It all started about 40 years ago, when Willie Nelson finally got the hell out of Nashville and hightailed it back to his native Texas. As a songwriter, he’d had a pretty good run in Nashville through the ’60s, but there ultimately just wasn’t enough room on Music Row for Willie to really be … well, Willie. So the prodigal red-headed son came home, grew his hair out and — together with fellow music rebels like Waylon Jennings and Jerry Jeff Walker — united the hippies and rednecks and started a revolution.

In time, the status-quo suits in Nashville took note and stopped shaking in their shiny designer boots long enough to figure out a way to cash in on the phenomenon, bottling lightning and branding it “Outlaw Country.” But as handy as that handle was in selling a few million records to the masses, it barely skimmed the surface of all the progressive country, folk and roots music that was coming out of the Lone Star State at the time. While the rest of the country couldn’t get enough of Wanted: The Outlaws, those really in the know were also digging such rising talents and future legends as Doug Sahm, Billy Joe Shaver, Delbert McClinton, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Joe Ely and Ray Wylie Hubbard. In the ’80s came the second major wave: George Strait, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen. And the trend continued well into the ’90s and the new century, with DIY phenoms like Jack Ingram, Pat Green, Terri Hendrix, Reckless Kelly and the Randy Rogers Band fanning regional grassroots followings into national buzz both on and proudly under the mainstream radar.

Some of these artists, by nature of their independent ethos, remain Texas’ best-kept secrets. Others have made the leap to major labels and, like Willie and Waylon before them, topped the national country charts. But discerning fans of Texas music the world know that there’s only one place to go on the Web to find them all, from the giants of the scene to the latest rising stars: LoneStarMusic.com.

“Lone Star Music is the place that people find out about new Texas music first,” says Michael Devers, one of the New Braunfels, Texas-based company’s three co-owners. “It’s a place for people to discover new artists, and even with the big artists, we’re generally the first place to have information on new releases and to have them up for sale.”

Founded in late 1999 by diehard Texas music fan Chad Raney, LoneStarMusic.com stocks more than 1,300 different artists — including not only Texans honky-tonkers and songwriters, but a generous selection of kindred spirits from Oklahoma’s “Red Dirt” music scene (Mike McClure, Cross Canadian Ragweed) and other fan-approved “Honorary Lone Stars,” like Johnny Cash and fellow “Johns” Hiatt and Prine. While shopping visitors can also peruse Texas music links and exclusive, in-depth “Artist of the Month” interviews. The Q&A are also featured in LoneStarMusic.com’s newsletter, which is e-mailed each month to more than 40,000 subscribers. The web site currently receives half-a-million visitors a month.

And to think it all started a little less than a decade ago because Raney, laid up in bed recovering from a car crash that shattered his legs, simply couldn’t find enough information on his favorite Texas artists, let alone a one-stop shop to order from. Raney, who had recently received the 1997 Texas Entrepreneur of the Year award from then Governor George W. Bush for his thriving medical equipment company (CareChoice), knew there was only one viable solution: he’d have to build such an oasis for himself and like-minded fans himself.

LoneStarMusic.com was an out-of-the-gate success. By 2001, it was named “Best E-Commerce Music Site” by TechTV, and Texas State University’s Institute for The History of Texas honored the company for it’s support of Texas music. The following year, he moved the business from New Braunfels (just north of San Antonio) to downtown Dallas. But as the ubiquitous insurance commercials warn, “life comes at you fast”: That December, Raney found himself back in the hospital — this time undergoing surgery brought on by having spent most of his adult life in a wheelchair. Caught off guard by the emergency health crisis, Raney had to leave his beloved business in limbo — with a batch of Christmas orders left unshipped.

Enter Michael Devers to the rescue. Devers and his girlfriend (and soon to be wife), Clair, were friends of Raney’s who’d offered consulting and technical assistance to LoneStarMusic.com from the start. Clair was the Web/design guru, and Michael, a former musician-turned-artist-manager, had valuable retail experience stemming from his stint working in the corporate office for Hastings (and managing a store). Knowing that the last thing Raney needed during his health crisis was to worry about his company, the Devers raced up to Dallas to pack up the office, ship the outstanding orders and move the whole operation back down to New Braunfels.

“We cleared out a third of our house — and a guest house out back — and moved the business into it,” says Michael. “Our first order of business was to deal with all the people who had had their credit cards charged on Dec. 10 and had never received their product.” Meanwhile, Raney — who’d been moved from Dallas back to his native Texarkana for treatment and to be near his family — was slowly recuperating. In March of 2003, the Devers held a benefit concert for their friend at New Braunfels’ historic Saengerhalle. “It seemed like every artist in the scene pulled together and helped us out,” marvels Clair.

It wasn’t long before the Devers — having already saved the company — became full partners with Raney, who decided after his recovery to remain in Texarkana and leave the day-to-day operation of LSM in the hands of his very capable friends. “I pretty much let Michael and Clair pick up the ball and run with it,” says Raney, who most recently is venturing into a new career as a business and motivational speaker. “And they’ve done an incredible job, quadrupling the size of it. It’s just the perfect partnership, because we’re three totally different personality types: I’m kind of the big-picture guy, Michael’s the executor, and Clair is the balance in between.”

Chief among the Devers’ successful expansion efforts so far was the opening of a “brick and mortar” Lone Star Music store in beautiful downtown Gruene, Texas in March 2004. “Everyone kept saying we were crazy for opening a retail store, because everyone else in the record business was going the opposite way — they were closing and going online,” says Clair. “But the day we opened our doors, we already had tons of customers because of being online. We already had a built-in customer base.”

Raney himself had long dreamed of opening a physical store in Gruene — a tiny town just outside of New Braunfels best known for being the home of the oldest dancehall in Texas, Gruene Hall. It was a dream-come-true for the Devers, too — albeit one born out of practicality. “Before we opened the store, people — customers and friends — who knew we were located in New Braunfels always wanted to come to our house to check out the stock and shop,” Clair laughs. “I was very happy to get my bedroom back!”

Now, Clair — who oversees the retail stores and maintains the Web site while Michael runs the company’s new warehouse — is more than happy to visit with customers from all over the world on a day-to-day basis. “Texas music fans aren’t just from Texas,” she notes. They come from Europe and Asia and all the way Down Under to load up on CDs, DVDs and T-shirts, and to take their picture next to the life-sized wooden statue of Texas music legend (and “the King of Western Swing”) Bob Wills that greets customers at the door. The statue was carved with a chainsaw by Texas songwriter and entertainer Doug Moreland — and made national news when vandals knocked it over and broke the King’s arm (since repaired). “That ended up on the CNN news ticker,” says Clair, “and someone even said that they even heard Bob Dylan mention it in an interview.”

Most gratifying of all though — for Raney, the Devers, their customers and the artists — is the fact that Lone Star Music is still, first and foremost, truly about the music. “I really enjoy getting to help new artists get their start,” says Clair. “And the first time we get to give a young band or artist a check from their CD sales — that’s my favorite thing to do.”

“Our goal has always been to help the independent musician, and to help Americana music and Texas music, which is still kind of mostly unheard in the mass media world,” adds Raney. “We’ve always tried to balance art and commerce — we never sold out or strictly went for what the top seller was. I’m proud of that, and most of all proud of the role we’ve been able to play in helping to grow this scene in much the same way that the scene has helped create us.”

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