- CACTUS MUSIC HOUSTON IN STORE PERFORMANCE HOW TO
- CACTUS MUSIC HOUSTON IN STORE PERFORMANCE TRIAL
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Luneburg claims that Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin first appeared in Austin on the Cactus stage. That's what it's all about: building an audience for those that deserve one." Even if they don't draw a crowd the first few times they play, I know that they're talented and they will build a crowd.
There's a little research involved, but I have a good talent gauge. "But I knew who was good! You have to have an intuitive sense about who to book and what prices to charge.
CACTUS MUSIC HOUSTON IN STORE PERFORMANCE HOW TO
I got to run sound, and I didn't know how to run sound. "We built the stage and dragged in a little PA.
CACTUS MUSIC HOUSTON IN STORE PERFORMANCE TRIAL
"A lot of what went on was trial and error," he admits. We charged a dollar of students, 2 for nonstudents.īaker left in 1983, and Luneburg took over as Cactus manager and booker and never looked back. It was November 1982, and Nanci Griffith was the first act. "There was a lot of hesitation on the administration's part over whether or not people would pay to see music.
"We wanted to have a cover charge, which was a big step at the time," says Luneburg.
CACTUS MUSIC HOUSTON IN STORE PERFORMANCE SERIES
It was Baker who pitched an original-music series Thursday nights. She's really the one who believed in me from the beginning." The manager was Charla Ann Baker, but she worked days. So finally, they turned booking over in-house. I'm a big fan of music, and I would make my views known on the programming. I complained because I was trapped for five hours a night. There was no cover charge, and I was the only one there running the place. "Acoustic acts would do Loggins & Messina and Seals & Crofts. "Some of the acts were good, but it was primarily cover bands booked by the student activities office," he recalls. Little did he know that he would soon be booking musical storytellers of such ilk for years to come.Ĭactus Griff, 1984 (Photo by John Carrico) Luneburg credits his sister with turning him onto cosmic cowboys like Michael Martin Murphey around the same time. I went on to buy all of Dylan's records in chronological order."Įxploring Dylan, he discovered godfather folkies Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott as well as "new Dylans" John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III. "I'd heard of Dylan and heard some of his stuff, but after I bought that album – I've never stopped listening to it. "It changed my life," remembers Luneburg.
In high school, he nursed a love for early Foghat but had an epiphany when he purchased an eight-track of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks in the mid-1970s. His father worked for an oil company, so the family bounced around a lot – New York, San Francisco, Connecticut, and New Orleans – before settling into late-1960s Houston. The comparison between the two live-music mentors works along the lines of both men's lifelong commitment to performance and belief in its reverberation with people in general and Austinites specifically.Ĭactus Cafe precursor the Chuck Wagon, 1933 (Courtesy of The Texas Union Archives) While Antone (1949-2006) loved the spotlight, Luneburg is a humbler sort, claiming that he's only actually been onstage in front of an audience a couple of times, even though he often doubles as the venue's greeter at its familiar tavern door. It's not easy to create a place where singer-songwriters can have a home and feel comfortable, and that's exactly what he's done." He has a complete understanding of the people that play there and what they need. "He's the equal to Clifford Antone in a way," Joe Ely chimes in. "Griff is the Cactus," agrees Lyle Lovett, who played his first headlining shows there. He's the guy with a bad case of bedhead making sure it all runs as smoothly as an accomplished singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar and amplification. Griff Luneburg has run the intimate, Texas Union listening room for 28 of those years. Cactus Cafe is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month.
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