Stephen Montoya
Tucked away close to the southeast corner of the Fort Worth Stockyards Station Shopping Mall, is a record store with an unusual musical history. In fact, many of the patrons who frequent the isles of Chief Records probably don’t know about its history or its international draw. The irony is, that many of the albums this store sells, feature musicians that have actually graced this store’s small but legendary stage. But some of the interesting music-related tidbits that make this store stand out from your regular run-of-the-mill brick-and-mortar establishment can be traced back to its co-owner Mike Underwood. Underwood grew up between California’s desert rock scene and Fort Worth’s classic country scene. He in actuality is the link between the two genres, which he posthumously explains are both very important to him musically.
But that’s not all.
Underwood says he also worked concert security in Seattle Washington in the early 90s when the “Grunge” scene was in full bloom. Add this to the fact that Chief Records resides in the very spot where the 6th Ernest Tubb Record Shop was for many years and you’ll get enough fodder for a book. Fort Worth Magazine just happened to stumble upon this unique store while doing a photo shoot for another story at the Stockyards. Underwood was gracious enough to sit down with us and talk about one of the things he is most passionate about — music.
FW: When did you and your wife Laura take over this store and why?
Stephen Montoya
MU: We’ve been here since March 1, 2014. We did this because we just have an overall love for music. We both love classic country music, like George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, you know like all of those artists going back to Hank Williams. We’ve just always had a love for that type of music plus the fact that this was an Ernest Tubb Record Store made this place seem all the better to try and preserve. David McCormick owned the Ernest Tubb Record Store brand, and this was store number 6 out of 6 in the franchise. McCormick worked for Ernest Tubb and was hand-picked by him to open his first store in Nashville in the 40s and that’s how this store came to be here in Fort Worth.
FW: Was this always a record store from the very beginning?
MU: Yes, it has been. Technically there are record stores in Fort Worth that are older, but this space right here has been going even after the new owners have taken it over. Ernest Tubb Records store closed one day and the very next day the lights were turned back on as Chief Records. So, there hasn’t been any lag time in this space being dormant. I mean its history was a huge selling point, but we also took over the inventory so many of the things you see in here today, were here when it was first opened. Records weren’t really the big seller they are now when we took this place over in 2014. So, I don’t know if it was a great business decision at first, but it worked out a few years later. Now we are bearing the torch for the new generation of country artists that are making their marks, like Whiskey Myers and Cody Jinks.
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FW: What can you tell us about the live music that’s been hosted on the stage in the back of the store?
MU: Oh yeah, we’ve had some big names play here over the years. On our opening weekend, we had Texas legend Johnny Bush play here as well as Tony Booth and my wife just happened to look over the crowd and spotted Steve Earl. I guess he was playing at Billy Bob’s, and he’s standing there watching Johnny Bush sing. I mean that’s a Texas Stockyards moment that I will never forget. My wife asked him if he wanted to get up and sing, but he was like ‘No, I’m just here to watch.’ We’ve had Charlie Crockett play here live but our biggest event ever was in 2016 for the ‘I’m not the Devil’ album release for Cody Jinks. We’ve also had Ray Benson from Asleep at the Wheel, perform here, which was awesome. I mean we’ve had some musicians of note play here not just from the local scene but also the national scene. One of the highlights of my life was bringing the 80s band Berlin into the store to play. We had the original lead singer Terri Nunn, along with the two original founding members John Crawford and David Diamond come out and play here. They had just gotten back together for the first time since like ’87. This was 2019 and they were on tour with the B-52s when I saw they were going to play in Grand Prairie. It was ten days before that show when I messaged their band page on Instagram not thinking anything about it. I didn’t even think it would get answered. But an hour later on the store phone, I see their manager’s name on the caller ID. He said the band read my message and wanted to come out and play at the store. I about passed out. They came in and played and stayed to sign autographs for some fans and collectors. Man, that was cool. That same year we had Country Music Hall of Famer Randy Travis in the store for a promotion as well.
FW: What sets Chief Records apart from other record stores?
MU: Everybody has their own business model in this type of industry. What I noticed about the big box stores is the only time you have interaction with somebody, is when you are ready to check out. And I remember as a kid growing up in Palm Desert California when I would go into the local record store everyone would talk to me and make me feel welcomed. The thing here is, yes you want to have good records and a great selection, but it’s that vibe from my youth that we try to have in here. I met some of my best friends in this shop. A little over a year ago they had me get ordained and I married them. I mean just three years ago they were just customers. I mean, we’ve met people from other countries that we still keep in contact with. This vibe makes for surprises. You just never know who you are going to meet in here from one day to the next. One day I’m standing in here and I see Julian Casablancas from the Strokes walk in. It was just him and his drummer looking around. So, we put them in Chief’s shirts and did a photo opp. I waited an hour before I posted the photo to our Instagram page and we still got swarmed by Stroke’s fans that were almost in tears that they missed Julian. Most of the time I recognize the stars but there was one time we had the lead singer from Blue October come in and I didn’t recognize him until one of my customers who’s a big fan pointed him out to me on her phone. We also had Leona Williams stop by one day when she was playing a show in Fort Worth. When the family used to come through, Willie Nelson’s group, that was interesting watching this cast of characters walking around the mall area. The list goes on, but that’s why we do it, for the love of the music.
