Gruene Hall has a rich history of hosting some of the most recognizable country music stars in the industry. And it all started with a bathroom break.
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — “Remember the Alamo City” has covered some of the most historic and iconic places in San Antonio.
But local history doesn’t just lie close to the Alamo.
Less than 40 miles away from the world-famous mission is a place where some of your favorite country music artists have performed and rocked.
This small dance hall helped launch legends and preserved a piece of Texas the way it used to be.
New Braunfels is home to a German-Texas town called Gruene (pronounced like the color green), and let’s just say there’s plenty to be green with envy about.
Founded by German immigrant Ernst Gruene and his family, this town has kept its historic look and charm for more than 150 years.
So much so that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
And in the middle of the quaint small town, and possibly the most historic part of all, is Gruene Hall, the oldest operating dance hall in Texas.
“Gruene Hall is essentially a music venue, but it’s a lot more too,” said Katie Courtney, daughter of the founder.
“It’s central to Texas. We’re right in the middle of Texas. We’re renowned all over the world,” said Susie Molak, the founder’s wife.
“In three years, it’ll be a 150-year-old building,” Courtney said. “For the past 50 years since my dad [Pat Molak] purchased it in 1975, it’s kind of formed into a Texas country music icon of sorts. He did a great job 50 years ago really building this place into a legendary venue for both artists and concertgoers.”
But it wasn’t always a place where some of the best country music in the state was blasting through the windows.
Built in 1878, the 6,000-square-foot hall was primarily the center of the community’s social life.
But in 1975, it became something more, Pat Molak walked in, with a musical vision.
“He went to UT and he kind of saw how the Austin music scene was really emerging,” Courtney said. “He tried to become a stockbroker and it wasn’t for him, so he kind of sought out to do something more fun. He was looking around for a dance hall and he came here, and it was really only the front bar that was open. He walked in and actually had to use the restroom. He walked back there and really just saw the potential.”
“He just saw it as it could be,” Molak said. “[…] He went to the bathroom back there and went, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the dance hall I’ve been looking for,’ so he bought it for not much.”
A bathroom break and a gut feeling changed the course of Texas country music.
“The young and the old alike can play here,” Molak said. “They can start here. They can end here, as quite a few people have.”
Started in the front room, moved to the middle, ended up on the big stage, and then got too big to come back.
“That’s what we strive in: discovering young talent and hopefully they’ll get into the big stage and then get to the bigger stage of the stadium,” said Molak.
Let’s just say they succeeded in helping jumpstart some of your favorite artists’ careers.
“Well, obviously George Strait. He played here before he ever got on any kind of stage at all,” Molak said. “Lyle Lovett, Pat Green. So a lot of Texas musicians. Hal Ketchum used to build our picnic tables outside. Then he decided he wanted to learn to play music. He watched it and said, ‘I think I want to get involved in that,’ and he ended up being quite the show.”
And imagine growing up in a dance hall and meeting these rising stars, like Pat Molak’s daughter Katie Courtney got to.
“There’s a funny picture of me on that wall and when someone would play in the middle stage, they would give me the tip jar and I’d get to walk around and kind of ask people for tips,” said Courtney.
She went from asking people for tips to even meeting one of the biggest movie stars of the time.
“One thing that was really unique is that back in the 90s John Travolta filmed the movie ‘Michael’ here,” said Courtney. “They came to town and they kind of took over. They filmed all these scenes in the back of the dance hall. So my claim to fame, one of them, is that I got to meet John Travolta,” Katie said.
To remember Travolta’s time in town and all the recognizable faces that made appearances here, walls and walls of pictures are put up all throughout the dance hall.
From George Strait to Miranda Lambert to Midland to Merle Haggard.
“There have always been photos of artists that have played here so you can look around and find pictures of Garth Brooks who played a few years ago,” said Courtney. “It’s always been this wide variety of people.”
And in June, a year after Pat’s death, his widow Susie wanted to honor him with his very own wall.
“The event is to celebrate pictures that no one has ever seen,” Susie said.
“Today we unveiled a new wall that we want to design and dedicate to my dad,” said Courtney. “We just felt that on the 50th anniversary of him owning Gruene Hall — and he also passed away a little over a year ago — this would be his 77th birthday. We just felt with those two events that he really deserves to have his own focus.”
Because Molak’s legacy is definitely still felt despite being gone now.
Why? Because he put Gruene Hall on the map.
“To be recognized as a well-known name, as a household name everywhere you go, it just warms my heart. Especially for him, because that’s all he wanted,” said Susie. “He didn’t want his pictures or his name anywhere. He just wanted to know it was there. That was a big deal for him. Now this is different, but it’s amazing, 50 years later, that we’re still standing.”
There are multiple reasons why Gruene Hall is still standing and rocking every night.
And one of those reasons is that it’s able to rock every night, most nights for the low, low price of free.
“One thing that’s really unique about Gruene Hall is that we still have live music every night,” said Courtney. “So you can come here on a Monday or Tuesday and there will be a band playing. We usually have free music every night. Seasonally it’s a little bit different, but with the summer months being in New Braunfels, we see a huge influx of people coming from all over the place. You’ll see people from Germany and you’ll see people from New Braunfels and San Antonio. It’s really a diverse place, but to me, it offers unique types of hospitality that you don’t really see everywhere.”
Another factor is the sheer intimacy visitors can have with their favorite country artists.
“You can go to a concert, but one thing that’s unique is that this place only holds 800 people,” said Courtney. “You can see John Wolfe here and you’re right there. You’re close to the stage with them. It offers something that you really can’t find everywhere else. I think that really draws people from not only all over Texas, but all over the world.”
With the venue being so small, some of the biggest stars of country music move on to bigger venues.
“We can only hold 800 people, so once you make a certain amount of money and you’re selling tickets at the price you deserve, you move on,” said Molak.
But just because they moved on doesn’t mean they forgot about their Gruene roots on this special day.
Especially one of his greatest success stories.
“What can I say about my friend Pat?” George Strait, a popular country music artist, said. “He worked super hard, he loved his family, and just generally made the world a better place. It’s hard to say just how much Pat affected my career and the careers of so many others that were able to play there. It was a lot though.”
“Most of my best memories have been at Gruene Hall and in some part or in most part because of Pat and the people he surrounded himself with,” said Pat Green, another country music artist.
“I remember so well when I first met Pat,” said Gary P. Nunn, another country music artist. “He and Bill Gallagher walked into my house in Austin, Texas, asking to do a benefit to save the Gruene Water Tower. I’ve been playing there ever since.”
“My stay there has been 23 years, and I always tell my boys and band and my wife that if you can’t sell out Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, then you need to rethink what you’re doing,” said Cory Canada, an alternative country artist.
“It was a Sunday afternoon. He gave us a chance to audition there,” Strait said. “I think it was 25 to 50 cents at the door. It wasn’t about the money, obviously. It was about trying to get him to play a night there and eventually maybe a Friday or Saturday night, which we ended up doing. Fortunately, he liked us, and the rest is history.”
History perfectly chronicled on the walls of the building.
Even now, 50 years after Molak needed a bathroom break, this place still looks and feels exactly the same as it was in the ’70s, preserving that country music nostalgia.
“When people come back and visit after 10 years, it’s interesting to see this distinct appreciation for something that has stayed the same,” said Courtney.
Because it wouldn’t be history without keeping some of what made you historic in the first place.
“His legacy lives on in Gruene Hall, and that will never change,” said Strait.
And this hall has definitely earned its place in the history books.
And you’d better hope you get an audiobook copy — because at Gruene Hall, the music tells the story.
“It’s one of my very favorite places in all the world to play,” said Nunn.
To learn more about Gruene Hall, click here.