Graffiti stains it's unpainted plywood walls. The place is decorated with beer signs, band posters, and . A dusty, full sized coyote stands guard over the door. The taxidermied critter stares out the window at Sixth street and what once was Route 66.
The Golden Light Cantina is not what anyone would call fancy or even nice. Picnic table serves as table and chairs but night after night you can find great live music, cheap beer, and good times within its walls. The Golden Light has a tiny dance floor but often the place gets too crowded for there to be room for much two-steppin'. That was the case a few weeks ago when I headed out to the Golden Light to catch The Gourds in action.
The Golden Light is a small intimate venue but that hasn't stopped them from gathering an impressive list of musicians over the years. No, not the Nashville pop country that taints the airwaves, but the roots rock, outlaw country that provides the rhythm of my soul. If you don't live in Texas, or veer off the mainstream path of commercial music these names might not mean much to you, but here is a list of some of the acts to grace the Golden Light's stage.
The Gourds, Guy Forsyth, Eleven Hundred Springs, Lonesome Goat, Cooder Graw, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Thrift Store Cowboys, Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen and West 84, Reckless Kelly, Micky and the Motorcars, , Stoney Larue, Jack Ingram, Bleu Edmonson, Shooter Jennings, Aaron Watson, Fred Eaglesmith, Charlie Robison, Slaid Cleaves, Bruce Robison, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Gary P. Nunn, Cory Morrow, Pat Green, Joe Ely, Speedtrucker, Dub Miller, Owen Temple, Doug Moreland, Gary P. Nunn, Trent Summar and The New Row Mob.
Next door to the cantina is the Golden Light Cafe which holds the distinction of being the longest running restaurant along Route 66. The Cafe opened in 1946 and has been serving up greasy burgers and homecut fries in the exact same location ever since.
The Cantina has live music dang near every night and the cafe has tasty burgers every day except Sunday. To read about one of my other adventures at the Golden Light click here.
I had more pictures and even a bit of video but sadly I can't get any of it to load.
For more My Town Monday posts check back later. (I may be slow in adding as I still have much work to do on the new abode)
Jenn Jilks -- Muskoka, Ontario, Canada
Cloudia -- Honolulu, Hawaii
Patti Abbott -- Detroit, Michigan
Linda McLaughlin -- Orange County, California
Barbara Martin -- Toronto, Canada
Debra -- Village of Peninsula, Ohio
Terrie Farley Moran -- New York City, New York
Chris -- Hong Kong, China
Mary -- Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Reb -- Old Strathcona (Edmonton) Alberta, Canada
Chuck -- PeeWee Valley, Kentucky
Lauren -- Chicago, Illinois
J Winter -- Cincinnati, Ohio
Melanie Avila -- Zihua, Mexico
Barrie Summy -- Fallbrook, California
Paul Brazill -- Bydgoszcz, Poland
Clair Dickson -- Livingston County, Michigan
Sorry for the delay in getting links up, but I was having internet issues at the new abode. Should do better know so if you have a post please let me know.
26 comments:
First!
That looks like my kind of place. I have heard of only of a handful of those bands.
I could almost hear the music and smell the cigarette smoke just reading this post
Looks like a great place to chill out !!
My post will go up after midnight GMT.
Bet they serve up the best in live music, cold beer and juicy burgers!
Yeee Hawwww! Wish I was there. sounds like a classic place.
Travis, you scared us at first - we thought you were describing your new home! LOL
Aloha, Cowboy
ps: My MTM will go up at midnight also.
For a minute, I thought you were describing your new home. Well, I guess it is a home of sorts. Mine goes up at 10:00.
Sounds like a fun place, Travis. I'm not into outlaw country, except for Willie Nelson, but the name Gary P. Nunn rings a bell. Didn't he write the Londontown song on Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua album? I still have an LP of that! Talk about dating myself.
My MTM post on California's 47th Congressional District is set to publish at 1AM Pacific time. I couldn't get the new MTM graphic to upload so I saved it as a GIF file. If anyone wants that format, let me know.
Sounds like a good place to unwind. My MTM post is up.
Mine will also be up at around 10pm.
I'll be back later to read :-)
Hope things are going well at your new digs.
Travis,
What a great place!! Thanks for telling us about it again! Promise we'll hear more about the Golden Light in the future.
My MTM post will go up over at Women of Mystery at around 9 am Eastern time.
Terrie
Today your humble scribe takes you to Taiwan and Hong Kong for an MTM with snakes...
Travis,
Interesting look at your world. And it certainly looks and sounds different to what you refer to as Nashville pop country. Outlaw country has a great, gritty feel to the name.
Chris
Phew, I thought it was your new home as well!
Sounds like a blast. My very small MTM post is up.
Mary
Sounds like a cool place i'd like to visit for sure! :)
You have done quite well in the bracket challenge my friend
Oh my, I am so out of the music loop anymore - sigh! Sounds like a great place though!
Mine is up!
that looks like a fantastic place! loved it.
The place looks cool...
My MTM "Kentucky Confederate Cemetery" is up at:
http://chuckschatter.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtm-kentucky-confederate-cemetery.html
That looks like such a fun and laid-back venue!
Good luck with all the organization that you have in store with the move and getting settled! I hope it all goes quickly.
(By the way, I'm back on the MTM bandwagon and have a post about Chicago's Columbia Yacht Club.)
I'm sure there are places around here like this, but if so, I have no idea where they are. But it sounds like a great time. There is nothing better than live, great music.
Hi Travis! Glad to hear you're getting settled. My MTM post if finally up!
Hi Mr E, my very short MTM is finally up!
What a great post - makes me want to come and visit your town!
:-D
I do fancy a night at The Golden Light!
Golden light and no fight
The sparkling is not white
in many way's it is alright
and the taste is delight
//Fancy
Oh Travis, how I used to listen and listen to Joe Ely's Musta Notta Gotta Lotta from 1981. Can't say why, but it's tattoed on the brain.
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