Acoustic Music Venues, Houston
Anderson Fair Songwriter Series
Ken Gaines (ken@kengaines.com), who runs a Thursday songwriter circle at Anderson Fair (http://www.andersonfair.com/). If you don't know about the Fair, you should. It's been around for about 30 years.
Katy Pavilion Concert Series
About 40 minutes west of downtown. There's a money guarantee on this one, although I don't know the details, so your income won't depend on audience attendance. It's an outdoor event in a pavilion in the center of town. Contact Sandy Buller (excellent stand-up bass player and booking agent for the event) at wsbuller3@hotmail.com.
JP Hops House
This is a brew pub, with beers from all over, kind of a British pub feel, no TVs, just company. Great appreciators of acoustic music. Check them out at http://www.jphopshouse.com/. Pam and Jim, the proprietors, are great.
Millbend Coffeehouse
A longstanding tradition in the Woodlands, about a half hour due north of downtown. Great acoustics in the Unitarian church's sanctuary. Check it out at http://www.songwright.net/millbend/. Pat Hanna and Teresa Allen organize this one.
The Mucky Duck
Very British pub with a long tradition of hosting great regional acts. Very "listening room" compared to most drinking establishments. Check them out at http://www.mcgonigels.com/. Also, looks like Danny Everitt is starting a songwriter night on Tuesdays at the Duck. Contact him at danny@dannyeveritt.com to see about getting booked into that. Rusty and Teresa are the owners. I think they book the gigs for the other days on the calendar.
Mojo Risin' Coffeehouse
Mojo Risin’ Coffeehouse: This one is just northwest of downtown, just south of the I-10 freeway on North Shepard. Totally acoustic (no sound system). Very mellow independent coffeehouse with great pastries. Very European café feel. I don’t know the proprietors, but you can get in touch with them by phone or email: (713) 426-1505 or MojoRisinCoffee@gmail.com. They don’t seem to have their own website, but they are on myspace.com at myspace.com/mojorisincoffee.
Habitat House Concert Series
This is normally outdoors (west side of Houston) for two seasons, spring and fall. No smoking in the venue area because the cigarettes are poisonous to the wonderful birds Selia (excellent songwriter herself) keeps. During her seasons, she's running these things almost every weekend, Friday and Sunday (Sundays are usually local folks--not as good of a crowd) or Saturday and Sunday. Check out her website at www.selia.com. You can contact her at selia@selia.com.
Main Street Crossing
This venue is in "downtown" Tomball, Texas, just north-northwest of Houston by about 35 min. Their website is http://www.mainstreetcrossing.com/ but I'm not sure all the links are working correctly. Their phone number is (281)-252-9141. They've been having some really top-drawer acts up there and are really worth checking out.
Songbird Sanctuary
Songbird Sanctuary, run by Tom Yeager and Sarah Draper: It's more centrally located inside the 610 loop of Houston (just west of downtown, I think), and they've had some great turnouts for their folks. They also run spring and fall seasons. Tom Yeager is the organizer--he's an excellent promoter when he likes you. Warning that he does like to see his prospects live before he books, so invite him to your gig in Dallas or something first. They don't have a website, but you can reach him at music@songbirdsanctuary.org.
Emerson Unitarian Church
Emerson Unitarian Church, in the Galleria area just west of downtown, is running a coffeehouse series, looks like during the fall-spring season. Check it out at http://www.unitunes.org/. I know a bunch of folks at Emerson, but I’m not familiar with the organizers of this one.
The "Formerly Known As" Bruce's Loft House Concerts
Bruce Poppe runs what he used to call his Loft House concerts, but now since he's moved, he's looking for a new name. I think he's still near downtown, though. Schedule is irregular, but he puts one on when he finds someone interesting. Contact him at brucesloft@yahoo.com.
Andrews House Concert
And last, but not least, Lucy Nell Andrews (wonderful older lady) is still running her house concerts about once a month (but it varies) in her little living room. She's been packing them in lately. She's old-fashioned and has no computer access, but you can call her at 713-465-9677.