Live blues music with The Blues Specialists at The Continental Club, a historic Austin venue known for roots rock and blues.
The Blues Specialists are back at The Continental Club on Friday, October 2, for their long-running Friday happy hour. It's a slot they've held there for years, and it's a good place to start your weekend if you're in the mood for something that doesn't try too hard to be something it isn't.
The band is a piece of Austin's musical history. They were founded by East Austin blues legends T.D. Bell and Erbie Bowser, whose partnership went back to the 1940s before they reunited to keep traditional Texas blues alive for a new generation. Today the group continues under the leadership of longtime member Mel Davis, and there's a lot of history on that stage—the members have well over 200 years of combined experience between them.
What they play is authentic Texas jump blues and soulful vocals, rather than flashy solos or modern blues-rock. The sound draws on the jump blues, swing, and T-Bone Walker-inspired tradition that helped define Austin's East Side. It's the kind of music that's more about the groove and the song than the spotlight, and it fits the room it's in. The Continental Club opened in 1955 as a swanky supper club, spent time as Austin's first burlesque joint, and later became a blue-collar bar on South Congress. Now a historical landmark, it's billed as the premier roots rock, traditional country and blues, rockabilly and garage rock club in the country.
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Between the band's deep roots in the city's blues tradition and the club's own long history on South Congress, it's a night that feels very much like a part of the local scene. The music starts at 6:30 PM, and there's no cover.
