Meet Ray and Raymond Romo of Rock N Ray’s in East Houston

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray and Raymond Romo.

Ray and Raymond, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Honestly, this started as a dream from my father Raymond Romo. Growing up, I would see my dad doing what he loved (playing Music). Well, for a while and then, one day, it stopped. If I’m gonna tell the story, it has to be right. My parents grew up in Denver Harbor located in East Houston, Texas. This neighborhood is primarily a Hispanic community and known for surrounding Spanish bars and clubs. My fathers family was no exception, you see he comes from a long list of musicians just about every male in his family plays an instrument ranging from the violin, drums, bass, guitar piano like I said just about every instrument. The thing was that they played Spanish music and they didn’t stray away until my pop was born to let’s call him the black sheep of the family. He loved the way Metal made him feel how he loved the look and idea of being a Rock star. So, naturally, he bought a guitar and taught himself how to play, till he became great and was known as “Teddy Bear.“ My pop and his friends would throw neighborhood parties they would even set up at the park and jam like they were playing in front of thousands, it’s actually how he met my mom she would pass by his house and see him practicing from the street. People loved them People loved my dad he has a way of making everyone in the room look his way.

At that moment, he knew what he wanted to do he knew what the neighborhood needed, a good Rock N Roll venue. If he couldn’t become a Rock star he vowed that he would one day open up a venue in the neighborhood he grew up in and my mom was his number one supporter. As I got older, my pop changed one day he was playing in a band and gigging all around town and the next day it was all gone and I didn’t know why, till I got older and realize he gave up his dream for our family so we can have a good home to grow up in and food on the table. We would go out to eat and every single time someone would come up and say Teddy Bear is that you? I thought you would be famous by now and his face would say it all he would go down memory lane but it didn’t faze him instead he would show off his family and say this is what I made of myself. I myself Raymond his son I didn’t take to music so quickly I was into sports till one day it just clicked I was in 7th grade and decided hey I’ll give it a shot so I took out his old drum set and put it together in my room, when he got home, I thought I was dead for sure, lol, but it was the complete opposite. My pop couldn’t wait for the day, haha, so he taught a group of my friends how to play some old school songs like Iron Man, Sweet Child of Mine, To Whom the bell Tones and a few other greats. And that was just the kick he needs to get back into it himself. Which bring us to this point see our family has always been close we are small but we are strong.

My sister Sarah has her own business as well here in Houston we employ over 200 people in the Houston area Momentum Staffing Solutions. When the opportunity presented itself for my parents to start something of their own, naturally, my pop thought back to his old dream of owning a venue that catered only to Rock N Roll in his old neighborhood. They actually didn’t even tell us about it till the spot was picked and the key was in hand, naturally, we had our reservations. All I could think was what are they thinking they are older in age and the bar life isn’t an easy life especially in a neighborhood that is primarily surrounded by Spanish bars and venues. But it was done and that was that. I am happy to say I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong it’s been tough but we are making changes. When we first opened, it wasn’t doing so well, we went months without people coming through the door, the problem was that they didn’t know we were here. So, my mom asked me for my help, you see I come from the industry I grew a great reputation amongst musicians in Houston and played all the main venues here in Houston this was my thing and I booked all my own shows so I knew what it took and what to expect. That and I come from a sales background for my sister’s company and helped her grow that business so I knew what I would have to do. We wiped the table clean and started all over from scratch.

January 1 was a new beginning, I came up with a new plan and strategy that would bring us into the future. I would reach out to multiple bands that I knew could bring something to the table one, in particular, Hard Wired To Kill Em All – A tribute to Metallica. They were set to be my first showcase with me in charge of things we created amazing flyers that would attract everyone. I changed our profile up completely giving it new life a young prospective but not losing sight of what we were made on after all my parents raised me on great music my whole life. The plan seemed to be coming all together I wanted to make every show feel like you were coming to a festival so I enlisted vendors one of which has grown so big in the Houston community HeavyMetal Racket. That show blew every expectation I had away it was amazing, and to see the look on my mom and pop’s face made it all worth it, we knew we had something. Since then, we have only grown and the community has accepted us with open arms they continually come back weekend after weekend and support us full heartily. I definitely would love to give our usuals a big Thank You. Bands love working with us because they know we aren’t here to take money away from them if anything we try to help them make as much money as possible when they book with us they get full promotions and publicity from us. I get professional flyers made and distributed around the city I capture great quality pictures of the bands and do full videos.

Most band actually get booked at other venues very quickly after playing at Rock N Ray’s they tell me all the time. We are thankful for those bands as well the put on great shows for our guests and you can tell they are masters of their craft, they can appreciate our sound system as well, lol. Now, we are in the present, I haven’t talked much about my mom but I will tell you, this all happened because of her you see my pop maybe the vision of this operation but my mom has and will always be the brains of the operation. She single-handedly got everything needed to open and fix the bar to where it is today she works a full-time job during the day and works the bar at night till 2:00 am every Thursday- Sunday, she has not quit, she knows no defeat, we owe everything to her. My mom and I work directly with each other getting bands booked and promoting the business the way it should be and I will tell you she is a strong woman to have running this place she won’t let anyone “poke her eyes” so she says lol and it’s true. She made Rock N Ray’s possible for my dad and for the community. This is our way of giving back with the best-priced drinks in town and that’s definitely a fact we don’t believe in 4 or 5 dollar beers, lol, and great music being played every weekend. Having and hearing people tell me to thank you for doing this in East Houston makes it all worth it. I could go on and on about our Journey but this is the main lol. Thank you for caring and listening to my family’s story🙏🏽.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not a smooth road. In the beginning, we had our struggles the problem was that no one knew we were here or what we offered. The building was originally known as a strip club of some sorts lol. We were lucky if we had 5 people show up on the weekend. We were losing all the way. Making over the building was definitely a task ahead but my mom found a way to get it done.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Rock N Ray’s – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We cater to the Rock industry live music. We specialize in great priced drinks and even greater sounding music we only book the best. We are known for bringing something different to a neighborhood that really hasn’t been done before at least not In Denver Harbor Port Houston. But I’ve been often told that we make people feel safe and at home we have O drama or fights even when we pack the house with 200 plus people and just like the show cheers they come to a place “where everybody knows your name” what sets us apart is what we do for the band we do all promotions flyers pictures videos and at 0 charge to the bands we allow them to keep the entire profit. We also have a great sound with a great sound guy ED, we are musicians after all so we know what we would want to sound like, lol. Venues don’t care about the bands they just care about what they make at the end of the day, with us we don’t care if we make 100 at the night and the band made 150 as long as people have fun and that night took them away from their own minds a moment of bliss and Metal a perfect combination that’s what we care about.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Honestly, we are just taking it step by step. We have always tried to continually improve things, such as sound, lights, decor. We have been catering to the tribute band market and want to touch the original band market, I think we have built a good enough platform where it can hit. We have plans, I just can’t give all my secrets away, lol.

Pricing:

• Beer prices- 2.50 domestic 3.00 imports
• Free admission on most shows
• $8 admission for showcases

Contact Info:

• Address: 6919 Lyons Ave Houston, Texas 77020
• Phone: 832-409-6899
• Facebook: @RockNRaysnightclub

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