Neumeyers: Dancing and music

Links and comments on clubs, dancehalls, and music in central Texas

File last edited 26 August 2008. Links were last checked in December 2007.

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CLUBS IN AUSTIN: INFORMATION AND REVIEWS

Note: The information in this and the two following sections consists mostly of comments from our personal experience, and most of those are two or three years old now, as we have had to limit our dance activities recently due to job changes, family travel, and work schedules. Where we don't know a place, we have either given contact information or quoted from the newspaper articles named on our

main page.

Dallas Nightclub (north Austin):: Good modern dance hall/nightclub ambience; large wood dance floor -- its three big stone pillars actually facilitate dancing by firmly separating line of dance and center (for in-place dancing like jitterbug or West Coast swing). Number of people and activities vary by the night of the week. Friday and Sunday in particular draw dancers early in the evening. For a while in early 2007, they were offering free, individual dance lessons early on both Saturdays and Sundays. An inexpensive place to dance or practice dancing on a good floor.
Music is usually a good mix of country, swing, and rock. Crowd varies -- it tends to be older early in the evening; later on, Dallas is a real nightclub scene.
Midnight Rodeo (south Austin):: Enormous rectangular wood dance floor. We went to this club a number of times beginning in spring 2005 through fall 2007. Current DJs clearly have gotten the hang of programming for dancers, as the playlists move smoothly from two-step at one extreme to West Coast swing at the other. On concert Saturdays, you have to pay the cover in order to enter the club even at 8:00. We did that several times in '06 & '07 and enjoyed a couple hours of dancing on a mostly empty floor; the dj played a perfect mix, with emphasis on triple two-step ballads. We were by far the oldest people in the place.
Graham Central Station.: We tried "Denim and Diamonds," the C & W section of the club, on a Saturday in mid-October 2005; we've been there once since, in early 2007 and had a similar experience. No live music, but a nicely designed space with an excellent raised wooden dance floor, not crowded despite the large number of people already present by 8:30. Music was varied and appropriate but too loud; a C & W dance hall does *not* need the volume levels of the "urban" dance spaces. Why can the sound people not get the message? On our first visit, we left after an hour for another hall down the road.
The Broken Spoke (south Austin):: Famous, moderate-sized dance hall with deliberately over-the-top atmosphere. The concrete dance floor is moderately long but narrow -- it really should be at least six feet wider to accommodate the number of dancers the hall draws. The floor size and shape mean dancers find the center hard to separate out from the line, and also means that "flailers" -- swing-dance couples who selfishly ignore people around them -- can hold up the line of dance entirely. It is usually quite crowded once the band starts, but you often have it to yourself beforehand
Number of people and kinds of dancers vary quite a bit by the night of the week. For dancing, the Central Texas Country site recommends going on Wednesdays. We've done that once and didn't find it much different from Thursdays or those Fridays with a band that doesn't draw heavily. In our experience, Thursday brings out skillful dancers, Friday is best for general dancing (unless the band is a big draw), and Saturday is usually crowded (and watch out for tourists, show-offs, and flailers). The weekday schedule changed in the summer of 2007, however, so days of the week may not be so predictable any more.
Music can be too loud if a band doesn't adjust to the low ceiling; other groups should take a cue from Dale Watson, who always gets it right. Recommended for country dancing on weekday nights; on weekends, go only if the band appeals to you: other clubs have more room and better floors.
Jovita's Mexican Restaurant (south central Austin):: Wood dance floor is small and rough, but well enough suited for swing or Latin. They're serious about live music -- go for that, not for dinner: food is cheap and not too bad but service is unpredictable -- it can be *really* awful (and if you look around the web you'll see we're not the only ones who think so). You can hear the Cornell Hurd Band without any trouble at all from the restaurant section.
Ropers (north Austin):: Similar to Dallas nightclub. Goodsell's comment: "The large, central dance floor is surrounded by bar space and tables, the bars stationed in each corner." We went there at opening time one evening in July 2006 and enjoyed an hour to ourselves on the floor. Believe it or not, we actually would have liked the music to be louder.
Donn's Depot (central Austin):: Seems to be a hangout for the older crowd. Can be busy later in the evening (according to web sources), but it was pleasant around 10:30 on a mid-March weeknight in 2005, and we and our companion couple had the floor to ourselves for some swing (and a little (cramped) two-step). They claim they have two dance floors, but the second one was taken up by a tv, tables, and NCAA tournament fans. One weekend evening in summer 2006, Donn's own band was playing competent covers, and the floor was crowded but manageable; we were among the youngest people there.

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CLUBS NEAR AUSTIN: INFORMATION AND REVIEWS

EAST/NORTHEAST/SOUTHEAST:

Coupland dance hall (historic dance hall northeast of Austin):: High-ceilinged old building with many of the original fixtures; restaurant attached; moderately large wood floor. Even with a crowded floor we were able to dance quite a bit when the Derailers played on 2-26-05. Ditto the night of 7-30-05; no show-offs and only a few clumsy interlopers trying to two-step through the center. Laura's not fond of the mechanical bull's effect on the ambience of the place, and we have encountered disruptive drunks there more often than in other clubs.
Club 21in Uhland (historic dance hall southeast of Austin):: Delightful local atmosphere. Good hamburgers! Excellent large wood floor (was built as a basketball court), though its square shape can confuse line of dance and center; there is a small dip in the northeast corner, and a couple uneven boards but nothing that is dangerous to shoes or legs. Good mix of dancers -- rarely any showoffs.
Our best time yet on any dance floor was when Dale Watson played there in spring 2005. On other, family-oriented nights, the dancers' job is often to avoid small children having a good time on the floor -- to us, that's a real and true social dancing environment. Ricky Calmbach plays at Club 21 on a regular basis (about once a month in spring 2006). Laura has uploaded pictures from one of our visits: New Year's Eve 2006. The only drawback we've found is clueless rock-concert sound men who crank up the volume and drive away the fun (you can almost get away with playing acoustic in this hall even though the building is large). For summer shows, know that the Club does not have AC (but they keep fans going; just remember to take some breaks so you don't get overheated); for winter shows, don't show up early on cold nights (like we did once): the dance hall is pretty cold until the crowd warms it up -- after that, it's great for dancing.
Recommended for country dancing.
Cotton Club and Steakhouse (Granger; 35 miles northeast of Austin): Beautiful old hall whose appearance is marred only by a couple questionable bits of modernization here and there. The dance floor is wood and recently laid; it is somewhat narrow (though not so bad as the floor at the Broken Spoke). A Saturday in late January 2006 brought quite a crowd, which seemed to be a mix of locals and mainly young professionals (perhaps from the Round Rock area?). (Look at some pics on Ricky Calmbach's website: Pics from January 2006. We show up in one of them, doing a brief step-back to get around a slow-moving couple.) Busy dance floor but mostly experienced dancers, and we had no trouble. No competition-style showoffs, but some enthusiastic local dancers kept the floor hopping. Surprisingly, there was no let up for slower tempos; this is the first place we've seen almost no slow dancing. Dinner was good; service was slow.

Nutty Brown Cafe (Cedar Valley (near Dripping Springs); 10 miles southwest of Austin): Small round concrete floor outdoors; from the pictures we didn't expect much but had a lot of fun there on a springtime Friday in 2005. Despite the floor's size, it was possible to do a simple two-step or moderate polka along line of dance. Not crowded and no showoffs. A late May Friday with the Derailers was a different story; the place was packed but most people were there to listen -- the dance floor was still manageable most of the time. Two-step and polka were not possible but the Derailers play mostly swing and rock (too loudly) anyway. Another good evening in early summer 2006.
Luckenbach dance hall (70 miles west of Austin): As famous as the Broken Spoke and Gruene Hall. We visited during the evening of the 2005 Thanksgiving Dance (and again in 2007). The setting is very rural, in a large grove of trees in the middle of farmland; it feels like a campground or small park, definitely not like a town. The event had the feel of a community gathering, too, not a commercial concert.
The dance hall is smaller than we thought it would be, but striking in its all-wood open-rafter construction (except for a tin roof); some of the rafters still bear a lumber company logo after what must be quite a few years; and it was the first true functioning dance hall we visited with old-fashioned large shutters (6-8 feet long) that open up. The hall had space for picnic tables at the back and a couple side benches, the square-shaped dance floor, and the bandstand. Food and drink were available at an adjoining building. Dancing reminded us of Uhland -- the floor was never overly crowded, the dancers showed interesting variety with some traditional dancing by older couples; some older children danced occasionally; no show-offs, though a student couple who looked like they were practicing for competition (doing spins and reverse tunnels -- even a window) must have felt a little out of place. Enjoyable and recommended.
Old Rambling Rose (Llano; 70 miles northwest of Austin): Part of a larger building also housing Inman's Barbecue his is no longer a public hall, but we had a great time at a dance sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in November 2006. Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys played. We also liked the town. The red stone reminded us a little of Sedona, AZ, but without the vistas -- on the other hand, the town isn't pretentious. As of 10 June 2007, there was something wrong with the Chamber's website; you can get access to a list of events here: Llano 2007 events calendar.
Gruene Hall (40 miles south of Austin):: In the middle of tourist-oriented Gruene, this is one historic building that really is worth seeing (complete with old-fashioned large shutters that open up and out, and a good sized outdoor space); terrific atmosphere for listening; dancing can be a problem because the floor, unfortunately, is also historic. We're told that audiences will often stand on the floor during concerts, making dancing almost impossible (that's another thing we have learned -- in larger venues, it's always wise to check with them beforehand if dancing will be possible -- or even allowed). We plan to visit the hall on a weekday evening or low/no cover weekend event, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Kendalia Hall: About 40 miles southwest of Austin. The owners are now offering a limited number of public dances. One of the historic German halls. In February 2007, we attended a public dance where a significant percentage of the audience was associated with somebody's birthday party. The hall is smaller than we imagined it -- Luckenbach is larger -- and it was disappointing to see treated lumber in replacement rafters, but the atmosphere was pleasant and the dancing enjoyable.
Anhalt Hall (southeast of Austin): They hold three public dances/festivals a year. We attended a one-day Cajun festival in late April 2006 and had a great time using our recently acquired (and still a bit shaky) Cajun dancing skills. The hall is extraordinary: all wood construction, high ceiling, a very large wooden dance floor with benches along three sides, bar, picnic tables, and lunch areas in separate but adjoining rooms and an outside (but covered patio). No place we've been gives a better sense of the large 19th century German Verein hall. We also went to the 2006 Octoberfest and had great fun dancing to a German band playing waltzes and (slow) polkas.
Cowboys Dancehall (NE San Antonio; 70 miles from Austin): Formerly Far West Rodeo. Concerts, but also a house band that plays as many as four nights a week. Easy-to-reach location at the intersection of Loop 410 and I35. We visited on a Saturday evening in November 2005. Cowboys is a different order of magnitude from similar Austin clubs like Dallas and Midnight Rodeo -- a huge, high-ceilinged building has two floors worth of seating (the upper or balcony floor is partial, with a view of the stage and the dance floor below). The stage is multi-tiered and is really an auditorium stage rather than a bandstand. The house band is a professional sounding cover band that plays Wednesday through Saturday nights (except for concert nights). When we were there, a female vocalist opened with pop tunes and blues; after she left the band provided a broad range of music for dancing. By 10:00, at least 200 people were in the hall, and more were coming in when we left around 11:00; Laura notes that it's clear Cowboys is an active singles scene, but also that there were plenty of couples, old and young, too. We never felt uncomfortable.
The very large dance floor was always busy but never felt crowded. A wide range of dancers used the floor, including several quite skilled couples. Laura notes that powdering was confined to one edge of the floor, so that couples who wanted it could dance through that edge on their way around. Recommended.
Quihi Gun Club: This link is much improved over the old one, which had annoying pop-ups. We attended Billy Mata's performance on 25 February 2006. A beautiful building with open wood construction and a tin roof, the hall has a very large wooden dance floor (truly the best we've seen anywhere) with picnic tables distributed around three corners. A large crowd seemed to be mostly local, though there were perhaps a half dozen "tourists" like us, as well. The atmosphere was positive and delightful all around. Another dance a couple months later was enjoyable, but the attendance was low because the church across was having its once-a-year sausage dinner fundraiser. In a large hall like this, a half-empty floor feels quite empty.
Floore's Country Store (NW side of San Antonio; 90 miles from Austin): A large concrete dance area in front of the bandstand (similar to Stone Mountain in Dripping Springs), but filled with chairs for the concert we attended in September 2005. Three helpful notes from the website: "DANCING....., usually not at ticketed shows"; "Please be aware that shows vary from dances, to concert seating, to standing room only. You can find out the set up for the show when you purchase your ticket" ; and live music "3-4 days a week [during the school year], including Saturday and Sunday afternoons."
Hangin' Tree Saloon: San Antonio. Usually included in John Goodspeed's Weekender column (see above).
Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Bar.: During our first trip to Bandera (Thanksgiving 2005), we didn't have time to stop in at Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Bar, but we did go there on the evening before New Year's Eve, and the place was lively and quite crowded; Arkey Blue himself sang with his band. The floor is small (concrete and -- yes -- "powdered" with sawdust). In fact, everything is in small dimensions (even the bar). The ceiling is vintage (and in great condition), and the walls are crowded with all sorts of taxidermy, emblems, pictures, and paintings (including a few questionable ones) -- there's probably also a license plate or two. Flasks were all around -- but perhaps that's just the time of year. Many people knew each other -- but we felt welcome, nevertheless. Dancers were traditional (among the locals, that is -- a very, very small number of tourists were pretty circumspect) and as a result it was remarkable how well the dancing worked, given the close conditions. David says that practice on the Broken Spoke's crowded, touristy weekend floor paid off here with what was overall a much better experience. No website -- the link is to the Honky-Tonk Texas site. Another link to a site with a couple visitor comments: Arkey Blue's (Bandera)
11th Street Cowboy Bar: Indoor/outdoor venue in Bandera that was pretty active when we walked through on New Year's Eve last year. It was hard for us to see how you could dance there of an evening, but acquaintances said they did (the new version of their website shows dancing outdoors). Active music schedule.
Blue Gene's: Bandera, immediately next door to the Cabaret (which has closed and is for sale). Their home page has a nice pic of their floor and dancers.

Schroeder Dance Hall:: Near Goliad; near Victoria -- 125 miles south of Austin.

Bo's Barn: In Salado, on I35 about 60 miles north of Austin.
Country Cabaret: 839 FM 467, Seguin (SE of New Braunfels). (830) 379-2995. E-mail: chucklyn@mail.ev1.net
London Dance Hall: Apparently this hall pretty much *is* London, TX. West of Mason, near Junction, about 140 miles from Austin.
Luxello Hall (northeast side of San Antonio): Formerly the Cibolo Creek Country Club. Weekly public dances. This link is to a story in the San Antonio paper: on Luxello Hall. According to the story, "the hall is drawing regulars from nearby and across town with live music Friday and Saturday nights and swing dance bands on Thursdays."
Martinez Hall (east side of San Antonio): Contact Rosalie at home 210-661-2422 or at the Hall 210-661-2422.
Leon Springs Dance Hall (southwest side of San Antonio): This hall closed (reportedly to be sold because the land had become valuable), but now it seems to be in business again.
Sweethome Hall (97 miles southeast of Austin):: They have an active dance schedule. Look at this schedule page or contact Phil & Grace Rogers 361-798-5759. We attended a dance in March 2007. Sweet Home is well out in the country, the atmosphere was very local (more so than we expected), and the concrete floor was hard on the feet and legs after an hour or so. We enjoyed Cory McCauley and the Evangeline Aces (Evangeline Aces) and would seek them out again; Tony Janak's traditional Czech polka band seemed more to the older locals' taste.
Swiss Alp Dance Hall: About 75 miles southeast of Austin, a few miles south of La Grange.
Twin Sisters Hall (south of Blanco; 55 miles from Austin):: No website; this link is to the Honky-Tonk Texas list; it's an alphabetical list -- scroll down to "T." We're told that the Hall does still have public dances the first Saturday of the month, as the honky-tonk site says, and also that the dances are always well attended, even crowded. Call (830) 833-4808 for information.

White Elephant Saloon: In the Fort Worth Stockyard District. Their site says the beer garden has a dance floor, but it's only a small "cage" next to the bandstand, little more than 12 x 12--enough to sway back and forth a bit but definitely not enough for two-stepping.
Longhorn Saloon: In the Fort Worth Stockyard District. "You can enjoy live C&W music, dance on a 1,000 sq ft dance floor. . . ."
Pearl's Dancehall: In the Fort Worth Stockyard District. They advertise live music Wednesday-Saturday. Historic building kept in excellent shape and well worth visiting. We heard Jody Nix there in January 2008. Music was good but the sound levels were so high that Laura's ears hurt when we came inside. Really stupid--if the music's good, why destroy it with ignorant use of an amplifier? The floor was black lacquered wood and good for dancing despite a few rough spots. Not large but held a dozen couples with some space between them. We were able to do a cajun jig without feeling that we were hogging space.
Billy Bob's: At the north end of the Fort Worth Stockyard District. The club map shows a large dance floor surrounding a "honky tonk stage" and situated at the back of the concert area.
Stagecoach Ballroom: In Fort Worth just east of downtown. "It has one of the largest and best dance floors in the DFW metroplex."
Gilley's: In downtown Dallas.
Blanco's: (Once the page loads, click the button at the lower left.) In Houston.
Eddie's Country Ballroom: In Manvel, just south of Houston.

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MUSIC AND MUSICIANS (GENERAL):

Texas Music Project
Cajun French Music Association
Texas Heritage Music Foundation
Austin Music Links: large list of links to musicians' websites
Texas Music Guide:: Uneven site but their "Texas Artists" page is a good concise list of links for musicians' websites. The listing of "Record Labels" is also useful.

Waterloo Records (Austin):: The big independent record store in Austin. We buy from them on a regular basis. Their Texas Music page: Waterloo Records: Texas Music.
Lone Star Music (Gruene):: Across the street from Gruene Hall. This is a traditional storefront venue owned by the online music retailer -- the link is for the online store, which is very well organized and full of information.

Musicians (Singers, Songwriters, Bands -- Mostly Texas)

--------- We've heard these in live performance ------------

Dale Watson:: The gold standard of Texas honky tonk, music for country dancing, and good listening. His sets are usually a good mixture of two-step, triple two-step, slow ("romantic") two-step, polka, and swing, with one waltz. On nights when he's in a mellow mood, there's lots of interaction with the audience.
Pauline Reese:: Excellent CDs. In one live show late in 2004 she didn't seem comfortable, and her voice wore out early. On the other hand, in April 2005 she did a very good show at the Broken Spoke (the band even played "Cotton Eyed Joe" while she joined the dancers!). Good music for dancing, with a focus on two-step and polka. We'd love to see her put together more CDs. A show at Luckenbach in mid March 2006 was a disappointment; we had fun dancing, but the audience was very small and the band didn't seem tuned into dancing -- they treated the show more like a concert.
Ricky Calmbach:: Nice combination of covers and music from his CDs. Very danceable. At Club 21 (Uhland) in early 2005, we were a little surprised by the slow tempos (lots of triple two-step); there was more variety in the second show we attended (Winston's), but still not much straight two-step; The Broken Spoke in July 2005 was even better. And still better, with more stylistic variety, at Winston's Christmas Party in mid-December 2005, where we had a pleasant time amidst a good-sized crowd. Laura says the band has lost some "edge" since bass player Kenny Orts left to form his own band in fall 2006: Kenny Orts.
Sound levels for Calmbach's band have varied quite a bit. At Winston's in mid-summer they were higher than they needed to be, but at the Spoke they were just right. Maybe he hired a new sound guy -- but he must have fired him again, because whoever did the work at South Star in November was clueless and lazy; among other things he buried Calmbach's voice in a mass of instrumental fuzz. At the Cotton Club in Granger (January 2006) the sound was perfect, but at Club 21 in March it was too loud. I guess that means Calmbach's sound man is just inconsistent -- but that band needs to get somebody who knows what they're doing. Unfortunately, most shows we've attended since January 06, including one in December 2007, have been too loud.
Alvin Crow: . We've heard his group several times at the Broken Spoke. Laura found his music pleasant and danceable. This is his page in the Lonestar Music catalog: Alvin Crow
The Cornell Hurd Band:: Loud (and funny) at their "home base" -- Jovita's on Thursday nights. More subdued and very enjoyable for both listening and dancing outdoors at Nutty Brown Cafe on a fall Friday in 2005. Loud but focused on danceable music at the Spoke in April 2006.
The Derailers:: They drew a full house at Coupland Dance Hall on February 26. Music was a range of styles, including a liberal sprinkling of covers, though there was more rock and roll, and less "traditional" two-step, in the mix than we expected. Louder than they needed to be. Ditto their night at the Nutty Brown Cafe in late May 2005.
Pete Benz: His official website. Good TX country baritone voice. His band actually did a nice "opening" act without him during a show in July 2005 -- the audience appreciated it. We were surprised by the generally slow tempos during his first set. A Friday night in 2006 the band played to a young audience, with a lot more swing and rock.
Asleep at the Wheel:: These three (Asleep at the Wheel, Cornell Hurd, and The Derailers), along with Dale Watson, are Laura's favorites. Asleep at the Wheel is really too big for the local dancing scene; when they played the Spoke in late 2006, the crowd made dancing difficult.
Dave Jorgenson:: At Winston's, September 2005, we had a good time; music was good to listen to, with variety for dancing (including several two-steps), and sound levels were right. Not the same band as earlier in the year! The first time we heard him was in January 2005; music was okay for country dancing, but his sound man was a clown who thought he was setting up for a rock concert in a stadium, not a local dance hall. The biggest danger to the future of dance halls and country dancing is sound clowns.
Kelly Spinks:: Stylistic range of the band in live performance is limited (almost all two-step, fast or slow ("romantic") -- very little that was even adaptable to triple two-step or polka) but they offered us a lot of dancing opportunities in an evening.
Billy Mata: Mostly covers of traditional (and some classic) C&W; very danceable; a good, reliable band behind him; his voice went flat later in the evening.
Lucky Tomblin: We've heard him only once, at the Spoke in June 2006. In that performance, the band leaned far more to swing and blues than to two-step -- but since we were taking a swing class at the time, that worked for us.
Jody Nix: We heard him in Llano in late 2006 and then again recently in Fort Worth. Very danceable music, mainly traditional western swing and the occasional polka. Lots of Bob Wills and other classics.
Bobby Pounds: Author of "Counting on This Barstool." We heard him at Uhland in mid-October 2005. Obviously a good songwriter -- they played some new songs even in the short time we were there -- but clueless about sound levels. You can nearly go acoustic at Uhland but these dummies (working without a sound man) jacked up the levels to the point that Pounds' nice lyrics and perfectly decent country baritone were distorted. How stupid can you get? Band was adequate and the music was nicely varied for dancing.
(Others)--------------------
Geronimo Trevino
The Countrymen
Mike Clifford
Billy Dee
Bobby Flores
Get Rhythm
Peoples Choice
Mark Richey
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