Riff: Nickel Creek
The final stop on this celebrated band’s lengthy 2023 tour was the Moody Amphitheatre in downtown Austin last week. For fans who packed the beautiful outdoor venue, the concert delivered the fivestar performance they had anticipated. Known for playing bluegrass and Americana music, the labels don’t do justice to the band’s unique interpretation and arranging talents or the virtuosity of its mandolin and fiddle players, Chris Thile and Sara Watkins. It consists of child prodigy Thile (pronounced thee-lee) and siblings Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins who began performing together as children in 1989.
In 2000 the band broke out with a platinum-selling album and racked up numerous Grammy and CMA nominations. Since then, the awards and nominations kept coming, especially with Allison Krause as producer of their fourth album. Their purely bluegrass style evolved to include other genres like folk rock and indie rock.
To date they have released seven albums and the ongoing appreciation of critics who applaud their musicianship, performance skills, songwriting and between-song patter. You might recall that this was the band, with Thile providing the storytelling, that Garrison Keillor chose to replace him for the Prairie Home Companion variety show on NPR, renamed “Live from Here.”
Concert attendee and musician Guy Ben-Moshe, himself an accomplished mandolin player, had this to say about Thile. “Among mandolinists, Chris Thile is the virtuoso’s virtuoso. Other great mandolinists can play more notes in a four beat measure than you can count, but Mr. Thile is not just lightning fast on the fretboard, his playing is totally melodic and innovative, oozing genius with every note and phrase.”
Sara Watkins is equally praised among fiddle-playing violinists. The four member band delivered a high-octane performance that solidly converted the newly initiated and only cemented their status among existing fans.
Roam: Oktoberfest at Anhalt Dance Hall
With October in full swing, I went in search of a Hill Country Oktoberfest to satisfy my craving for brats, beer, and Bavarian-style bonhomie. I found a traditional German- Texan celebration at Anhalt Dance Hall near Bulverde, about 45 minutes from Wimberley.
Not sure what I would encounter, I imagined in my mind’s darkest eye a full blown drunkfest with revelers glugging lager from gallon- sized pails with polka music blasting from the dance floor. Instead, I found something much tamer and infinitely sweeter.
As dance halls go, the Anhalt appears more modest from the road than others I’ve seen, but once inside, its charm revealed itself with curved ceiling trusses and an expansive dance floor of polished wood. On one side was a raised section of tables and benches behind which was a large eating area and kitchen. To the rear of the dance floor was a sizable bar and tavern area. On the other side, a covered biergarten looked onto a concession stand serving burgers and funnel cakes.
Two signs captured my attention. One read, “Notice – Indecent, uncommonly [sic] dancing in this hall is strictly prohibited.” Another, presumably more than 60 years old and unheeded, read “No shorts, pedal pushers, t-shirts, or blue jeans on (the) dance floor.”
The Anhalt Germania Farmer Verein, or German Farmers Club, was established in 1875 as a social and benevolent organization that originally formed to protect livestock from being rustled around the turn of the last century. Today the hall is supported by 350 members who apply to join. Once open only to men, women members can now join as auxiliary members. Surnames of the 2023 officers include Brinkoetter, Engel, Tillman and Caseras.
For more than 125 years the Verein has held “Maifest” on the third Sunday in May and Oktoberfest on the third Sunday in October. The Verein is an active sponsor in Comal county’s scholarship program, awarding scholarships to young adults.
Twenty dollars bought my entry and a German-inspired meal of tender pot roast, sausage, sauerkraut, and cold kartoffelsalat or potato salad. After eating, I looked forward to quaffing a cold draft Dunkel or Shiner Bock served by a dirndl-clad woman with welltoned biceps. Instead, the only beer I found was in tins, so I skipped the beer and sipped iced tea while looking over the crowd.
At each table were older couples or multigenerational family groups. At the table next to me were a couple in their sixties, a lone man in his seventies, and a young couple in their twenties with a six-month-old baby. The lean, lone grandfather cradled the little girl on one freshly pressed blue jean knee for a solid hour. His tender, devoted gaze into the eyes of the baby made me look away to keep from intruding on their Affaire de Coeur. In fact, there were quite a few children and babies at this family event. Dads, uncles and grandfathers scooted kids around the dance floor when their adult partners took breaks. One notable uncle waltzed pretty twin girls on the boards for hours.
The relaxed, happy conversations evidenced at each table were pleasantly muffled by the building’s wooden interior.
Quite a few men wore traditional lederhosen and leather braces, and as many women wore dirndls with their fitted bodices and attached aprons.
On the bandstand, the Shiner Hobos finished their set and were replaced by the Czech Melody Masters who played “Beer Barrel Polka” to the delight of dancers who rushed to perform their three-step-one-rest maneuver to the music.
If appreciating traditional Texas culture trips your trigger, put Anhalt Dance Hall Oktoberfest on your mustsee list for 2024.
Rave: Harvest Moon Dance The Harvest Moon Dance at Fischer Hall this Sunday can satisfy your urge for a Hill Country-style dance hall experience close to home. Just a few minutes from Wimberley via FM 32, Fischer is just a few minutes by car past the Devil’s Backbone Tavern on Fischer Store Road. Organized by the Wimberley Institute of Cultures, the fundraiser features music by Erik Hokkanen & Friends, a catered dinner by Old 300 BBQ from Blanco, and a silent auction. Doors open at 6 p.m., dinner is from 6:30 to 7:30 and dancing goes until 10. If the ancient tradition of giving thanks for the harvest appeals more than the spookier celebrations of October, make this your gift to yourself and the community you love. Tickets are $60 and available at wimwic.org. The proceeds benefit the Wimberley Valley Museum.
