Last night, the spouse & I went to see live music in San Antonio. You have no idea how unusual that is. This is the least live-music-friendly city I've EVER seen, and we were very suprised to find one of the best venues I've been in, Casbeers at the Church. This post is about the venue -- I'll discuss the artists in separate posts.
You'll notice at the bottom of this page I've included a link to the Salty Dog Blues & Roots Podcast, an outstanding two hour podcast of blues & roots music from Australia. Well, I was listening to the June episode and listened to an interview with Kara Grainger, a blues/roots singer/songwriter from Sydney now working in L.A. I liked her style, so I checked out her website and discovered that shae was playing that night in San Antonio, opening for Mary Cutrufello.
Casbeers at the church is just what its name implies: it is a renovated Methodist church that was converted in to a dinner theater and music venue. It has a full service restaurant downstairs offering some hometown classic food, like award winning enchiladas.
Upstairs, it's simply magic. Kara and Mary played solo acoustic sets, and the sound in that space was fantastic. It is a large & roomy space, but really intimate. Mary commented that it was just as impressive for her as a musician -- she revelled in being able to hear the silence in her songs.
What was unusual about the show was that the Spouse and I were almost the only members of the audience. I think the total audience maxed out at 13 people. Though it wasn't unusual for the artists, it was unusual for me. We basically chatted with the artists between songs, and considering the following they have outside San Antonio, I felt it was quite an honor.
Casbeers at the Church had only been open for about two weeks, so lack of familiarity with the new location was certainly to blame, so I'm hopeful that as others learn about Casbeers they'll become a popular destination for live music in SA. If you're in the area, I strongly recommend you catch a show there whenever possible, both to enjoy the excellent acoustics and to support live music in town.
You'll notice at the bottom of this page I've included a link to the Salty Dog Blues & Roots Podcast, an outstanding two hour podcast of blues & roots music from Australia. Well, I was listening to the June episode and listened to an interview with Kara Grainger, a blues/roots singer/songwriter from Sydney now working in L.A. I liked her style, so I checked out her website and discovered that shae was playing that night in San Antonio, opening for Mary Cutrufello.
Casbeers at the church is just what its name implies: it is a renovated Methodist church that was converted in to a dinner theater and music venue. It has a full service restaurant downstairs offering some hometown classic food, like award winning enchiladas.
Upstairs, it's simply magic. Kara and Mary played solo acoustic sets, and the sound in that space was fantastic. It is a large & roomy space, but really intimate. Mary commented that it was just as impressive for her as a musician -- she revelled in being able to hear the silence in her songs.
What was unusual about the show was that the Spouse and I were almost the only members of the audience. I think the total audience maxed out at 13 people. Though it wasn't unusual for the artists, it was unusual for me. We basically chatted with the artists between songs, and considering the following they have outside San Antonio, I felt it was quite an honor.
Casbeers at the Church had only been open for about two weeks, so lack of familiarity with the new location was certainly to blame, so I'm hopeful that as others learn about Casbeers they'll become a popular destination for live music in SA. If you're in the area, I strongly recommend you catch a show there whenever possible, both to enjoy the excellent acoustics and to support live music in town.
