Don’t let the initial C&W emphasis fool you.
Whiskey Girl Saloon (2413 Ellis Ave.) will be open to music of all genres, promises co-owner Trent Debth, even though his Stockyards venue’s first month of operation, December, features a lot of purveyors of C&W. Austin Allsup, Whitnye Raquel, and Roaming Soldiers are just some of the countrified artists on tap.
January, Debth said, will be a different story.
“You’ll see sort of an ebb and flow with our music here,” Debth said. “It really depends on band availability. I really wanted to get The Hanna Barbarians in here opening month, but their schedule didn’t work out. Same with the Quaker City Night Hawks. … Because it’s our first month, a lot of these bands are booked months in advance.”
Yes, Whiskey Girl Saloon is a Stockyards venue and as a Stockyards venue features more than just a passing dose of cheese: The seven main bartenders are all young women, whose uniforms consists of cowboy boots, tight jeans, and corset tops; every Wednesday will be devoted to country music (live and via DJ); and the décor is decidedly rustic Americana –– on the wall behind the massive (25-by-16 feet) main stage will luminesce a bucolic mural in the spirit of Gruene Hall’s. There will be bluebonnets.
But the sound system, already installed, is state-of-the-art, and the entire space, while compartmentalized, is massive –– the main room is 4,800 square feet; the Whiskey Room, which won’t be open by the grand opening weekend of November 24 due to delays, is 800 square feet; the back patio, replete with outdoor stage, is 4,000 square feet; and the front patio is 400 square feet.
“We are a music venue,” Debth said. “We are big musician supporters.”
In addition to C&W Wednesdays, Whiskey Girl will host an invite-only open mic on Tuesdays and ladies’ night on Thursdays. The weekends will belong to music of all stripes.
Some of the non-country bands slated to play in December include: indie-rockers Calhoun and We The Sea Lions on Saturday, Dec. 1; hard-rockers The Phuss with God’s Joke on Friday, Dec. 7; and, for opening night –– Saturday, Nov. 24 –– the R&B-ish Josh Weathers & The True+Endeavors. All of them are from the 817.
We would love to see Bonnie Bishop at Whiskey Girl! Just saw her Friday in Austin at the Saxon Pub.