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the split rail

Submitted by phylliskrantzman on Fri, 10/19/2007 - 10:17pm. Bars

How about the split rail on wednesday nights when butch hancock played. this was the mid to late 1970s. bobbie and martin ran the place. there was a lot of diversity among the audience: hippies, conservatives, bikers, radicals, we all danced together and sat together and had a great time

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Polka Bands

Submitted by TejasMike on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 7:39am.

They used to have polka dances at The Rail on Friday night's Went to hear the Lee Roy Matocha Orchestra from Fayetteville-They always had a big crowd- I grew up in Hungerford listening to Lee Roy and have most of his lps on vinyl

They still play his music on stations that have polka shows- I have a live 365.com polka show at www.live365.com/stations/hungerfordmike

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Fredia & the Firedogs

Submitted by Brad McGrew on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 2:15pm.

One of the first hippie/country music events to happen in Austin was Firedog Sunday. This tall skinny gal from Louisana fronted a country band of hippies under the name of Fredia & the Firedogs. The Ian Tyson song "Someday Soon" was their big cover. You can still catch Fredia arround town and the country these days as Marsha Ball. This bar lasted till it burned down in the late 70s. It was replaced by a Wendies which has been torn down for more Condos.

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yeah we did

Submitted by blackwell4 on Sat, 08/15/2009 - 10:36am.

mid 70's at the Split Rail... right on S. Lamar, just off Barton springs rd....Hippies, bikers, Red necks, we all got along. I met the chief deputy sheriff of Travis County there. And drank with Hackberry Johnson, a one legged cowboy who had lost a leg in a rodeo accident...All the tables were wooden and had been carved on for years... it was like reading history...we had a great time...

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The Split Rail and the untold story

Submitted by tuckspop on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 2:24pm.

Ralph Moreland told me this story about 3 years ago. He owned The Holiday House Restaurants. I won't tell the story here but it involves the murder of the owner of the Pitch and Putt and Lyndon Johnson's sister. Great story.

Spent lots of time at the rail with my parents, but they almost always did the car hop thing. We stayed in the car.

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