Texas Venue Directory
Sagebrush
Honky-tonk and dance venue · Austin
Sagebrush is a honky-tonk and dance venue in Austin, Texas, with live-music and country-dance information when programmed. Find official links, directions, and current listings.
About this room
The building at 5500 South Congress went up in the 1940s as army barracks. In 1955 a man called Big Gil Stromquist opened a honky-tonk in it under the name Gils Club - Stromquist was six foot ten, a millionaire, and a boxer known nationally for fighting at Madison Square Garden, in a part of Austin that was rough at the time. The building has been a bar and music venue in one form or another ever since. Denis O'Donnell, who had co-founded the White Horse on the east side, opened Sagebrush here at the end of the 2010s, and after selling his White Horse share at the end of 2023 has focused on it since. It runs a proper indoor dance floor, a back lot with more stage space and food trucks, and live country several nights a week.
History sources checked August 29, 2026.
Things you may not know
- The first honky-tonk in the building was opened by a six-foot-ten prizefighter. Big Gil Stromquist fought at Madison Square Garden, made money, and in 1955 put a bar called Gils Club into a former army barracks on what was then a dangerous stretch of South Congress. Source
- The building started as army barracks in the 1940s. Source
- Zach Bryan shot a music video here starring Matthew McConaughey - 'Nine Ball,' in 2024. Source
- The dance floor moves counterclockwise and the regulars enforce the lanes; beginners cluster toward the middle, which keeps the outside lanes clear for dancers covering more ground. Source
- The lesson nights are the point: people who learned a step an hour earlier get to try it with a live band, alongside everyone else who just learned it. Source
- It runs queer line dance nights alongside the standard country calendar. Source
Venue details
Plan your night
Official sources
Dance lessons
This venue has a current or repeatedly documented lesson program in Dance Lessons in the Halls. Open the official lesson source there and confirm final details before traveling.
Around this room
Culture, craft & learning
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