South Coast community and music legend Texas Dave McGarry has passed away. Photo: Facebook.
Moruya identity and champion of musicians everywhere, Texas Dave McGarry, passed away surrounded by family at his South Coast home on Friday (26 September).
To describe Texas Dave as a loveable character would be a massive understatement.
A character he was, and most certainly loved by all those who knew him, but the word “legend” is perhaps even more fitting.
Texas Dave was his actual name – he changed it officially after Texas Governor Anne Richards made him an honorary Texan in 1994.
It was a worthy recognition of Dave’s enthusiasm for Texan music and his promotion of the Lone Star State to as many people as he could tell Down Under.
But Texas Dave was an Englishman, an English gentleman even, who went to boarding school in Coventry before “hitchhiking” his way to Australia in 1971, spending a lot of time in Northern Queensland, and meeting the love of his life Jenni in Sydney in 1972.
After going back and forth between Oz and the UK (for both of them), Dave immigrated proper to Australia in 1976.
The young married couple spent a number of years travelling all over the country, sleeping in swags under the stars and jumping freight trains across the desert.
There were a number of trips to Austin, Texas too.
They went on to build a family and eventually had three sons.
But it was during a cold Coventry winter in 1973 when young Dave McGarry discovered the contagious uniqueness of Texan music.
“I found TX music made me feel good, and I escaped into a world of blues, rock, country, crazee Tex-Mex … the whole box and dice. I was hooked, gone,” he once wrote of himself for a newsletter.
“While the rest of the world was listening to … y’know, everything from Zappa to Zepp, Stones, etc, I was on another planet – cactus songwriters, accordion driven rocket music, whatever …
“I became known as this strange guy who only listened to, and talked about TX music.”
He brought that love of Texan music to Moruya where, 28 years ago he and Jenni opened Planet TX.
Originally a video game exchange store in a small arcade, Planet TX soon became a substantial music store in the town centre, selling musical instruments, sheet music and accessories to what became a loyal local customer base.
If it was anything at all to do with music, Planet TX was the place to find it.
It was also where you could drop in just to have a chat with Dave – wearing his trademark bandana, cowboy hat and boots – about that twangy guitar sound from Texas.
His conversations were always gentle and his words always kind, even in chance encounters around town.
“Hello my friend, it’s good to see you again,” he would often say with a smile.
So too would he say: “Music is for everyone and everyone can make music in some form, it’s that universal.”
From its early days the business further evolved into music promotion, with Planet TX enticing travelling Texan musicians to Moruya for side concerts during their Australian tours.
Beginning in the 90s, Texas Dave and Jenni hosted 25 sold-out shows in Moruya, of 500+ music fans and featuring some of Texas’ finest.
There is the legendary story of Texan country troubadour Townes van Zandt rocking up hungover in Moruya after a drunken, disappointing and very short concert appearance in Sydney the night before, and telling Dave that his sets were now only a couple of songs in total.
Concerned for all the locals who had bought tickets to the Moruya concert, Texas Dave endeared himself to van Zandt chatting in his motel room for quite some time about music and Texas and Australia.
The Texan singer-songwriter ended up playing for a couple of hours that night in Moruya, including multiple encores.
Texas Dave was quite chuffed by the show’s success and the fact that on his own subsequent trip to Austin, van Zandt personally intervened to get him tickets for one of his sold-out shows in that city.
The insurance industry and ever-increasing bureaucracy eventually saw the curtains close on Texas Dave’s Texas concerts in Moruya.
But it didn’t stop his mentoring of local musicians and hosting local open mic events around town to share the love.
Planet TX closed its doors in April this year. It opened on 1 April 1997 and closed on 1 April 2025.
It was the last remaining bricks and mortar musical instrument shop for hundreds of kilometres up and down the NSW coast.
Texas Dave played a huge role in fostering the music scene not just in Moruya, but also the entire Eurobodalla, NSW South Coast, and even Canberra (where many coastal holidaymakers called Planet TX their shop too).
He also always made the day a little brighter for those who crossed his path.
“Legend” is a most befitting word.
R.I.P. Texas Dave.
