One For The Ages: Charley Crockett’s $10 Show at The Broken Spoke

According to The Broken Spoke, only two times since 1964 have people been allowed to crowd in front of the stage as opposed to leaving it open for two-steppers. The first time was when Garth Brooks played the legendary Austin, TX dance hall in 2017. The second was Monday night, April 29th, when Charley Crockett took the stage to a beyond capacity crowd, and brought the house down.
An opportunity to see Charley Crockett at The Broken Spoke, and for a $10 cash-only fee, that was enough to have some brave individuals starting a line the night before. By the time 5:30 p.m. rolled around when they opened the restaurant, the line already snaked around the building, down the street, and around the adjacent condominium complex that looms over The Spoke like an impending gargoyle of gentrification.
Luckily, The Broken Spoke has been historically designated, preserving it forevermore. And after Monday night, the Charley Crockett show will go down in the venue’s long and storied history that has seen the likes of George Strait and Willie Nelson start their careers on the stage, and has seen performances by Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, and Kitty Wells to name a few.
The day started for Charley Crockett a ways down Lamar St. at another Austin landmark, Waterloo Records. This is where performers regularly take the stage to promote new album releases. Folks who attend these free shows vouch they’ve rarely seen an artist at the capacity of Charley Crockett keep this tradition. But that is part of the philosophy of Crockett’s rollout of his new album $10 Cowboy, which is all about telling the story of how he went from a street busker to the big time, and how he intends to hold onto his humility along the way.
Right on cue, after Crockett played the Waterloo stage, he stayed behind to sign LPs the crowd purchased. His handlers kept barking out that Charley had a hard 6:15 departure time. After all, the had to grab some grub and hoof it over to The Spoke for the evening’s performance. But Crockett didn’t care. He stayed at Waterloo getting a cramp in his hand and signing everything presented to him, patiently talking to fans until they finally ushered him away at 7:00 o’clock.
Meanwhile back at The Broken Spoke, the venue was already filling to capacity while many hundreds of people were still left outside. The early birds were rewarded with places right up by the stage. Some played hooky from work or school, arrived hours before, and still didn’t get in. The amount of people who showed was easily in the four figure range. But it was first come, first serve.
Crockett came out on stage in a cream colored suit, while his backing band The Blue Drifters were wearing deep Broken Spoke barn red. Even before they played a single note, The Broken Spoke packed from wall to wall was a steam bath. Three songs in, Charley and the band were sweating through their stage clothes, but this only lent to the sweaty, greasy sound that Charley Crockett throws down, sliding between straight country, blues, and vintage R&B.
The Broken Spoke stage was so cramped by The Blue Drifters, keys/trumpet player Kullen Fox had to set up his consoles facing opposite directions pilot and bombardier style instead of at a 90-degree angle. You could fit an index card between the crown of Crockett’s Stetson and the decrepit ceiling tiles of the Broken Spoke ceiling, but nothing more. The closeness of the crowd and the energy of the room resulted in one of the most inspired sets for Charley Crockett you’ll ever see.
The stage banter was all about Charley Crockett’s long road to success, how he started busking outside of places like The Broken Spoke and Gruene Hall, hoping some day he would get to play them, let alone blow them out with a legendary show like the one Monday night. He paid special tribute to Jon Folk, and early believer in Crockett who started the booking agency Red 11, recently acquired by WME.
And yes, an entire camera/production crew was on site, so don’t be surprised if extensive videos, or an entire live album/film come from the experience.
“Austin, TX. Broken Spoke. I won’t let you down, you folks know that. Thank you so much. I’d be nothing without y’all. See you next time,” Crockett said at the end of “Just A Clown” before walking off stage. As the place started chanting “Charley! Charley!” he’s return to play a couple of quick acoustic numbers before finishing up with the band playing “Good At Losing” and “Paint It Blue” (see full set list below).
The song “Good At Losing” is from the new $10 Cowboy album, and pretty much sums it up.
They laughed at me in New York City
Called me a fool in L.A
I doubt that Nashville saw me comin’
Besides the bar folks workin’ late
Charley Crockett’s whole career hasn’t been about talking himself up or showing off. It’s been about admitting that he came from humble beginnings, and has had to work his ass off to earn everything that has come to him. He’s a “$10 Cowboy.” He’s “Just a Clown.” Even when people saw they crowds assembled for Crockett outside the Broken Spoke, some chided him as overrated. But nobody can question the success he’s found, and how he’s done it his own way.
It’s hard work that has put Charley Crockett in a bus, with another bus for his band, and a semi truck hauling around their gear, all of which were parked behind The Broken Spoke on Monday. But as Charley Crockett proved throughout the day, he’s not there to show he’s better than anyone else. He’s there to validate that hard work has rewards, that he’s still willing to work to prove that he’s worth a $10 entry fee.
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All photos by Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos. For more media and live coverage, follow Saving Country Music on Instagram.







April 30, 2024 @ 10:17 am
Having listened to his excellent Live at the Ryman and seeing it on YouTube, I am sure it was an excellent concert. I wish I was there!
April 30, 2024 @ 10:17 am
Super jealous. Keep us posted on when that video gets published.
April 30, 2024 @ 11:00 am
It is really hard to do justice to an explanation of what the Broken Spoke is actually like, unless you’ve been there.
Glad I was able to go there once and see some music.
My daughter is being transferred from Ft Hood to Fort Moore in GA. IDK if I will ever have an opportunity to go back to that place.
I saw CC a couple times last year. He was awesome. Have tickets for a show in NH that I can’t wait for.
April 30, 2024 @ 11:38 am
Kudos to Charlie for playing this historic show at such a historic place, it’s a feather in the cap for both. It will pay off very well for both of them in exposure and just good will and appreciate of their fan. Thanks for the coverage Trig!
April 30, 2024 @ 11:36 am
It was a great show! Didn’t get there until 4:30 in line and thought we were too late. Talked to the doorman and normal capacity at the Broken Spoke they cap at 150 for room to dance and they ended up opening it up to max fire capacity that is 650. We were about 250 in line so it all worked out. Was up by the tables and the whole floor was bouncing to the dancers there were so many. Reminded me of the balcony of the Beacon Theater for the Allmans annual run of shows back in the day moving like that. I assume they were filming a video last night? They had us all move around to get the shot when he pulled up in the El Camino with us all cheering. Fun times-
April 30, 2024 @ 3:50 pm
Sounds like he’s the character in the Elizabeth Cook song. Sounds both ridiculous and awesome!
May 1, 2024 @ 9:51 am
Missing the mullet, though . ????
April 30, 2024 @ 11:40 am
I just love how the old major label system is seeming to matter less and less. Though it is interesting that on the flip side of that system we don’t have a universal cultural music language. I know Charly Crockett but none of my friends but one other does. And I have can’t hum a swift song from the past 5 albums and only know the new Beyonce song because I reviewed it.
But here were with more authentic and stellar performers and players making through on the music and the fans alone.
April 30, 2024 @ 11:54 am
I have come around to really appreciate Charlie Crockett. I guess better late than never!! Wishing nothing but continued success.
April 30, 2024 @ 3:33 pm
Happy to live in a world where Charley Crockett is an arena headliner. Looking forward to seeing him in 59 days (with Kaitlin Butts, Pony Bradshaw. and The Droptines on the bill — holy $hit!!),
April 30, 2024 @ 4:40 pm
I wish I was as cool as Charley Crockett.
April 30, 2024 @ 11:58 pm
Incorrect name on the bass player…. Cmon, dude.
May 1, 2024 @ 7:05 am
If the name of the bass player is incorrect, by all means, clue the rest of us in on what the name of the bass player is. I’ve been covering Charley Crockett for many years, and it sure looks like Colin Colby in that photo. But perhaps it’s a new guy that also happens to look like Colin Colby. If that’s the case, please share the name for the benefit of us all.
May 1, 2024 @ 8:51 am
It’s been 3 years since that guy has been the bass player.
Please stop putting his name under my photo. It’s supposed to say “Jacob Marchese”
That’s the name Charley said during the band introductions at the show you were covering last night.
And also we don’t look anything alike.
May 1, 2024 @ 9:14 am
Hey Jacob,
Sincere apologies about the misappropriation. It has been fixed.
During the band introductions on Monday, I was in the back of the room and everything sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher. If you search the internet, most every indication will say that Colin is still the bass player, including one I found from a review in February of this year from Australia.
I can understand how frustrating this is for you. But unless someone reaches out and actually corrects the record, that misnomer is going to continue to perpetuate. That is why I asked Michael Stuart to actually give me the name. People love to lash out at the media, but don’t want to put forth the effort to make a wrong thing right, so the wrong thing festers. The last thing I want to do is get something wrong.
Very sorry again. Thanks for the show on Monday and all of your work in The Blue Drifters.
May 2, 2024 @ 8:17 pm
On another note, just watched the Call me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance. You shared thoughtful commentary and your interview brought balance. Glad you were the star of objectivity and both systems and critical thinking. Looking forward to more video or audio based projects!
May 1, 2024 @ 1:58 am
That’s absolutely awesome!
I cannot wait until the end of the month when I see Charley (for the first time) in Toronto.
May 1, 2024 @ 7:08 am
I’m seeing him at an amazing venue in London (UK) next week and cannot wait.
May 1, 2024 @ 7:22 am
Hoxton Hall?
May 1, 2024 @ 5:52 pm
Thanks for the review. I got there around 3 PM, with something like 90 people ahead of me (although I’m pretty sure a bunch of people jumped the line, because I wasn’t one of the first 100 to get in at 5). People seemed to be having a great time overall, tailgating and otherwise enjoying the atmosphere. I heard that if you didn’t get there by 6, you were SOL. It’s a mixed bag. I’m sure the sound in the back was terrible, and the view was a bunch of heads and hats. Up front, it sounded fine but the view was still rough (that stage was maybe a foot elevated max), and it was a sauna combined with a high temp of 90. I saw a guy carry out a girl who had passed out before Charley even started. I’m sure others passed out or got out before it got to that point. There were fans but people blocked them.
Despite this, I had a ball. The band was on point, and it just felt like one of those nights you wouldn’t forget. Like all successful musicians, I’m sure Charley’s act is, well, an act to some extent. Still, I hope that he hangs onto his humble roots as best he can. You can be successful and believe in yourself while still playing middle-of-nowhere places like Hidalgo, or losing money on promo tours like these (I’d be surprised if all those $10 bills covered the bus or trailer bills for the day), or, most importantly, just writing down-to-earth songs that anybody can enjoy.
May 2, 2024 @ 4:52 pm
Well I would have loved to have been there though the high heat would have Def bothered me. I Def wouldn’t mind another live cd down the line. Great write up.