Little Texas brings high-energy country swagger to Bonita Springs

Little Texas is considered a country band but part of its foundation is rock 'n' roll.

Band members grew up listening to KISS, Van Halen and especially the Eagles, a California-based rock band known for hits including "Take It Easy" and "Hotel California," said Del Gray, the Little Texas drummer and a founding member. 

”We were raised during the ‘70s and ‘80s," Gray said during a recent telephone interview. "When you meld it all together, Little Texas is what you get."

The band, which performs at 8 p.m. Saturday in Bonita Springs, hit it big in the 1990s with hits including "God Blessed Texas" and "What Might Have Been," a 1993 ballad about romance reminiscing. 

"Not only was it a No. 1 country hit, it was a top 10 pop hit," Gray said of "What Might Have Been." "It transcended the country boundaries for us. Every night we play it, we have the audience singing back to us.”

Fans over the years have shared stories about what the band's songs mean to them, especially "What Might Have Been," Gray added. 

"What’s crazy is 'What Might Have Been' is played at funerals and it’s really heartfelt when we hear their stories," he said.

"Even though it’s a sad funeral, music can help heal or influence people and we’re very happy to have had those songs to do that.”

"God Blessed Texas" is just the opposite, an uptempo, honky-tonk tribute to the Lone Star State also released 25 years ago. 

“It’s a rowdy rock tune and what we always close our show with," he said. “It’s a fun one to play.”

Originally from Southwest Ohio, Gray helped to form the band in the late 1980s. Gray was working with keyboardist Grady Seals and they later performed at an expo in Springfield, Massachusetts.

While there, they met up with with musicians Tim Rushlow and Dwayne O'Brien.

"One night we were hanging out and singing Eagles songs and we all said, 'Hey man, we could be a band,' " he said. 

They all eventually relocated to Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. They found a farmhouse on property in a hollow known as Little Texas Lane, where they would practice their music, Gray said.

A woman who lived nearby — "she wanted to know what all the noise was" — told them stories about the history of the property known as "Little Texas" and the band adopted the name, he said. 

"Thirty years later and it's still going strong," he said of the band.

Rushlow and Seals are no longer with the band, but joining Gray are lead guitarist Porter Howell, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dwayne O'Brien and bassist Duane Propes. Along with Gray, the other three have been with Little Texas on and off since 1988.

“You never know what you're going to get at a Little Texas show," Gray said.

"Every night we give it all we got. We want to encourage everyone to come out to the show and have a great time with Little Texas.’’

The current lineup performs about 75 shows a year (down from about 300 in the band's heyday), Gray said. 

“I get to be a rock star on the weekend and home with my family during the week," he said. 

"The fact that we still get to make our living playing music and doing something that we love love to do, the fact that people still come out to see it, makes us feel very blessed.

"I’m 49 this year and I’ve never had a job." 

Little Texas

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Southwest Florida Event Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road SE, Bonita Springs

Cost: $25 to $55 (excluding fees) 

Information: 239-245-9910 or https://swfleventcenter.com/