Caroline Sears, Springful, & Jake Ames

Caroline Sears, Springful, and Jake Ames play Hole in the Wall on Wednesday, July 29. It's a three-act bill, with Sears, Springful, and Ames each taking their turn on the stage.

If you haven't spent much time there, Hole in the Wall is one of the oldest venues in Austin. It opened in 1974 in the Campus area and started as a folkie hangout—a favorite stage for Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, and Blaze Foley. From there it grew into a breeding ground for punk, cosmic country, and alternative, and it launched the careers of Timbuk3, Fastball, Spoon, and Shakey Graves. It's a historic two-stage dive with a collective capacity of a couple hundred, and it still stages live music every night. It's always been a shoestring effort; it briefly shuttered in 2002 and came dangerously close to being priced out in 2015. It was named Best Dive Bar in the 2026 Readers Poll.

That history makes it a particular kind of room—a proving ground for new bands that's seen a lot of different sounds pass through its doors over the decades. This bill keeps that tradition going, with three songwriters sharing the night. The show starts at 6 PM at 2538 Guadalupe, and there's no cover, though it is 21+.