Your backstage pass to the DFW music scene and beyond.
Dave Hensley
Singer-songwriter Tommy Alverson
Music has long been a key ingredient to the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. This year, however, a pair of Texas singer-songwriters have taken it upon themselves to fashion something of an unofficial anthem for the yearly event. Arlington's Tommy Alverson and Corsicana's Jason Manning, together with Plano's John Muzyka (who co-wrote the song with Manning), have recorded Fat Stock Show, which will be released digitally Tuesday.
All proceeds from the sale of the single (you can snag it at stockshowsong.com), recorded at Arlington's Patrick McGuire Studios, will benefit the John R. Manning Scholarship Fund, which helps students pursuing higher-level agricultural education. According to press materials about the track, the late Manning (Jason's father) served as an agricultural science teacher at Corsicana High School for more than three decades.
"The stock show circuit was my dad's life," said Jason Manning in a statement. "My dad's vision was that young people could not only learn about how to take care of and show animals, but learn how to be active leaders. ... The Fort Worth Fat Stock Show was one of his favorites and I recall our yearly trips to the show to be rewarding for my entire family."
Alverson, who says in the statement he logged four years of ag instruction at Itasca High School, understood how important the tune and its message was when Jason Manning pitched it to him.
"I really wanted to be a part of it and I'm really glad I got to because of what it's about and how it turned out," Alverson said in a statement. "Agriculture is a big part of Texas, even if you don't live on a farm ... it's a real life event, and I'm proud I got to experience that."
Enjoy a little snippet of Fat Stock Show below and, starting Tuesday, download the full-length track here.
