, our clientele is 50 and up most of the time. They're certainly not going to want to be subjected to too much being close to each other right now until this thing kind of dies down a little bit more," Hulme said, noting that before the COVID-19 pandemic started they considered having Joe Diffie perform there, but he has died of the virus.
"We were thinking about booking him for the fall," Hulme said. They had Moe Bandy booked, but that show was canceled. MCT intends to re-book him. They'll talk to Asleep at the Wheel, too, said Hulme.
"They're always a good crowd favorite," he said. "So we'll be working on that."
They want the country to open back up as much as anyone else, Hulme said, but to see a bad surge again with deaths is not something they want.
"It's more of a wait-and-see thing than it is to just jump out here and do it," Hulme said. "It gives us a chance to do some cleaning and sprucing up around the theater."
He intends to have chairs cleaned and to disinfect before people head back to MCT. He encourages people to check their website and Facebook page to keep track of their progress.
The folks at MCT, though, are ready to get back to sharing great live music. They miss it.
"We're really missing it. We've been out there just kind of making sure everything's OK," Hulme said, adding, "We've had several people call and wonder what's going on. People are getting ready to come out and have some fun, too, and we're definitely getting ready."
(More info: MusicCityTexas.org or 903-756-9934.)