SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio nightlife and live music community is mourning the loss of an influential figure on the St. Mary’s strip. Blayne Tucker, 42, died Friday morning on Dec. 30. His cause of death is unknown.
Tucker was a beloved friend and co-owner of The Mix, a live music venue and bar on the strip. Friends were shocked after hearing news of his death.
“I thought I was dreaming to be honest with you. I thought it was a bad dream,” said Luis Munoz, friend and business owner. “I saw Blayne a few days before. He had attended our Christmas party, and we were joking about some of the concerts that we were going to bring to San Antonio.”
Munoz, like so many others, learned early Friday morning of Tucker’s death.
“He was a fiercely loyal friend who always had your back,” said Munoz. “Everyone is just heartbroken. I am as well. I m trying to be strong.”
Munoz said he met Tucker nearly 15 years ago through mutual friends and they bonded over their passion for live music.
“He loved the strip because it is really about music. He used to run the Maverick concerts here in town, and we just became instant friends from day one,” said Munoz. “His passion was music. He wanted to really get back in the music and do something for San Antonio. He was so passionate about our culture here and he wanted to do some great things and we were on the verge of doing that when this tragedy happened.”
Tucker bought The Mix in 2015 along with close friends, Eric Handen and Steve Mahoney. They ran the popular nightspot for years, but he also had a major impact on other business owners on the strip.
Tucker was an attorney and one of the driving forces locally behind the Save Our Stages Act.
He lobbied Texas Sen. John Cornyn for the funding which later brought $15 billion dollars in federal grant money for live music and entertainment venues across the country. It was a lifeline for businesses struggling during the pandemic.
“One of the things that we really appreciated about Blayne was his cooperation, his friendship. He really was somebody that cared deeply and really wanted to to be involved. Just to hear that this happened, it’s shocking,” said Roberto Trevino, friend and former city councilman.
Tucker worked closely with Trevino to help struggling venues and to bring other key issues to City Hall. Trevino said it is a big loss for the local business community.
“It didn’t just save a lot of businesses along the St. Mary’s strip. It was really something that was a citywide effort,” said Trevino. “He saw the importance of bringing people together and making sure they were involved and informed. He worked hard to not just run his business, but to make sure that everybody understood that we’re all trying to help each other out.”
Munoz said he’s spoken and communicated with other business owners, friends and people in the industry who are distraught over Tucker’s death.
“He’s just going to leave a huge gaping hole in a lot of people’s lives and also in the business side of some of the things that were happening in our city,” said Munoz.