Soft and Music

South Congress Avenue slopes gently downhill, in a straight line, to the front door of the Texas Capitol building. The oldest buildings are downtown near the Capitol; every few blocks the buildings are a decade or so newer, until you reach brand new malls on the current outskirts of Austin. The Continental Club is thirteen blocks south of the river, in the mid-20th century part of town. It also has a bid in on the "oldest bar in town" contest. Their website claims that when the original club opened in 1957, it was one of the first locations in Travis County to sell liquor by the drink. In the mid 1980s, my first job in Austin was just down the street from the Austin Continental Club. My shift started at 11 p.m., and many nights I got off the bus a few blocks early to stop in the doorway to hear the music of W.C. Clark, the True Believers, or the Wild Seeds spilling out onto the street. Twenty years later, the Continental Club is still loud and still features two or three bands a night, every night of the week. Weekend nights are crowded; by midnight on a Saturday, the place is packed with raucous folks, ricocheting around the small dance floor. Inside the 1950s are still there. Large paintings on the wall of European city scenes and French posters for Elvis movies carry the continental theme. The subsequent decades are represented by old signs from venues which have faded into memory, like the Rome Inn, and posters of the many musicians who have played at the club. Musicians are encouraged to establish a weekly draw. One of my first visits into the club was for Toni Price, who played her soulful blues Tuesday night "hippie hours" since … when did Toni Price start playing Tuesdays? Unable to remember a time before hippie hour, I found a story on NPR. In 2002, she had held her Tuesday night residency for nine years, and continued for a total of 15 years. For the audience, weekly residencies offer a chance to visit with a regular crew of friends, hear new songs, develop favorites, and watch bands change and grow over time. Champ Hood, the fiddle player in Toni's band each Tuesday, is deeply missed. page 1 | 2 | 3