CrowdMate Get the app

Austin · Venue

Saxon Pub

A 150-capacity South Lamar listening room where songwriter sets, happy-hour shows, and late bills share one compact pub stage.

Upcoming shows
28
Capacity
150
Address
1320 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78704
Phone
(512) 448-2552
Next show
Tue, 29 Sept 2026
Official siteDirections
Saxon Pub in Austin

About Saxon Pub

Saxon Pub is a 150-capacity Austin listening room where a crowd can catch an early happy-hour set, a matinee, or a late performance in the same day. Open since 1990, it has hosted live recordings as well as a steady flow of concerts. Its defining feature is scale: the compact room favors close-range songwriting, band interplay, and the feeling of hearing a set from inside a working neighborhood pub.

A near move, then a safeguard

Joe Ables and Craig Hillis founded the Saxon in 1990 at 1320 South Lamar, launching it as a folk club after several earlier clubs had occupied the site. Steve Fromholz and Stephen Doster figured in its early bills. A Badfinger booking during the venue’s second year showed Ables that louder acts could draw there, helping widen the calendar into blues, country, and rock. The major turning point arrived in 2014, when rising rent and a prospective property sale put relocation on the table. A Saint Elmo move remained active through 2015 and 2016. In late 2016, Keller Williams co-founder Gary Keller bought the South Lamar property, ending the move plan; KUT reported that he placed a deed restriction on the site for music-venue use. The episode became the subject of the 2019 SXSW documentary Nothing Stays the Same: The Story of the Saxon Pub.

What the room asks of a night out

Booking remains direct: artists send requests and press material to the venue’s booking contact. The programming covers folk-rooted songwriters, country, rock, blues, soul/R&B, indie, and pop, with free happy-hour shows alongside paid evening sets. Expect a 21+ barroom with a wood-hewn pub feel. Tables may be held for artists on some bills, while wheelchair seating is limited and arranged in advance. Saxon has house PA and lights, and music receives priority at night.

Sources

  1. About – The Saxon Pub – Austin TX — The Saxon Pub
  2. The Saxon Pub — Texas Music Magazine
  3. A New SXSW Documentary Follows The Rollercoaster Ride Of Saxon Pub's Survival — KUT 90.5
  4. FAQs – The Saxon Pub – Austin TX — The Saxon Pub
  5. Saxon Pub — The Austin Chronicle

Next 15 shows

See more shows and join concerts with your friends in the CrowdMate app.

Get the app

Download CrowdMate on the App Store Get CrowdMate on Google Play

All concerts in Austin