Gospel Brunch

Stubb's hosts its Gospel Brunch every Sunday at 10:30 AM, a long-running Austin tradition that pairs Southern comfort food with live gospel music. The brunch has followed the same formula since it started: indulgent food and uplifting music, served up in the Red River music district. The first one took place shortly after the venue opened in 1996, but the whole thing traces back to 1968, when Korean War veteran Christopher B. Stubblefield turned his passion for smoking brisket into a popular Lubbock BBQ stop that featured live music. Co-founders Eddy Patterson and John Scott grew up eating at Stubblefield's and launched the Austin venue, keeping that marriage of food and music alive.

The music side of the brunch has deep roots. The Gospel Starz have been playing it since 1996, and the brunch's history is tied to the Original Bells of Joy, whose 1951 track "Let's Talk About Jesus" Ray Charles later repurposed as "I Got a Woman." The group's sole surviving original member, A.D. Watson, is now 89 and still performs. It's a lineage that stretches from a Lubbock BBQ joint in the sixties to a staple of the Austin scene today.

If you're heading in, it's at Stubb's Bar-B-Q, 801 Red River St., Austin, TX 76164. It runs every Sunday at 10:30 AM.