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Broken Spoke
3201 S. Lamar, 442-6189
"We're the last of the true Texas dance
halls and damn sure proud of it!" So says
Broken Spoke proprietor James White,
and he's got a point: Country fans have
been two-steppin' around this legendary
joint since 1964, and not much has
changed in that time. The parking lot is
still dirt, the ceiling is still low, and the
beer, well, it may not be 25¢ anymore, but
it sure is cold. White puts a lot of stock in
cold beer. "Cold beer, good whiskey, and
good-lookin' girls to dance with," he will
tell you when asked the secret of the
Spoke's success. "Plus we got good
country music." Do they ever.
Country legends from Bob Wills to Ernest
Tubb to Dolly Parton have played the
Spoke; Willie Nelson was damn near a
regular there. Even a young buck by the
name of George Strait got his start there.
Nevertheless, the heart of the Broken
Spoke has always been the locals, and
these days you'll find the likes of Don
Walser, Alvin Crow, and the Derailers up
on that storied stage, warbling waltzes
and two-steps for the regulars as they
shuffle 'round the room. Here, on the
skating rink-type dance floor, cowpokes
mix with city slickers and good ol' gals
gather with alternachicks -- with lots of
intermingling going on -- all of it accented
by 10-gallon hats, Pearl on tap, and the
what boom? mentality of White and his
wife. It's enough to have landed the club
in the pages of Entertainment Weekly and
National Geographic, described as a
gen-u-ine Texas honky-tonk in a city
inclined to forget its roots. (For a closer
look at those roots, check out the Spoke's
"Tourist Trap," a memorabilia room that
includes, well, Johnny Bush's boots, Bob
Wills' beer can, and chicken-fried steak
plate signed by Randy Travis.)
When White set out to build the Broken
Spoke, he chose a lot not a mile from his
childhood home and got to work: 35 years
later, that work has paid off; the club is an
Austin landmark and shows no signs of
slowing. While his wife Arnetta ("the
working half of the family") handles the
daily business now, White still comes
down on Friday and Saturday nights, and
when he does, he's damn proud of what
he sees. "On my headstone I told my wife
to just put, 'He provided a place where
people could have a good time, and when
he got it built, he named it the Broken
Spoke.'" --Jay Hardwig
UPCOMING LISTINGS AT BROKEN SPOKE
Debra Peters
Tue., Sept. 9
Tony Harrison, Dale Watson
Wed., Sept. 10, 6 p.m.
Jesse Dayton
Thursdays
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