The Great Roll Call Roadtrip: After 36 Years, Boy How Austin Has Changed!

July 13, 2022 Austin, TX

Austin's changed, it's true
Show me what hasn't
Tonight the TV's throwing colors on the wall
As watches cities of the world reduced to ashes
From where I sit, at the bottom of the world
Oh, there used to be a phone booth
Down here on every corner
He used to call me up just to say my name
But now anybody get is a busy signal
No I can't call home, from the bottom of the world...

Alejandro Escovedo "Bottom of the World"

The first time I was in Austin was May of 1986. I had just graduated law school and rather than study for the bar I bought a brand new motorcycle and decided to live out one of my dreams. I was a huge music freak and thought how cool it would be to follow one of my favorite bands around the country before settling down to a squaresville legal career. In 1986 one of the hottest bands on the circuit was The Nighthawks. I first saw the Hawks in 1977 and have been a diehard fan ever since.

Over the next two weeks I followed the Hawks throughout the Mid and South West racking up over 4,000 miles. But of all the venues on their itinerary the one that intrigued me the most was the show at Antone's in Austin, Texas. To blues fans the stories of this club and its legendary owner had reached mythical proportions. So much so, in fact, that I distinctly remember what a let down it was as, based upon its profound influence on the blues music scene, I was expecting the Taj Mahal not a converted Pizza Hut or Country Kitchen. The physical layout of the modest club was not of importance. What impressed me was the passion its owner had for the music and his love for the musicians. I have to admit I was envious watching Clifford Antone introduce the band and hold court. The sheer joy that Antone exuded was so real and contagious it had me questioning what I was going to do with the rest of my working life.

Alas, not everyone has balls the size of Clifford Antone and certainly not me circa 1986. Despite the life changing motorcycle trip, I did return to Minneapolis and embarked on a legal career.

Thirty-six years later I am back in Austin. Just like my prior visit I came for the music and while the venue is again Antone's it is not the same location or owners. The good news is the physical amenities at the new location are a big improvement over the converted Pizza Hut and the new owners have done a remarkable job of capturing Clifford and Susan Antone's passion for the music.

The biggest difference between this trip and my trip 36 years ago is this time I flew. As much as I wanted to take my motorcycle to relive my youth, the high price of gas and the fact I am now 60 convinced me not to try and make a promise that my body can’t fill.

For once I would heed my daughter's sound advice, leave the motorcycle at home and have a nice relaxing 2 hour trip by air. As luck would have it I had booked airfare in the midst of one of the biggest airline meltdowns in history.

Since I was flying in the same day as my first show I was praying there wouldn't be any flight delays. Thankfully my darling daughter booked me on one of the first flights of the day out of Minneapolis, a nonstop on Delta and I arrived on time. With a half a day to kill and check in time at my AirBnB still hours away, I decided to take the metro bus into downtown Austin and catch a brisket lunch.

I had of course heard about the legendary Franklin's BBQ and saw that it was on 11th. I got off the bus by the state capitol and ventured off into the 110 degree Texas midday heat lugging 2 suitcases neither of which had wheels. God what I would have given for wheels on my luggage! After walking 5 blocks in the wrong direction I scrapped the idea of Franklin's for lunch and just wanted cold beer and air conditioning.

That's when I spotted a sign claiming they had the coldest beer in Austin. Sounds good to me. At Little Woodrow's I had a cold beer and a margarita and had a nice chat with Skyler the bartender about this year's Willie Nelson 4th of July picnic. I grabbed a taco from the food truck, called an Uber and made my way to my AirBnb. Shout out to my host Robbie for coming to my rescue after the Uber driver dropped me off at the wrong address. I had just enough time to shower and relax before heading to the show.

So what is my initial impression of Austin 36 years later? Well, it certainly is true that Austin is no longer the quaint college town. The food carts along Congress and Guadalupe have been replaced by food trucks. What was once home to a burgeoning blues scene thanks to Clifford Antone and a slew of transplants from Dallas (the Vaughn Brothers, Doyle Bramhall, Denny Freeman, Lou Ann) Northern Virginia (Evan Johns) Providence (Johnny Nicholas, Fran Christina, Preston Hubbard) and countless other places is no longer the only show in town. Gone are venues like the Armadillo World Headquarters and musicians like Doug Sahm. Today's Austin is a sprawling metropolis with big city prices and recognized world wide as a music capital of all genres. I would be willing to bet there are as many musicians per capita in Austin as there are lawyers per capita in Washington, D.C.

About the closest (albeit imperfect) analogy I could come up with for what has happened to Austin, is what has happened to Stubbs Bar-B-Q restaurant. Formerly a red and white checkered vinyl tablecloth hole in the wall on the first floor of a seedy Rodeway Inn located under the I35 over pass. The old Stubbs had the greatest old jukebox full of 45s on labels like Excello, Duke and Chess.

The new Stubbs is now a multi-million dollar amphitheater that, like the HOB chain, rarely books blues acts, but rather is owned by C3 Presents and booked by Live Nation.

I have a hard time believing its
namesake would feel comfortable at an Anthrax concert in the new version but you have to hand it to his children's marketing and business savvy for taking their father's humble restaurant and turning it into a national brand.

So, yes Austin has changed, it's true, show me what hasn't.....