Antone’s opened on July 15, 1975, when Clifford Antone converted a former furniture store on Austin’s Sixth Street into a blues club, booking zydeco legend Clifton Chenier for its debut night. What began as a passion project by a young Texan obsessed with Gulf Coast blues and R&B grew into one of the most influential music venues in the country, earning the nickname “Austin’s Home of the Blues.”
Over five decades, Antone’s has moved five times, from Sixth Street to Anderson Lane, Guadalupe Street near the University of Texas campus, Fifth and Lavaca, East Riverside, and its current home on East Fifth Street since 2015. Through every relocation, the club has stayed true to its mission of pairing legendary blues performers with the young Austin musicians they inspired, including a then-unknown Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: 305 E 5th St, Austin, Texas
- Type: Blues and live music nightclub
- Opened: July 15, 1975
- Capacity: About 350-400
- Founder: Clifford Antone
- Famous for: Launching Stevie Ray Vaughan and hosting B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker
The Blues Come to Austin
Clifford Antone spent his youth traveling Gulf Coast juke joints before opening a sandwich shop in Austin that quickly filled with guitars and amplifiers. The blues took over, and Antone’s became a stage where touring legends like B.B. King, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Muddy Waters played alongside the local talent they mentored, including The Fabulous Thunderbirds and a young Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In 1987, Antone founded Antone’s Records to capture the club’s live energy on tape, producing recordings by Eddie Taylor, Mel Brown, and Memphis Slim, including a James Cotton album that earned a Grammy nomination. Clifford Antone received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Blues Foundation before his death in 2006.
A Venue That Keeps Moving, and Keeps Playing
After Clifford Antone’s death, family and a board of directors kept the club running before new ownership took over in 2013 and relocated the venue to East Riverside. In 2015, Antone’s returned to downtown Austin on East Fifth Street, restoring the historic brand within walking distance of its original Sixth Street roots.
Austin officials, including former mayor Will Wynn, have credited Antone’s as a key reason the city earned its title as the ‘Live Music Capital of the World.’ Today the club continues booking blues acts alongside touring artists across genres, carrying forward the mission Clifford Antone started five decades ago.
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Antone’s FAQs
Is Antone’s still open in Austin?
Yes. Antone’s operates today at 305 E 5th St in downtown Austin, a location it has occupied since a 2015 reopening after a stint on East Riverside.
Who founded Antone’s?
Clifford Antone founded the club on July 15, 1975, converting a former Sixth Street furniture store into what became known as Austin’s Home of the Blues.
What artists got their start at Antone’s?
Antone’s helped launch Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, pairing local Austin musicians on stage with touring blues legends like Muddy Waters and B.B. King.
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Photo: Unknown / CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.