{ "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/articles/meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall#article", "recordType": "Article", "canonical": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/articles/meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall", "alternate": { "html": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/articles/meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall", "json": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/articles/meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall.json" }, "recordPublisher": { "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/#archive-organization", "name": "Free Press Houston Archive" }, "about": { "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/#organization", "name": "Free Press Houston" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/#organization", "name": "Free Press Houston" }, "slug": "meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall", "title": "MEET WILL GARWOOD: BEHIND THE SCENES AT WHITE OAK MUSIC HALL", "deck": null, "author": { "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/contributors/russel-gardin#person", "name": "Russel Gardin", "url": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/contributors/russel-gardin" }, "editorName": null, "publication": { "@id": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/#organization", "name": "Free Press Houston" }, "issue": null, "publicationDate": "2016-02-19", "publicationYear": 2016, "sourceDateRaw": "February 19, 2026", "dateBasis": "Publication timestamp preserved in the page's own article:published_time metadata (2016-02-19); the rendered date on the damaged site was disregarded.", "bodyYearAnomaly": true, "printedPages": null, "section": "Local And State", "subjects": [ "Local And State", "Music", "Raven Tower", "White Oak Music Hall" ], "entities": [], "collections": [], "origin": "web", "originalUrl": "https://freepresshouston.com/meet-will-garwood-the-man-behind-white-oak-music-hall/", "alternateUrls": [], "era": "wordpress", "body": [ "W2 Development Partners principals Will Garwood (right) and Will Thomas (left), Photo: Provided by Will Garwood.", "The Houston music scene is constantly in flux; which is a good thing. Venue openings and", "closings seem to be a regular occurrence in the competitive field of hosting live music. But", "one particular, new venue will open its doors this year and has the potential to become", "another fixture in the local scene. Will Garwood, a leading managing partner of both", "the soon to be unveiled White Oak Music Hall, and it’s neighbor — the recently opened", "Raven Tower, was gracious enough to cover a few topics about his new venues and what", "else is on the horizon for live music in Houston.", "What inspired you to get into the music business, specifically what concert made", "you know you wanted to get into this business?", "I have always loved the escapism of live music. It is like a drug that transports you", "away from the weights of the day-to-day and infuses you with the energy of the", "performance. Some of my favorite music experiences have come outdoors and that was", "something I drew on as my inspiration for developing a new venue in Houston. Seeing", "shows at the Greek in Berkeley and Stubbs in Austin made me want a place that is", "tucked away within our Houston community, where we could all just let our collective", "hair down and jam out to good music.", "How did this beautiful, scenic property become an opportunity?", "I found the property in the late summer of 2026 and the downtown views, natural", "topography, and proximity to the bayou all seemed to be conspiring to tell me I had to", "pull the trigger. There wasn’t any real imagination required to see the potential as an", "outdoor gathering space, it was all there laid out in front of me. Me and my real estate", "partner Will Thomas were just fortunate that we were able to tie up enough adjoining", "property to make the whole project work, even after adding the 18,000 SF indoor venue", "as well.", "Tell us about the job fair White oak Music Hall will be hosting in the working class,", "Hispanic area near Northside, and how do you see White Oak fitting into the", "neighborhood?", "We have done a ton of work with Super Neighborhood 51 to make White Oak Music Hall a", "partnership with the community. We have heard they want a more walkable, safe and lit,", "commercial corridor along N. Main. We believe White Oak Music Hall can be an anchor for", "this. We have adopted the City of Houston Pedestrian corridor standard (rebuilding all the", "sidewalks in the process to make our section of N. Main mirror what has happened along", "the rail downtown. In practice this just means wider, landscaped sidewalks and meeting", "certain aesthetic criteria for building facades. We are also working with Harris County", "Precinct 2, the Houston Parks Board, and the Riverview Foundation to study and build a hike", "and bike trail connecting White Oak Bayou and Woodland Park in the Heights to Moody Park", "in the Northside via an alignment along Little White Oak Bayou.", "The Northside has a powerful current of musical heritage and talent that we hope will help", "propel us. We have worked with Eric Jimenez, former band director at Jeff Davis High", "school, to support the local music community and are hoping to collaborate on some actual", "shows at White Oak here in the near future. For those who like to connect dots, we happen", "to be just a block away from the recording studio of world famous Tejano rocker’s La Mafia.", "We are proud to have been accepted by the Northside and want to honor their support by", "making sure we recognize the talent around us. Check out the paintings of resident artist", "Luis Gonzalez in the Raven Tower and the craftsmanship of Kuehn Construction- who moved", "their offices to the Northside this year and who have hired many of our neighbors to", "perform the work- in the bar building below. As we hire more security, concessionaires, and", "other personal for White Oak we will post those openings through a job fair.", "What are you currently listening to right now? Any hopes into who will be coming", "through to playing White Oak?", "This is such a fun question. First off, Jagi and Will T would be making fun of me the minute", "I started to answer this. I am always loud and proud about what I love, it’s all over the", "map. My core is kind of jam and progressive bluegrass bands: I love Railroad Earth, The", "Revivalists, Greensky Bluegrass, Moe, and Trampled by Turtles. My Spotify is also heavy", "with Americana/roots rock stars like Jason Isbell, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Drive By", "Truckers, Sturgill Simpson, Anders Osborne, Brandi Carlile, and Nicki Bluhm. I also", "developed into a big fan of both classic reggae and dub reggae/rock. Surf traveling in", "Central America in my twenties infused Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Slightly Stoopid, 10 Foot", "Ganja Plant, SOJA, and John Brown’s Body into my permanent rotation to name a few.", "Finally, as a native Texan I must say my roots are always with country, and I am still never", "happier than when outside listening to my some of my favorite music legends like George", "Strait, Randy Travis, Merle Haggard, Don Williams, and Robert Earl Keen. I’ve even been", "known to dive into a mid-90s country wormhole and tear up to select numbers from Billy", "Ray Cyrus and Doug Supernaw.", "Really I just love music and I have no idea what sells or what is at the forefront of the scene.", "I just enjoy hearing people turn emotion into sound. I have an amazing partner in Jagi who", "is out there every day with artists and agents cultivating the music experience at White Oak", "Music Hall, so luckily I get to sit back and enjoy the show. I hope all of you will be there with me.", "Twitter", "Facebook" ], "images": [ { "url": "https://freepresshoustonarchive.com/articles/meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall-0.jpg", "held": true, "sha256": "7fde6803612b911977c03a0cd9229809478bf6368ecd96ed34103a040b68af6e", "bytes": 119691, "checksumComputedOn": "2026-09-04", "alt": "MEET WILL GARWOOD: BEHIND THE SCENES AT WHITE OAK MUSIC HALL", "caption": "Related", "credit": null, "originalUrl": "https://freepresshouston.com/2016/02/wpimages_subdomain/12755160_10100659592692762_1798300665_o-650x300.jpg" } ], "lostImageUrls": [], "objects": [], "sources": [ { "id": "meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall-web", "sourceType": "web-live", "label": "freepresshouston.com — surviving page", "originalUrl": "https://freepresshouston.com/meet-will-garwood-the-man-behind-white-oak-music-hall/", "assetUrl": null, "retrievalDate": "2026-08-29", "confidence": "probable", "note": "Recovered from the damaged live site; injected spam and template furniture removed, text and image order preserved.", "sourceByline": "Russel Gardin", "sourceDate": "February 19, 2026", "sourceCategory": "Local And State", "sourceTags": [ "Local And State", "Music", "Raven Tower", "White Oak Music Hall", "raven tower", "white oak music hall" ], "webStatus": "live" } ], "fingerprint": "meet-will-garwood-behind-the-scenes-at-white-oak-music-hall", "reviewStatus": "unreviewed", "confidence": "probable", "provenance": "recovered" }