This article tells the story of Antone's Nightclub, a legendary blues venue in Austin, Texas, celebrating its 50th anniversary. It recounts the origins of the club, its connection to local musicians, and its impact on the blues scene.
Texas has more than its share of apocryphal stories, so it’s wise to think twice when you hear a yarn so compelling it seems almost too wild to be true. With that caveat, take a step back to the early ’70s for one such tale. The story goes that on a street in a mostly segregated Texas capital city, a street known for an aging hotel and a handful of seedy bars, a guy from Houston opened a sandwich shop. As local musicians came in for a bite, they’d leave their guitars and amps in the back.
It wasn’t long before the music would take over – transforming the sandwich shop into what would become the most talked about hot spot for blues music this side of the Mississippi.One of Antone’s co-owners Will Bridges, along with the club’s booker, Zach Ernst, joined the Standard to talk about the legendary venue’s history, as well as what’s in store for this milestone year. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.You know, we have been aggregating the lore and history of Antone’s since our 10-year, and there’s little variations throughout. But that’s certainly an element of the story that holds true even today. Now, Antone’s gets its name from its longtime proprietor, the late Clifford Antone, who was certainly a man about town in Austin. I think a lot of people know he was crazy for the blues, but he always said something like he didn’t plan to bring the blues to Austin. The blues found him. What do you think he meant by that, Zach?Well, as Will said, we’ve always been learning more about Clifford and about the club’s history. And especially now that we’re celebrating 50 years, we’ve just put that into hyperdrive. And I think that that’s true. I think that he grew up in Port Arthur, surrounded by that music and also right on the Louisiana border, listening to zydeco bands and what became known as “swamp pop” and R&B and things like tha
ANTONES NIGHTCLUB BLUES MUSIC AUSTIN TEXAS HISTORY LIVE MUSIC
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