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cactus open stage

About Me

Cactus Cafe is one of the oldest and most respected venues in Austin. It is loved by audiences and musicians for the amazing sound and listening room atmosphere that make each concert intimate and inspiring. Open Stage is a chance for anyone to come and experience the thrill of playing in this special place. Read more about Cactus Cafe at www.myspace.com/cactuscafeOpen Stage takes place (most) Monday nights at 7:30pm. Sign-up starts at 7 and is done by lottery. At 7:30, 6 names are drawn for the 1st hour and then 6 names are drawn at the bottom of every hour thereafter. Each performer can play 2 songs or 10 minutes, whichever comes first. No drum kits, but most other instruments are fine. We often have contests, featured performers and other suprizes that throw things off, so sit back and relax, grab another beer and enjoy the music. Sometimes it's amazing, sometimes it's amazingly bad, but it's always interesting.And who first played the Cactus Open Stage & blossomed to have successful careers in show biz you might ask? Shawn Mullins, Howie Day, Jimmy Lafave, Ruthie Foster, Bruce Robison, David Garza, Graham Weber, Michael Fracasso, Jeremy Tractenburg (from the Slide show players), Terri Hendrix, Molly Venter, Danny Schmidt, Ana Egge, South Paw Jones, porterdavis, Suzanna Choffel, Matt The Electrician, Raina Rose, Betty Soo, Abi Tapia, Sam Baker, Slaid Cleaves...

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 31/07/2007
Band Website: http://www.utexas.edu/student/txunion/ae/cactus/
Band Members: Hosts: Dan Grissom & (at times our honorary & elusive) Graham Weber * Jack Tuggles: sound & knob wizard * marylamb: band lush and bartendress * Garrett: lion tamer of the bar
Influences: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Hank Williams,Townes Van Zandt, Allen Gingsberg, The Rolling Thunder Revue, Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Barris & PT Barnum...
Sounds Like: Shelter from the Storm
Record Label: the good, the bad & the ugly
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

a bit about the Open Stage vibe

Open MicStory and multimedia by Joey CastilloIts Monday night at the Union. A trio of girls tote lattes and backpacks out of Starbucks; not far away, a few dozen students study textbooks in a new lou...
Posted by on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:34:00 GMT

Daily Texan feature article * Cactus Cafe A Campus Jewel

 The Daily Texan   > Life & Arts Cactus Cafe a campus jewelJack FrinkPublished: Wednesday, July 30, 2008The Cactus Cafe, located at the far west end of the Texas Union, is one of the oldest section...
Posted by on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:25:00 GMT

last open mic for ther summerhey

hey guys. what a great turn out tonight. there were 33 people to sign up! wow! unfortunately we had to cut it back to one song for each person at 10pm so we could hear everyone sing... and so we would...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:45:00 GMT

07-07-08

although we missed jack and graham dearly, dan grissom and ted hadji did a great job with the open mic this monday. graham would have been proud.that is all i have to say about that. :)xoxocactuslamb
Posted by on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:16:00 GMT

06-30-08

tonight was jack tuggle and graham weber's last night for about a month. jack is going on tour with graham. i am sure they will have lots of crazy times, including lebowski fest. dan grissom will be o...
Posted by on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:22:00 GMT

june 23rd

well, this monday was a slow one, but a good one. i have a feeling that many people are either out touring or are afraid of wilting in the torturous sun. or, maybe they are at the gingerman's pint nig...
Posted by on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

no open mic until novemeber 12! :*(

sosososo my musically talented friends, the next open mic is not until novemeber 12. boooo. yesyes, it is sad but true. so, we hope to see all you guys out on the 12th. you have 2 weeks to ready yours...
Posted by on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:19:00 GMT

last monday

last monday was a good one. we had a full schedule. i always enjoy the last people that play, because i know that they really love what they do to stay and play for about 5 people. we missed ms tapia ...
Posted by on Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:21:00 GMT

anne maccue

is this weather not lovely? i have a feeling it will be a cold winter. maybe i can actually wear all of my sweaters at least once this time around. maybe. i am sure many of you went to the acl fest. i...
Posted by on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 07:29:00 GMT

summer cactus open mic is over... sigh

thank you all who came out for the last cactus open mic of the summer! all of you were goodness to my ears. i am always impressed that you guys have the courage to A. get up on stage and play and B. t...
Posted by on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:06:00 GMT