Steel Player with "Dan and Dave" at Backroom in Austin

Colm Chomicky · Post by **Colm Chomicky** » 27 Feb 2015 7:07 pm

I might be a little late in asking, but I recall seeing a young steel player with "Dan and Dave" at the Back Room in Austin about 1981 or so. Any one here on the Forum ever play with "Dan and Dave"?

Also, I recall the Back Room could be a rough place sometimes, I think one time I was there, they had a guard with a shotgun backing-up the bouncers.

Arty Passes · Post by **Arty Passes** » 4 Mar 2015 9:54 am

Colm, you just made my day!

There was a young steel player with Dan and Dave at the Back Room - I'm now an old steel player with Kevin Fowler.

That was the most fun I ever had at a gig, and the Back Room was an interesting place at the time - not all that rough, but there were bouncers with names like Tiny. Live music every night and no cover ever was their motto.
Alvin Crow, Kenneth Threadgill, Buddy and Julie Miller and many others, but Friday night was Dan and Dave night and almost always a full house.

Larry Coombs · Post by **Larry Coombs** » 4 Mar 2015 10:29 am

I used to walk down to see Dan & Dave there all the
time.I've got an album by them,a live one I believe.
Going to try and find that when I get home.

Colm Chomicky · Post by **Colm Chomicky** » 4 Mar 2015 11:17 am

Well, Thanks Arty
Mystery solved, now I can sleep at night! For those who do not know about Dan and Dave, they have been described as a country "Smothers Brothers". Played and sang their music between corny jokes about Furr's Cafeteria. There was a ceiling fan up on the ceiling behind them, and after each Lone Star longneck, they would flip the empty back over their shoulders, often hitting the rotating ceiling fan.

I took a date there that night, I think after we had chicken fried steak at the Broken Spoke. I lived in Austin from 1978 to 1989. Didn't have a steel yet back then, but always enjoyed watching the steel players.

John Booth · Post by **John Booth** » 4 Mar 2015 11:22 am

I've never been there so please remove this post
(Just kiddin')

Arty Passes · Post by **Arty Passes** » 4 Mar 2015 11:41 am

Ha! Funny how those stories get better over time! I played with them from early '78 to '82. It was the same tired old Aggie jokes every week, and the same great old country songs every week, but it sure was fun. Not sure if it helped or stunted my musical growth. They remind me of Click and Clack from Car Talk, if they had guitars and sang. And Dan was the Don Rickles type who could insult the meanest guy in the place and get away with it. The live album is called "Legends in their Spare Time"