Austin Chronicle: TCB: July 17, 2003

Alphabet City:

BROOKS BRANNON: Affable Hole in the Wall daytime bar manager; keeps Willie & Waylon's outlaw torch lit in Horse Wreck while sporting a mustache bushier than most gunslingers in those made-for-TNT productions.

Austin-American Statesman: HOLE, FILLED

By Joe Gross - Thursday, July 10, 2003

The Hole in the Wall is back in business as a live music venue, with bands starting much earlier in the evening than at other venues, which the Hole hopes will draw in patrons who have 9-to-5 jobs. Austin musician (and local music promoter) Paul Minor and new booker (and longtime bartender) J. Beaman have lined up 7 p.m. shows from now until the end of August. (Sunday shows start later.) Beaman says most of the groups will play at least "two hour-long sets." There is still no cover at the door.

The Hole also announced the return of the Sunday night "Rock and Roll Free For All." Plans are for Minor's band Superego All-Stars to play a set at 8:30, a special guest to go on at 9:30 and a jam session at 11 p.m., with all the music wrapping up at the "user-friendly hour of midnight." This Sunday's special guest is Austin Music Foundation "Incubator Artist" grant winner Tucker Livingston. Beaman also said that local songsmiths Mark Ambrose and Jackson (one name only) will be doing a songwriter's showcase on Monday nights starting at 7 p.m.

Those of us who like catching "The Daily Show" before drifting off to sleep at a reasonable hour applaud the Hole's efforts.

Austin Chronicle: TCB: July 10, 2003

Meanwhile, Paul Minor happily reports the Hole in the Wall has once again opened its arms to live music. "We've gotten the green light from the new owners to book music every night," proclaims the Free for All-er, who kicked off the new paradigm last Sunday with the return of his musical franchise. Look for Tucker Livingston at this Sunday's affair and shows starting early -- 7pm, Monday-Friday; 8pm, weekends, with a midnight cutoff -- all of them gratis. "This is real good news," beams Minor. As late-great Galveston native Barry White might have said, "Let the Music Play" ...

Austin-American Statesman: Filling the hole

By Joe Gross - Thursday, June 26, 2003

Well, that was quick. Newly minted Hole in the Wall booker Matt Allen is no longer with the storied venue.

[Rumor has it that Matt was fired because of the below article.]

Austin-American Statesman: Hole lotta teasin'

By Michael Corcoran - Thursday, June 19, 2003

The Hole In the Wall 30th anniversary show Sunday felt a little weird, especially since it could've been the last night of live music at the club for a long time.

KXAN-TV36 - The Hole Is Open

It's perhaps the most celebrated college dive bar in Austin history, and it is back in business Friday night.

The Hole in the Wall closed a year ago amid fears that one more piece of old Austin was lost for good....

Real Player Media: View the KXAN report

Reopening of the Hole in the Wall

Austin-American Statesman: May 22, 2003 - Hole in the Wall Fills Up Again - If a club reopens and no one's invited, do the guitars make any noise? According to day manager Brooks Brannon, the Hole in the Wall's word-of-mouth reopening last Friday night was a low-key success, which was just how they wanted it.... [ more ]

Austin-American Statesman: Austin's Hole will rock again! - It's final. The owners of Austin's Pizza, a local franchise with eight locations, Tuesday bought the building at 2538 Guadalupe St. that housed the Hole In the Wall and plan to restore the vaunted dive to its past glory.... [ more ]

Austin Chronicle: TCB: May 23, 2003: Hole-y Cow! Considering all the fanfare and hand-wringing that accompanied the Hole in the Wall's closing last June, it's appropriate that the venerable bar at 2538 Guadalupe reopened last Friday night almost completely under the radar. That's not a misprint: The Hole in the Wall is indeed open for business once again, a development that comes as almost as much of a shock to management as the public at large.... [ more ]

Austin Chronicle: TCB: Rumors, which turned out to be true, circulated that the new owners of the Hole in the Wall are the same folks behind Austin's Pizza.... [ more ]

Austin Chronicle: TCB: We knew it was only a matter of time until things turned around, and now they have.... [ more ]

Daily Texan: Legendary Hole in the Wall to Reopen - The Hole in the Wall Bar and Restaurant - an Austin live music landmark - had seemingly closed its doors for good last June when its lease ran out and wasn't renewed.

But all that changed Tuesday when locally owned Austin's Pizza officially closed the deal on purchasing the building that sits on the Drag at the corner of Guadalupe and Dean Keeton streets.... [ more ]

Daily Texan: Hole in the Wall back without fuss - Austinites celebrate the reopening of the widely missed music joint

With no fanfare at all, the Hole in the Wall ‹ an Austin live music institution for 28 years ‹ reopened its doors in mid-May, after shutting down for almost a year.

"That Friday we realized we had our liquor license, we realized our inspections were done, and we had our permit from the city, and we were like 'Whoah, we're ready,' " new owner Clay McLaughlin said.

News 8 Austin: Backstage Pass: Welcome Back - A sign in front of the Hole In The Wall says it all: "The Hole In The Wall Rides Again." The other side of their message board is even simpler: "Welcome Home." ... [ more ]

News 8 Austin: The Ever Changing Face of the Drag - People are toasting at The Hole in the Wall. The live music landmark that closed last June due to financial problems re-opened this week to the relief of many customers.... [ more ]

Closing of the Hole in the Wall

Associated Press: Jul 3, 2002: Legendary Austin Nightclub Closes By The Associated Press

Austin American-Statesman: Jul. 1, 2002: Landmark Austin bar closes with final night of music and friends by Janet Jacobs - Although the music was special, it was the regulars who made the atmosphere what it was, he said. "Most of those people have known each other for most of their adult lives," Cugini said.

Austin Chronicle: How I Spent My Last 20 Years - Last night, June 30, 2002, the Hole in the Wall closed. It's so emotional that I can't feel it. The Hole in the Wall was a shitty hole of a bar on the Drag that had been there since 1974. I first started going to it in 1983 when this woman I was doing it with at the time had a Tuesday night residency there. You had to have your own PA in order to play there then, which she did.

News8: June 30, 2002: Sunday night is Hole in the Wall's last by Heather Maze

News 8: Legendary Club Honored at Austin Music Awards

Backstage Pass: The Hole Truth: June 14, 2002 by Andy Langer - After three years dedicated mostly to studying, Rombach returned to the Hole In The Wall for extra cash ­ moving from waitress to bartender, from office manager to booking agent, and three years ago, to owner.

Austin Chronicle: May 31, 2002: Dancing About Architecture by Ken Lieck - Whither the Hole in the Wall? The answer to that query would yet appear to be "thither, for the nonce."

Austin Chronicle: May 17, 2002: The $975,000 Question: The future, sans shades, of the Hole in the Wall by Dan Oko - Owner Debbie Rombach says she would love to buy the building and keep the bar intact, but she just doesn't have the money.

Daily Texan: December 10, 2001: Coming and going ... Drag institutions deal with changes, challenges By Patrick Badgley - Mike White, accountant and business manager of Hole in the Wall on the Drag, says a purchase of the restaurant and bar could mean a hole in Austin.

General Articles About the Hole in the Wall

Miscellaneous Items - I'll never forget the night Emmy Lou Harris joined Rosie Flores on stage after taping an Austin City Limits segment. The audience members kept buying her shots of tequila and within an hour, two of her bandmembers, one under each arm, helped her back to the bus.

Backstage Pass: The Hole Truth: June 14, 2002 by Andy Langer - After three years dedicated mostly to studying, Rombach returned to the Hole In The Wall for extra cash ­ moving from waitress to bartender, from office manager to booking agent, and three years ago, to owner.

Austin Chronicle: Feb. 19-25, 1999: Live Music Venue Guide by Christopher Hess - The Hole in the Wall has always been here and isn't going anywhere.

Yahoo Travel: Hole in the Wall: Literally a hole in the wall, this dive is an Austin favorite.

Texas Music Online: Venue Page: Hole in the Wall: One of Austin's landmark clubs, the Hole In the Wall has helped launch the careers of several successful musicians.

Daily Texan: Mar. 31, 1999: Neighborhood bar stays constant amidst chaos By Brendan Sinclair - As bartender Brooks Brannon, himself a Hole regular of 23 years, will affirm, "This place looks pretty much the same as it did a couple decades ago, only with more crap on the walls."

Austin Chronicle: June 24- 30, 1998: Dancing About Architecture: A Hole Lot Going On by Ken Lieck - There wasn't any particular instant Monday night at the Hole in the Wall that you could pick out as being the one to add to the list of extraordinary things that have happened at the quarter-century-old club, but the night itself has to go down in the books as one of those moments in time that are purely Austin - and purely Hole in the Wall.

Daily Texan: Feb. 1, 1997: Students, bar owners question minor bill by Stephanie Friedman - Doug Cugini, owner and manager of Hole in the Wall Arcade and Restaurant on the Drag, said sufficient laws already exist to prevent underage drinking.

Daily Texan: Dec. 12, 1989: Bathrooms with a view By Charlie Earthman - Word play is always popular with bathroom graffiti artists. Favorites include, "Urine the money" at the Hole in the Wall and Yucatan Dan's "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her drink."

Monk.com Review: When we entered the back room we found owner Jeff Smith sprawled on a table with his legs up in the air getting porked by a pool stick

Weekly Wire: October 20, 1997: Girls With Guitars by Christopher Hess - "We were all just making music and trying to make a living at playing and writing. I played every Sunday night at the Hole in the Wall for five years, from the time that it opened. Doug [Cugini, the owner] literally kept groceries on my table."

Blaze Foley

From Weekly Wire: Dec. 28, 1999: A Walking Contradiction: The Legend of Blaze Foley By Lee Nichols

From the Daily Texan: Foley tape a worthy memorial to one of Austin's best by Lee Nichols

From the Daily Texan: Gunshot kills local musician

Weekly Wire: Blaze Foley: in Tribute and Loving Memory, Volume One by Lee Nichols

Nanci Griffith

Nanci's Starting Place by Paul Johnston - Prior to becoming the Hole in the Wall, this location was the home to Hank's Grill.

Courtney Love

National Enquirer: April 17, 2002: Courtney Love Flies Out of Control - "Courtney and friends went to a club called the Hole in the Wall and drank tequila," the source said.

Doug Sahm

Austin Chronicle: Dancing About Architecture: November 26, 1999: Adios Tornado by Ken Lieck - The club's caricature of Sahm had been moved from the wall of past performers to a new place: front and center in the Elvis Presley shrine over the club's stage. "Doug Sahm is our Elvis," one staffer noted somberly.

Fastball / Magneto USA

Austin City Limits: April 4, 1999: Fastball followed by Mary Cutrufello - Joining forces as Magneto USA, they held down day jobs while honing their chops and audience-testing the material of songwriters Zuniga and Scalzo by gigging at the Electric Lounge, Flamingo Cantina, and at Austin's famed music incubator the Hole in the Wall.

Austin Chronicle: May 29 - June 4, 1998: Dancing About Architecture: Balls to the Wall by Ken Lieck - The band made the best of it, too, with Zuniga using the band's anecdote time to tell the old Hole in the Wall guitar theft story, which should net him free drinks at the Hole for life. (One bartender who missed the show has aready been heard, exasperated, complaining about Miles' appearance at the club this past Sunday; "Everybody's yelling that I shouldn't charge this guy - I don't know who the fuck he is!").

Timbuk 3

Austin City Limits: 1989: Timbuk 3 followed by Eric Johnson - Their offbeat approach was met with resounding indifference before they established local residency at Austin music landmark The Hole In The Wall.

Reviews of the Hole

Monk.com: When we entered the back room we found owner Jeff Smith sprawled on a table with his legs up in the air getting porked by a pool stick

Texas Music Online: Venue Page: Hole in the Wall: One of Austin's landmark clubs, the Hole In the Wall has helped launch the careers of several successful musicians.

Yahoo Travel: Hole in the Wall: Literally a hole in the wall, this dive is an Austin favorite.

Reviews of Performances at the Hole

The Wild Seeds, Wannabes, Rite Fliers: October 5, 2001 By Michael Toland - To celebrate Hall reconvened the final lineup of the Seeds for a record-release party at Austin's venerable Hole in the Wall, the club that gave many of the New Sincerity bands their start and one of the few that's fallen under the radar of the city's scene-destroying urban renovation program.

Weekly Wire: July 31, 2000: Barrel Chested Again: Denton's Slobberbone By Jerry Renshaw - It's Saturday night at the Hole in the Wall, and the pool-room side of the bar is about as comfortable as a Turkish bath.

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