Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Sad, Sad news from Austin......

I will not be able to look at 5th and Lavaca quite the same ever again.....
Rest in Peace, Cliff.

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Legendary club owner Clifford Antone dies.


Clifford Antone, 56, the legendary music club owner, died Tuesday.

He died of an apparent heart attack, his sister said.

In 2005, Antone's club celebrated its 30th anniversary. The club opened its original location on East Sixth Street as a small music venue on a street and neighborhood long ignored. It attracted famous blues acts from the Chicago and New York blues scenes. Among the players there were the likes of Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy and a very young Stevie Ray Vaughan.

That same club's success led to the birth of the now-famous East Sixth Street entertainment district, the heart and soul of Austin's multi-million dollar tourist trade and led to the citys nickname of 'Live Music Capital of the World.

The club is now in its third location.

In 2000, Antone went to prison on federal charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. He was released in 2003.
His career and the clubs history was captured in the documentary Antone's: Home of the Blues

"One of the primary reasons Austin is known as the Live Music Capital of the World is because of Clifford Antone. His devotion to the music spoke for itself. He was my friend and I will miss him dearly," Austin Mayor Will Wynn said. "I ask Austinites to join with me and remember the music giant this city has lost and the great things he brought to our community."

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