Photos by Samantha Jane Beatty
Styling by Kate Stukenberg
Grooming by Tonya Riner for Page Parkes Agency
Models Madison Johnston for Wallflower Management and Jake Atterberry for Page Parkes Agency
Photo assistance by John Lewis
Styling assistance by Molly Jodeit
Men’s styling consulting by Cody Sever
and Whitney Wiggins for M Penner
Shot on location at Hotel Alessandra in Downtown
Whiskey Myers plays March 11
Of the 20 acts scheduled, 10 are making their debut on the RODEOHOUSTON stage, including contemporary country pop sensations Carly Pearce, Lainey Wilson, and HARDY; 19-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo, whose unique take on the regional music of Mexico includes alternative and emo-rock influences; Canadian rockers Nickelback; country-folk breakout artist Oliver Anthony; rapper and country star Jelly Roll, who recently testified at the Senate’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing where he lobbied for stronger legislation against the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the United States; Texas-band Whiskey Myers; Jamaican-American EDM and DJ trio Major Lazer; and vintage hip-hop star 50 Cent, whose champagne Le Chemin du Roi Brut (“The King’s Path”) won the 2023 Rodeo Uncorked! Grand Champion Best of Show honors and was auctioned off for a record-setting $325,000 at RODEOHOUSTON’s charitable Champion Wine Auction.
Returning to RODEOHOUSTON are fan favorites Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, and Luke Bryan, making his 10th appearance on the star stage at NRG Stadium; Hank Williams, Jr.; Zac Brown Band’ outlaw country artist Eric Church; Australian Christian pop-act and KING + COUNTRY; Los Tigres Del Norte, who perform on March 10 for Go Tejano Day; Jonas Brothers; and rapper, burger-meister and No. 15 in Houston CityBook’s“Cool 100” Bun B.
Keep in mind concerts begin each night after the last rodeo event is completed, so the actual start times for each show will vary due to the different number of rodeo competitors and other production elements.
Blake Shelton plays Feb. 27
Luke Bryan plays March 7
For King and Country plays Feb. 29
Oliver Anthony plays March 5
LeBrina Jackson (photo by Shamir Johnson)
“I’ve always just wanted to be the caregiver,” says the former high school cheerleader and beauty queen turned wellness entrepreneur and NFL wife. “The person who takes care of others. The one who makes them feel okay.”
Now, as the new year has arrived and minds focus on wellness and rejuvenation, she’s turned her instinct for providing services that refresh and renew into a stellar business. Her months-old Escape Spa in Cypress is an increasingly popular suburban outpost with an impressive roster of unique services, and a smiling staff of accomplished, hand-picked young therapists. It will officially celebrate its grand opening next month.
“Escape Spa is at the forefront of fostering a holistic approach to guests’ wellness and recovery by providing all-access resort-style amenities including a co-ed wet room where couples can relax together before and after their spa journey,” explains a rep for Escape in the press materials. Indeed, the strip-center setup is smart and polished, with lots of trendy bells and whistles — with many savvy couples and wellness aficionados already having found their way there. The extensive menu of services includes hydrotherapy, halotherapy, infrared sauna, contrast bathing and IV infusions, as well as luxurious body treatments, massages and facials.
Jackson has even devised a special package for the new year that gives guests an opportunity to enjoy a range of what Escape offers. The Ultimate Zen Escape comes with a hefty price tag — that’ll be $1,200, please — but, for spa lovers, the nearly five-hour experience may be hard to beat. The indulgence includes, in part, a Vichy body exfoliation treatment, a salt stone massage, tea service taken while wearing compression boots, a unique facial luxed up just for this package, a healing whiff of oxygen and, for sophisticated snacking, charcuterie and Champagne.
“We’ve been working on our Ultimate Zen Escape as a way to show off the all-encompassing Escape experience,” she says. “We’re so much more than just a spa; we’re a day destination, and it’s important to demonstrate that health and wellness goes far beyond the massage table.”
Multiple packages are designed for couples, usually beginning with a private jacuzzi soak. “Together in Bliss” includes both massages and facials.
Although Jackson is only 34, her knack for providing such clever, enticing services and succeeding as a businesswoman has been honed over many years, beginning with those popsicles. She followed that up with a stint in college, hoping to be a dentist. But when life threw her a curveball — an unplanned pregnancy — she changed her plans and, to earn a living for her and son Brinon, became a fifth-generation hair stylist working in her mom’s salon.
“I was good at it,” she says. But the then single mom wasn’t content to just do hair. She enhanced the experience with mimosas, cupcakes and, most effectively, friendly socializing. “I found that long after I finished someone’s hair, they lingered, wanting to continue talking as friends.”
When she wasn’t learning from her mom about the beauty biz, she enjoyed a passion for horses with her dad, a ranch hand who introduced her to the equestrian life as a toddler. She still rides and keeps horses at the Hockley, Texas, spread she shares with Brinon, now in high school, daughter Wynter, and her husband, former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback William Jackson, whom she wed in a lavish Napa Valley ceremony in July. (Baby Wynter arrived on horseback!)
“A horse reflects your mood and attitude back to you and helps make you more self-aware, a better leader,” says Jackson. “I realized on one of my meditative rides that I do care about everyone. I just want everyone to feel and be okay.”
For Jackson, opening a spa like Escape seemed like the logical next step in her career, sharing a bit of what she’s learned about looking good and feeling well with grateful customers — and building a successful business in the process. “To me, beauty starts from the inside out. It’s what you eat, how you think. What you do. How you help others.
And, she winks, “Pilates doesn’t hurt.”
William and LeBrina Jackson (photo by Shamir Johnson)
The entrepreneur wed football pro William Jackson in Napa last summer, with daughter Wynter and son Brinon looking on. (photo by Travis Daniels Photography)
The welcome desk at Escape Spa in Cypress
A couple in the water therapy room at Escape Spa
HaloIR Salt Sauna Suite at Escape Spa
Compression boot at Escape Spa