Page 9 - 2018 Spring Newsletter

According to Miller and White, the Broken Spoke has hosted artists like Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie
Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, Dolly Parton, Ray Price, Gary P. Nunn, Roy Acuff, Kris Kristofferson, George Strait, and the
late Kitty Wells. James White himself is also a star, appearing with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Clint Eastwood and other
country music stars and celebrities in the photos that plaster the walls of The Broken Spoke.

“When I built the Spoke in 1964, We heard why White started the Broken Spoke and what the early days were
it was surrounded by fields. I worked like. In 1964, The Broken Spoke was just the front room and he bartended 16
16 hours a day and I never thought I hours a day for a couple of years. He first booked Willie Nelson in 1967—Willie
wouldn’t make it. I figured, give the made the Broken Spoke famous. He booked Willie for $800 a night and always
people cold beer, good food paid him $800 even when he was earning $10,000 a night elsewhere! When
at reasonable prices and a good Willie got into trouble with the IRS James and Annetta decided to help him
time – and you’re gonna make it. out because the IRS took everything he owned. They set up a tip jar for Willie
I feel the same today, I’m not leaving. and raised $10,000 and sent it to him. He came back to the Broken Spoke for
I’m gonna make it.” Christmas that year.

~ James White
He remembers the nights with Bob Wills, Willie Nelson and George Strait most.
George Strait and Ace in the Hole played there one night a week for seven years. Lots of movies have been filmed at the
Broken Spoke. It was fun to hear about all the friends the Whites have
made over the years, the many performances and memories endured
during the Broken Spoke’s 50 years.

White is still very much at the center of the honky-tonk action, still
booking bands and playing loyal host to dance hall fans. Every
night without fail, he walks through the crowd, greeting people and
introducing the evening’s performers and welcoming visitors with those
famous words from his well-worn opening speech, “. . . cold beer, good
whiskey, the best chicken fried steak in town . . . and good country
music.”

Since 1964, James White’s name and the Broken Spoke have been
synonymous—the building and the man who helped create it remain
indelible icons in Austin. One of the coolest things about Austin is that
the Broken Spoke used to be a roadhouse on the outskirts of town, but
it was able to remain on South Lamar Boulevard in its original rustic,
barn-style building as the city has grown and surrounded it with sleek,
high-rise apartment buildings . According to James White, when you
step inside, it’s still 1964, the band is playing and the dance floor is a
counter-clockwise swirl of bodies. Donna Marie Miller, Ben Stafford Rodgers and James White

“We’ve never changed a thing,” says James White. “When you come to the Broken Spoke, you’re coming to the same
place that folks have been coming to for 50 years.”

Miller and White gave us a night to remember. A night that was filled with incredible stories, laughter and pure country
enjoyment. This night did not disappoint!

Spring 2018 9