Singing an Old Song to a New Tune
Antone’s brings blues to the modern era.
Words by Jessi Devenyns
Anyone who has come near the Austin music scene in the last 40 years has heard of Antone’s, the blues club that redefined Austin sounds and put the Live Music Capital of the World on the map for many audiophiles. While the club’s physical location has drifted around the city over the years, it has most recently found its home in East Austin, only blocks from its original location.
Two streets from I-35, the old 20th century Cadillac dealership is now a neon-lit music hall with a stage that commands the eyes of all who are drawn in by the siren’s song of the blues. Over the decades, acts like Muddy Waters, Lou Ann Barton, and Gary Clark Jr.—who later assisted in reviving Antone’s after its two-year hiatus—have paraded across the stage of this preeminent club and sung their memorable tunes to the rapt ears filling sold-out shows.
Following decades of international success and a vaunted status as a legend, Antone’s had to face the music of a growing Austin and shuttered its doors in 2014 after a brief stint in a location on East Riverside. However, rather than remain a relic of days gone by, the spirit of Antone’s outlaw blues remained strong in an Austin culture saturated with indie-urban beats. So, with significant support from the music community and an eye toward fostering a new generation of soulful, blues-inspired artists, the club reopened its doors on New Year’s Eve 2015. “Our bread and butter is blues music because that’s where we started,” says Antone’s general manager Mallory Bellinger. “We are still cultivating blues roots with soul and funk, and we are still bringing in zydeco.”
Rather than water down its relevance in the modern music scene, this historic club’s adherence to the sound that defined Austin for a generation has allowed it to pass the torch to a new generation of music aficionados. The acts billed at Antone’s provide “an opportunity for younger folks to be introduced to the sounds that have made American music so awesome—and not just what they might hear on the radio. All of that really has derived from the blues in one way or another,” Mallory beams.
While no longer run by the icon behind the name, Clifford Antone, Mallory shares that his presence is still very much alive, and he would be pleased with how Austin’s ‘Home of the Blues’ has been rebuilt. She smiles, “I’ve had multiple staff members, including myself, sense a real presence. And we always say, ‘It’s Cliff.'”
Did You Know?
One of Austin’s oldest music traditions, Blue Monday, is an Antone’s special where, since 1975, dinner includes deli food alongside bluesy tunes.
Contact:
305 E 5th Street
antonesnightclub.com
@antonesnightclub
