Antone’s blues club in Austin is to the blues what The Stone Pony is to the “Jersey Sound” and what the Blue Note is to jazz. Chicago has had legendary clubs like the Checkerboard Lounge, Theresa’s Lounge, and Buddy Guy’s Legends (still rockin’), but Antone’s has stood the test of time for a half century. It has gone through a handful of physical locations and multiple owners, but the club started by Clifford Antone in July 1975 still survives and strives to keep the blues alive. Antone’s sister, Susan, has kept the torch burning admirably and grown the brand. Austin-based blues star Gary Clark Jr. bought into the club to help keep the momentum, "Antone's is my foundation. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if it hadn't been for Antone's.”
This reporter has visited the club several times over the last 35 years and the sense of blues history there is palpable. Antone’s is where Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King traded licks. This was home base for The Fabulous Thunderbirds. This is where blues giants invited young kids like Christone “Kingfish” Ingram to the stage. It has been the one constant that acted as a hub for the explosive growth of the Austin music scene and city itself.
This year, Antone’s is taking the show on the road. In April, an all-star lineup performed a TV special for Austin City Limits and did a showcase at SXSW. On June 29, the Antone’s Allstars are back to take on the Big Apple. Lincoln Center is producing a free, outdoor show at Damrosch Park to help commemorate the anniversary. Blues legends long associated with the club like Jimmie Vaughan, C.J. Chenier, Sue Foley, Lil’ Ed Williams, John Primer, and many others will appear. Foley has many fond remembrances of nights at Antone’s and loves the music vibe in the city, “I’m still in Austin. It really is a great music town. There’s so many great artists who live there. There’s no attitude about the business. Everybody hangs out. It’s a really community-kind of vibe.” Blues guitarist/singer and Austin resident Carolyn Wonderland met many of her heroes at the club, “I remember Clifford Antone introducing me ‘This is Gene (Taylor) from The Blasters’, and I almost lost my mind because The Blasters were one of my favorite bands in the world. I really miss him. That’s where I met Lou Ann Barton and Kim Wilson too.” Wonderland wrote and performed a tribute song “Blues for Gene” on her current hit album Truth Is. Wilson had similar experiences there, “All the great times that we had at Antone’s, where we played with everybody. I had a relationship with Eddie Taylor. People like Albert Collins, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Luther Tucker. I’ve had some incredible experiences with the originators of what I love.”
We caught up with blues guitarist John Primer this week upon his arrival to New York for the big event. His career was made for Hollywood. Born in Mississippi, he worked in the cotton fields as a youngster and had no running water. He moved to Chicago at age 18 to join his mother, got his first real guitar from a Windy City pawn shop, and soon took his act to famed Maxwell Street to busk for money. Willie Dixon discovered him playing in the house band at Theresa’s Lounge and hired him to tour Mexico with his band. Upon seeing him with Dixon and having Jimmy Rogers flame out at an Antone’s show, the great Muddy Waters tapped Primer to join his band. He played in Waters’ band for over three years until Muddy’s death. “When I first went there with Muddy, I went ‘wow, what an amazing place’. Clifford was a great guy to do these things, he was one of the greatest that kept it going and made all these guys famous. That’s where a lot of them got their start at. Sue Foley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King. I’m grateful to him for doing that. I know he’s up in blues heaven right now.” For the last 35 years, Primer has led his own band, producing wonderful, authentic blues records. Two recent albums with harp player Bob Corritore were career highlights, winning several major blues awards, introducing Primer to a new generation of blues fans. He has played Antone’s many times over the last 45 years and will be one of the featured performers on the June 29 New York show and on the upcoming Antone’s: 50 Years of the Blues 4 LP box set, which will be released on August 22. Primer performs a terrific version of Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do” on the set. “
Keeping a club alive for 50 years is a major accomplishment. Most importantly, the music and connections made at Antone’s over the years are the stuff of legend and have helped perpetuate the genre. We’ll give The King of the Blues the final word. As B.B. King said, “Long before people started to latch onto the blues, Clifford Antone supported them and promoted them. We who play the blues owe him a lot.”
Antone’s 50th Anniversary Trailer:
Jimmy Vaughan Trio with Gary Clark, Jr. “Texas Flood” live at Antone’s:
Stevie Ray Vaughan – live clip at Antone’s:
John Primer – live clip at Antone’s:
