‘Beer Joint’ Became Cradle of Country Music Stardom

By day in this quiet little town on the rocky Guadalupe River, visitors hunt for antiques, eat barbecued brisket and laze around sipping cool drinks.

After dark is when the place comes alive, and one cannot help but think that old Henry Gruene would approve.

It is then that locals and the curious from the big city crowd into the century-old saloon, Gruene Hall, to drink beer from long-neck bottles and beat the boards to the sounds of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bo Diddley and other big-name acts familiar to country music fans.

“A lot of great, sweaty nights happen here,” singer-songwriter Hal Ketchum said, leaning back in an old chair near the bar. “And there’s nothing like a good, 105-degree day in here with your band.”

By day, Gruene Hall is a meeting spot for Girl Scouts and debutantes, but when the sun goes down it’s one of the hippest honkytonks in Texas. It has been pictured on album covers and has served as a folksy setting for videos and television specials.

Gruene Hall attracts thousands of music fans to this little village, a historic district that retained its identity even after it was annexed into New Braunfels, a town of 22,000 people a few miles up the road from San Antonio.

Henry Gruene (pronounced green), for whom the town was named, built the hall in the 1870s as a social center. Farmers came to the hall to weigh their cotton for delivery to the gin next door. On Saturday nights, they brought their families to dance on the hardwood floor. The old wood-burning stove remains.

The hall and several other Gruene buildings now belong to Jane Nalley of New Braunfels and Pat Molak of San Antonio. Molak bought the hall and reopened it 15 years ago, after it had been in disuse for several decades. It became a favorite haunt of country, blues, rock and folk musicians, and in the last few years, has gained some national renown.

Country music fans will recognize the names George Strait and June Carter Cash. Strait played here about once a month for six years before he became a star. He returned in January to tape commercials for a concert tour.

Gruene Hall, meanwhile, remains a laid-back place. There are no advance ticket sales and no dressing rooms for the performers, however famous they have become.