ANTONE’S A.C. (AFTER CLIFFORD)
By the time of his death, even Clifford Antone couldn’t pretend that his namesake club is Austin’s home of the blues. Blues has more of a home there than any other local club, perhaps, but most of the old bluesmen Antone loved so much are dead, and those that aren’t are hardly in any condition to tour. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Derek Trucks, Sue Foley, and Maceo Parker might drop by once in a while, but that’s about it. The club’s Blue Monday night survives, albeit on Tuesdays.
Since Antone’s left its moorings on Guadalupe Street for the Warehouse District in 1997, the club has made ends meet, sometimes just barely, with a combination of mainstream alt-rock (Bob Schneider, Vallejo), Texas country (Django Walker, Cooder Graw), radio-friendly singer-songwriters (Edwin McCain), nostalgia (Zombies, Cracker), and hip-hop (Bavu Blakes, Dogg Pound). Its current identity stems more from its size than anything else.
“It’s definitely the finest 600-seat venue in the city,” says David Cotton, who recently began booking Antone’s alongside the Saxon Pub, Momos, and Threadgill’s World Headquarters. “It’s the only 600-seater, really.”
Cotton wants to revive early shows for older clubgoers, who are loath to deal with Downtown’s difficult parking and heavy foot traffic, while also going after young club-hoppers, who may not be ready to settle in one place until late.
“To really make some successful shows, you need to shoot for what’s already down there,” he says. “Mark Proct‘s been bringing in hip-hop that’s done pretty well. Charles Attal brings in stuff that’s too small for Stubb’s and a little too large for the Parish. I think the young rock shows are the way to go.”
Besides, argues Cotton, maybe the blues isn’t quite as dead as people think. The runaway success of Los Lonely Boys, who played Antone’s on their ascent, is proof enough of that.
“The blues has been thriving in Austin, Texas, for a long, long time,” he says. “Gary Clark Jr. and Eric Tessmer, Tyrone Vaughan‘s got a new project, Jake Andrews is back in town. If you put those guys down there late night, you might develop a little thing happening again.”
This article appears in June 2 • 2006.