Dale Watson At The Broken Spoke

Brody, his girlfriend, and I went to watch Dale Watson the other night at the renowned Texas honky-tonk, The Broken Spoke, here in Austin. I don’t even know how to begin describing the place, but it’s an experience unlike any that you’d find anywhere else. The Broken Spoke proves that appearances can be deceiving since it looks as run down as a shanty in Hooverville, with the ceiling barely above six feet in some places, and its hodge podge of particle board and sheet metal that make up the walls. Despite its appearances, it’s a happenin’ place to be just about every night of the week thanks to the music. You can find artists like Bruce Robison, Dale Watson, The Derailers, along with local artists gracing it’s stage.

There aren’t many dancehalls left and The Broken Spoke is one of them. It doesn’t try to pretend to be anything else and that’s why the people come there; they want to dance. This makes the listening experience a little different since the speakers are pointed at the dance floor and picking up the vocals on the side is a little difficult. I’m a no dancin’ white fool, so jumping out there was out of the question. Besides, getting shown up by an 80 year old regular that could out-dance just about anyone in the building wasn’t in my plans for the night.

I marveled at how down to earth Dale Watson seemed as he interacted with the crowd, taking pictures, signing pictures, and just plain socializing. When he kicked off the music, the dance floor became packed while Watson sang country songs the way they were meant to be sung. He interacted with the crowd from the stage, taking requests, downing shots, and chatting it up. He covered songs like “Heartaches By The Numbers,” “Act Naturally” with James White, and one from Johnny Bush’s new album that he wrote, “Tequila Teardrops,” as well as a few originals like “Honky Tonk Wizard of Oz,” “Whiskey or God,” “Honky Tonkers Don’t Cry,” and even had one about the Billy Joe Shaver shooting incident. That’s what I call turnaround time.

We left after a couple of hours, but Dale and dancers were still going strong. Dale Watson is what country music is about and he definitely knows how it should sound. When Matt asked who the Opry would induct next, I threw out Dale Watson’s name as a good candidate. It’s unlikely that he’ll get the nod, but nothing I’ve seen or heard from him would make him unworthy of such an honor. Other links to check out are Brody’s review of his latest album, From The Cradle To The Grave, and this short video detailing Dale Watson’s career on Twang Nation.