Pending Development Imperils Luckenbach TX Name and Spirit (Updated)
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with a statement from Stewart Skloss of Luckenbach Road Whiskey. Please see bottom after the original article for full statement.
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It isn’t just an unincorporated community, or a tourist destination spot, or even a music venue. Luckenbach TX is a state of mind. Anyone who has ever been there, and the many artists who have played on its outdoor stage or inside the legendary dance hall over the years will vouch for that.
Luckenbach TX is one of the most authentic and revered slices of Texas culture that has remained remarkably static and unspoiled over the years, and vows to remain so for generations to come, even as development encroaches ever closer in the increasingly populated Texas Hill Country west of Austin, and north of San Antonio.
It was the song “Luckenbach TX (Back to the Basics of Love)” written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons, and recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1977 that became a #1 hit and had many people who had never even been to Texas learning how to pronounce the German name. Along with Jerry Jeff Walker recording his iconic live album Viva Terlingua! there in 1973, (and Viva Luckenbach! in 1994), it helped put Luckenbach TX on the map in country music and beyond.
But a new development, distillery, and whiskey brand moving into the area right outside of the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg offers the potential to threaten that peaceful state of mind Luckenbach TX has been able to preserve for over 50 years.
“All of this is so antithetical to everything Luckenbach is about,” says Kit Patterson, who is the President of Luckenbach TX Inc., and the grandson of Luckenbach founder Hondo Crouch. “I preface everything I have to say by saying that, because it’s difficult to spend the time, energy, and resources to even talk about it, because Luckenbach is a Texas state of mind, and it’s a logic free, stress free zone. But when it comes to threatening that space, we take it seriously. That is what this is about, taking it seriously, and dealing with it to protect Luckenbach.”
A general store and saloon was first opened on the property back in 1849 by Minna Engel. Like so much of the area, it was settled by German immigrants. The community was first called Grape Creek, with the name “Gap Creek” being the literal German translation of “Luckenbach.” The town was later named for Minna Engel’s husband, Carl Albert Luckenbach.
By the early 1900’s nearly 500 people lived in Luckenbach, but by the 1960s, it was virtually a ghost town. This led to Hondo Crouch purchasing the 9-acre property after answering the advertisement of “Town, pop. 3, for sale” in 1970. He purchased Luckenbach for $30,000. A folklorist and rancher by trade, Hondo Crouch was considered a mix between Will Rogers and Peter Pan, and it was his vision that led to Luckenbach becoming such a unique place. When Waylon sang about it in 1977, he’d never even been there. But Luckenbach’s reputation preceded it, thanks in part to it’s connections with country music.
“Really it’s Hondo’s spirit that prevails, and what I try to protect at Luckenbach,” says Kit Patterson.
But Luckenbach is not officially a town. Even it’s post office was decommissioned in 1971. It is a privately-owned business and property that like any other incorporated concern has trademarks and rights to protect, and concerns for what its neighbors might do, and how that might affect the doings of Luckenbach in the future. That is why the owners, operators, and patrons of Luckenbach are openly concerned about a 100+ acre development going in at the corner of Hwy. 290 and Luckenbach Rd., right where traffic from Austin turns off on their way to Luckenbach.
Luckenbach TX itself is not under the threat of being bought out or bulldozed, at least not at the moment. The concern is more about a big brand and development that is looking to co-opt the trademark-protected “Luckenbach” name for a major distillery property in a way that will take what Luckenbach means to so many people and transform it, while potentially shading out Luckenbach itself as tourists mistake the new property for the real Luckenbach.
Frontier Spirits, which is the company that created Pura Vida Tequila, has purchased the 117-acre parcel at the corner of Hwy. 290 and Luckenbach Rd., and plans to build the 28,000 square ft. Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery on the property, which will be the flagship for their Luckenbach Road Whiskey. Long-term plans also are rumored to include hotels, helipads, a Harley-Davidson dealership, housing developments, chain restaurants, a music venue, a recording studio, along with other retail.
Traveling through the Texas Hill Country—especially on Hwy 290 from Austin to Luckenbach—the once rural area is now dotted with similar developments often incorporating winery and distillery concepts, appealing to tourists and upscale consumers from Austin’s now tech heavy and affluent population for weddings, corporate retreats, and other events.
Frontier Spirits chairman and founder Stewart Skloss initially approached Luckenbach to do a licensing deal for the Luckenbach name. According to Kit Patterson of Luckenbach, it just didn’t feel like a good fit for Luckenbach, so they declined. Incidentally, Luckenbach did pair with Balcones Whiskey in Waco, TX to make an exclusive whiskey to officially commemorate Luckenbach starting in 2021, so there is a whiskey out there bearing the Luckenbach name with permission.
When the deal between Frontier Spirits and Luckenbach didn’t materialize, the company instead decided to incorporate the term “Luckenbach Road,” trying to piggyback off the Luckenbach name, but hoping to avoid any trademark issues since their upcoming distillery complex is located on Luckenbach Road itself.
“So there’s these two Luckenbach whiskeys out there, and it’s created a lot of confusion,” says Kit Patterson. “And then there’s this development that is going on just two or three miles of us. Their whole thing is to have an entertainment venue, recording studio, distillery, hotels, mutli-housing development, and all of this is based on raising money on this thing based on the name ‘Luckenbach.’ He thought we were making a big mistake by not partnering with him. He was going to be busing people down to the Luckenbach General Store. It was just a soul-less proposal. It was just big, and nothing we were interest in.”
As for Frontier Spirits and its founder Stewart Skloss, big is certainly what they are going for. In their August 2021 announcement of the distillery property, they tout, “Frontier Spirits is working with three different architecture firms to build the facility: Kentucky-based Joseph & Joseph + Bravura Architects, Austin-based placemaking specialists The Davies Collaborative, and Napa Valley-based winery designer Loren Kroger.
“What we’re building is what’s called a five-generation build, and it’s a build that will last 100 years,” Skloss says in the announcement.
The announcement also emphasizes the company’s ties to the region, and the efforts they will be looking to undertake to make sure the development is done in a respectful manner. “We have taken extra special attention to make sure the architecture is local architecture,” Skloss says in the press release, while also assuring they want it to be a family-friendly distillery, despite adult beverages being the centerpiece of the development.
“Frontier Spirits chairman and founder Stewart Skloss will serve the same whiskey recipe created by his third-great-grandfather, Heinrich (Henry) Ochs, for the Buckhorn Saloon in Fredericksburg,” the press release states. Skloss goes on to say, “When I read what old newspapers and historical books have to say about my ancestors, it’s clear they left a profound legacy of good spirit, good cheer, good deeds and good products. I can’t think of a more compelling legacy to uphold as we prepare to open Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery’s doors.“
Saving Country Music reached out to the Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery via phone and email to attempt to receive direct comment on the dispute with Luckenbach TX, but those requests were not responded to.
“The people are more important than any product you have to offer,” says Luckenbach’s Kit Patterson. “At Luckenbach, it’s less is more, it’s staying connected with people. Yes, Luckenbach is small, and damn we love it. We can make friends in a much more intimate space, and just trying to preserve that intimacy and what people love about Luckenbach in the first place.”
Luckenbach—which is little more than a General Store, dance hall, outdoor stage, and a few outbuildings—may not have much control over the encroaching growth in the area that each year is making the property a little less intimate and secluded. But they do have control over their trademarks, and have taken legal action to attempt to get Frontier Spirits to cease the use of the Luckenbach name for the company’s new distillery, development, and whiskey.
The likelihood of confusion for consumers is what Luckenbach and their legal team are out to prove. The fact that the company first attempted to gain permission before deciding to add “Road” to the name may help in Luckenbach’s cause. So might the fact that Frontier Spirits’ Pura Vida Tequila has been accused of attempting to piggy back off the popularity of another brand before.
In 2012, the Pura Vida Tequila Company LLC—which is part of Frontier Spirits—was handed an injunction by U.S. District Judge David Godbey that banned the company from importing an orange liqueur called “Controy.” The judge found in his 22-page order that the name, bottle shape, and bottle label of Controy infringed on the trademark of the famous orange liqueur called “Cointreau” that had first registered for trademark in 1935, and was the 2nd most popular orange liqueur by sales volume in the United States. Pura Vida’s “Controy” with it’s very similar looking bottle and name was trying to capitalize off of Cointreau’s popularity, the judge concluded.
A very similar concern is what prevails in the Luckenbach case. It’s plausible to believe that consumers may purchase Luckenbach Road Whiskey believing it’s licensed by Luckenbach TX, just as tourists driving from Austin may stop at the new Luckenbach Road Whiskey distillery complex believing they’ve arrived at Luckenbach TX.
“My greatest challenge is progress,” says Kit Patterson. “We’ve got to come into the 21st Century. We’ve got plumbing now. But again, less is more. People come to Luckenbach to get away from the hustle and bustle, and not to be sold something. Our position as a whole is to preserve as much of the Hill Country as we can, which is being paved over. I love it when people pull into Luckenbach and ask, ‘Is this all there is?’ and I say ‘Exactly.'”
To help spread awareness about the encroachment on the Luckenbach name and property, they’ve launched a “Long Live Luckenbach” (#longliveluckenbach) campaign via social media to help spread awareness, and make Luckenbach lovers aware that if they’re not careful, the landmark may not live forever.
Also, instead of a formal petition, Luckenbach is asking people to tell their Luckenbach stories in an online forum that can be shared in the future to show how much Luckenbach means to people.
Then there is what Kit Patterson calls the “necessary evil” of the legal effort to attempt to protect the name. A hearing is scheduled to be held on Thursday, June 9th at the Federal Court in Austin as Luckenbach attempts to obtain a temporary injunction against Frontier Spirits from using the Luckenbach name in their whiskey and upcoming distillery.
Currently, the Luckenbach Road Distillery is not under construction, but multiple temporary offices have been located to the property, and preparations are underway. Initially, plans were to open the Luckenbach Road Distillery by late 2022.
UPDATE 6-29-2022: Before originally publishing this article, Saving Country Music reached out to Luckenbach Road Whiskey for comment, but did not immediately hear back. After the publishing of this article, the owner of Luckenbach Road Whiskey, Stewart Skloss, reached out requesting the publishing of the below statement.
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Reading about the concerns raised by Mr. Kit Patterson and his business partners, his Aunt Cris Graham and Uncle John Graham, collectively known as LTI (Luckenbach Texas Incorporated) might naturally lead one to imagine this new distillery project going on in the Hill Country was driven by some soulless corporate entity, uninterested and unconcerned with the negative ways such a thing could affect the landscape and local community. The simple fact is, unlike many people you meet these days near Austin, Mr. Stewart Skloss not only represents thirteen generations of Texans, born and bred, but also happens to be a fiercely proud husband and father, who puts faith and family well before politics and profit. So, it’ll come as no surprise this unique opportunity to realize a lifelong dream intends to leave a lasting legacy honoring the very same heritage and traditions which make the Great State of Texas unlike any other place on Earth. In fact, it’s the only place you’ll hear natives say they may be American by birth, but they’re Texan by the grace of God.
Born in San Antonio, raised in Austin, and lucky enough to have worked and travelled all over the world, Stewart Skloss knows better than most just how unique and irreplaceable community treasures like Luckenbach, Texas are to the surrounding Hill Country. As many Texans often find when they venture beyond the boundaries of the Republic, the rest of the world doesn’t really see things the way Texans do. The farther out into the world you go the more you realize just how hard it is to find the shared sense of communal pride we sometimes take for granted within these borders. It may well be the exotic cultures and unfamiliar ways of life Stewart once saw so far from home played an important part in why he’s so committed to protecting the heritage and traditions here in Central Texas. Either way, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone anywhere who’d go to the lengths he has to preserve that way of life.
Look no further than the thoughtful integration of the many carefully considered elements needed to ensure an undertaking like this never fails to embody the rustic architecture, local materials, and unique way of life those who grew up around here rightly hold near and dear. All the way down to the indigenous plants and white buffalo, every little detail will give each and every person who experiences the Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery a newfound respect for the best of Texas, no matter where they came from, or where they may go. It’s no small task building into every square inch the kind of respect that demands far more time, and money, than most people are willing to spend. Because at the end of the day, 21 Luckenbach Road is ultimately just a glorified distillery, no matter how deep the values, attitudes, and beliefs that shaped it may run through the family roots beneath it. If building such a testament to the Texas way of life were easy, somebody else would’ve done it long ago. Fortunately, the Skloss family members working on this project are utterly committed to doing exactly that, come hell or high water. And if anyone were to even think of bulldozing Luckenbach, Texas, they’d have to go through men like Stewart Skloss to do it.
It’s understandable Kit Patterson may be genuinely concerned some commercial development could one day threaten the small-town Texas way of life, but his fears that anyone from Luckenbach Road Whiskey would ever have any part of such a thing are completely unnecessary and totally unfounded. The Skloss family business has made every effort, at no small expense, to minimize any impact their vision could have on the livelihoods and local businesses with whom they now share the land.
There are those who might say intimidation through litigation is more the game Kit and his partners seem to play. They’ve already sued each other more than once and threatened more than a few others. Now they’re taking aim at Stewart and his family, even though he also happens to be distantly related. Clearly, he and the rest of his partners at LTI don’t like how Mr. Skloss put a whiskey distillery on Luckenbach Road and named it “Luckenbach Road Whiskey.” Forget for a minute the distillery’s address happens to be 21 Luckenbach Road, running from Luckenbach itself, up the road about 5 miles, and directly through the Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery property on up to highway 290. And forget for a moment that no one should be able to own the name Luckenbach. Kit and his partners seem bent on being on the war path. Not very neighborly, to say the least, but then again, what would you expect from a corporation that threatened to sue the family that’s been raising cattle in the Luckenbach community for over a hundred years, simply for calling themselves the Luckenbach Cattle Company? And they’re not the only other Luckenbach-named business to incur the wrath of LTI. Seems the Luckenbach Road Whiskey distillery is just the latest in a disappointingly long line of Kit Patterson and LTI partners’ litigious history.
According to Kit Patterson and his family—who by the way, share no blood relation to Carl Albert Luckenbach, the town’s namesake, whose actual descendants, the Engels, are also being sued by Kit and the Grahams’ corporation (more on that later)—LTI now claims they own the name “Luckenbach”, at least ever since Hondo Crouch was said to have paid thirty grand to “buy the town” in 1971. According to Kit and LTI, they’re the only ones in Luckenbach who get to decide when and where Carl Luckenbach’s name is used. To be clear, they didn’t actually buy the whole town: Hondo bought about 9 acres that included the Engel Dance Hall and a General Store, formerly the area’s US Post Office, which had been in operation for over 100 years. And of course, they didn’t name the town Luckenbach. The town got its name when Mr. Luckenbach’s then fiancé, Minna Engel, decided to name it after her fiancé Carl Luckenbach. She and her family were building the town with their bare hands over 150 years ago, but Kit likes to tell people they bought the whole town, or more often, they “saved it from the brink of extinction!”
So not only is Kit Patterson and the Grahams’ corporation suing Luckenbach Road Whiskey for using “Luckenbach” in their name, but they’re also suing Paul Engel (their neighbor and Mr. Luckenbach’s own descendant, mind you), for naming their family business after the town, even though he and his family’s six generations didn’t just found Luckenbach, they still continue to live and work the land there to this very day, where they also own and operate the Luckenbach Lodge.
Paul Engel’s family literally built that town from the ground up, back when making your livin’ off the land really meant something. Then along comes Kit and the Grahams’ corporation trying to deny the Engels from deriving any benefit from the name Luckenbach, even though their property sits in the middle of Luckenbach proper. Kit and the Grahams will tell anyone who’ll listen they’re busy protecting generations of Texas heritage. Meanwhile, they’re trying to paint the Skloss family as some kind of big city developers with no regard for Texas history and way of life, but unlike Kit and the Grahams, Mr. Skloss can show exactly how deep his Hill Country family roots go, all the way back to before Texas was Texas. As far as 1716 and the first chartered settlement of San Fernando de Béxar, now better known as San Antonio, to be precise, and where, believe it or not, his 4th Great Grandfather was the last messenger from the Alamo when it was under siege, served as the town’s last mayor under the Republic of Texas flag, and as their first mayor once Texas finally joined the Union. More to the point, Stewart’s 3rd great grandfather, Herman Ochs, crafted his very own pure Texas whiskey and beer from his then famous Buckhorn Saloon, nearabouts the same stretch of land where The Skloss family have revived his generations old family recipes, catering to the ever-growing numbers of folks flocking to the area.
So, for a man whose relative bought 9+ acres and two small buildings in a little Texas town to trademark someone else’s family name to sell branded knick-knacks and souvenirs—and then do his level best to prevent anyone else there from using the town’s name, no matter what their business or how long it’s been carrying the Luckenbach name, leaves more than just a bad taste in some folk’s mouths. Then to now claim Mr. Skloss can’t name his family’s Texas whiskey after the road that runs through his own property is hard to even wrap your head around.
It might help to know that one reason Kit and the Graham’s corporation are so concerned with the Luckenbach name being associated with the Skloss family whiskey is the fact LTI recently cut a deal with a Waco area distiller to put the Luckenbach corporate logo on a one-time, small release of whiskey themselves, in a failed attempt to beat Mr. Skloss to market and derail Mr. Skloss’ distillery. Even though the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) previously told them in person and again in writing they couldn’t put the Luckenbach logo on bottles of booze, they went and did it anyway. And apparently the TABC is now investigating that whiskey release in what’s known as a “Tied House violation”, (inappropriate relationships between bars and distillers, for example, which happens to be completely and unquestionably illegal in the state of Texas), by the way. If you’re interested in this Texas alcohol law, click this link TABC – Tied House to take a deeper dive. Otherwise, read on, there’s still plenty more you may not know about Mr. Patterson and the Grahams’ corporation, LTI.
As if all this isn’t bad enough, Kit seems to want to position himself as some kind of caretaker to the Luckenbach legacy, all the while running a lucrative business selling Luckenbach-branded T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc., the very thought of which pretty much speaks for itself. And as long as we’re on the subject of trademark infringement, have you ever seen Kit and the Grahams’ LTI corporate logo? It may look just a little bit familiar. Take a gander below and you’ll see a dead ringer for the Lone Star beer logo.
So, to set the record straight, no one outright “owns” the name Luckenbach—not the many direct descendants of the German immigrants the community is named for, and certainly not, LTI, some corporation who bought a piece of it relatively recently. No one made Kit Patterson and the Graham family the guardians of all things good in small town Texas. And would we all love to keep Texas the way it was when we were little? Of course, we would, but you can’t stop progress, nor should we when it comes to creating jobs, honoring Texas legends and lore, and enjoying a glass of whiskey while listening to the greats who made country music better than anyone thought it could be.
Luckenbach is more than just a beautiful community, deep in the heart of Texas, and much larger than the acreage Kit and his family now own, just over 20 acres today. The rich history there began long before 1971 when Hondo Crouch and some friends bought the dancehall and general store, or when the town actually got its name in 1886, and grew from the people, families, and businesses whose lives and ancestries will forever be entwined with their legends and their land. It’s high time everyone else in Texas got to hear the other side of this thing, and now at long last, at least some of the people who truly do care what happens to the spirit of Luckenbach, Texas, and know better than anyone what it always has and always will stand for, finally have the whole story.
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Editor’s Note: There will be more information on the dispute between Luckenbach Texas and Luckenback Road Whiskey in the future, including the Federal judge ruling on the temporary injunction when it is available.
June 7, 2022 @ 10:29 am
Enough is enough with tearing down history that people still actively enjoy and cherish. With all the open space in hill country ripe for development, they feel this particular spot is worthy of being replaced for commercial development? Living in Nashville I’m getting beyond pushed to my limits seeing places like the Ernest Tubb record shop, Exit In, and various other music landmarks get torn down and sold to greedy developers. It’s damn sad to see and nothing is being done to reverse this trend.
June 7, 2022 @ 11:56 am
As long as consumers show up and buy things at new developments, it’s not likely to stop. Gotta vote with your money and support small and local, not big and corporate. Unfortunately it’s usually less convenient and more expensive to do so.
June 7, 2022 @ 10:56 pm
Wannabe “locals” just touring these places drive this commercial crap.
June 9, 2022 @ 1:51 pm
I’ve been to Luckenbach TX and found it charming. I think it should be preserved and continue as a music venue without another company with $$ signs in their eyes encroaching anywhere near there!! Move on down the road Distillery and call yourself something else!!
June 10, 2022 @ 8:19 am
You’re treading on sacred ground yank!
January 10, 2023 @ 5:47 am
Going to Luckenbach many times through the years I have witnessed nothing but friendly hospitality from the folks there and you are treated with respect Big corporate businesses lack that type of atmosphere no matter where they are and this will be the same way .If you are so concerned with your family history ,Where have you been all these years ? Out trying make big money elsewhere and now wanting to use the family land as a cheaper way to make that happen .Would you have bought the land if it was owned by someone else and do the same planning as now ?,I doubt it. To come in and build big in an area that is quiet and laid back is wrong .What if it fails as a business venture the folks in Luckenbach will never get back what you’ve taken and that is Quiet laid back Texas hospitality. I hope you reconsider what you are doing just for the greed of money
June 11, 2022 @ 5:27 pm
It’s a business, has been assigned name for years. Can’t not change unless , shut down. Their name. Their business, what controller told me. Can not use their name………….. Isn’t Luckenbach just your property. Also only yours. If used, their breaking the law.
June 11, 2022 @ 12:26 pm
Solution…. My family named Luckenbach. Ya’ll need another one. First one worked out pretty good!
Peace
June 17, 2022 @ 2:16 pm
Can the road be renamed so the developer can’t use the Luckenbach name?
June 29, 2022 @ 2:52 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 12:25 pm
So I don’t understand, if the name “Luckenbach” is already registered, how can the distillary use it as well? That would be like someone trying to use “The Grand Ole Opry of Kentucky”. Gaylord would come down on them like a ton of bricks.
June 7, 2022 @ 4:35 pm
Argument is probably that they are naming it after the road, not the business.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:11 am
Absolutely…everywhere you look housing..stores..etc. being put up..damn folks need to stop killing the land!! And I’m from New York..imagine that..this down state is being totally wrecked by big fat ass corporations.
June 20, 2022 @ 4:39 pm
Leave it alone!!!!!!!!
June 8, 2022 @ 1:26 pm
There are a lot of us that live in Luckenbach. There is more to Luckenbach than the bar. It is rumored that the owners of Luckenbach are trying to make sure that they are the only people that get to use the name. There are two sides. The name Luckenbach shouldn’t be “owned” by anyone.
June 8, 2022 @ 5:31 pm
There are not a lot of people that live in Luckenbach. As far as I know there is only one house in Luckenbach. I have been going there since Hondo was still alive and have spent many nights under the Luckenbach Moon singing the night away. Your comment seems a little bogus
June 9, 2022 @ 10:38 am
There are NOT “a lot of people that live in Luckenbach.” I do not believe in rumors and you are out of order for spreading rumors. “The name Luckenbach shouldn’t be “owned” by anyone? Ridiculous! So anyone can co-opt “Lone Star Beer” or “Willie Nelson”? And you have the gall to call yourself Luckenbach Local.
June 12, 2022 @ 7:34 am
Luckenbach is an area. That is why they needed a post office. There are ranches here that have been owned for generations. This argument is crazy. There are many towns/areas that have multiple businesses that have the name of town/area in them. Isn’t that what the owners of Luckenbach did?
June 12, 2022 @ 7:39 am
This is truly unbelievable. Luckenbach has been home to generations of ranchers and farmers….long before Hondo purchased it to make money. Our families have had to put up with a lot of tourism since they made “downtown” Luckenbach popular. I personally think the bar/dance hall are great! But what I don’t understand is the hypocrisy.
June 12, 2022 @ 5:41 am
The only reason they bought that property is to piggyback off the Luckenbach name, There’s plenty of other places they could go and make a name for themselves!
June 12, 2022 @ 7:40 am
Are you speaking about Hondo or the newest business?
June 13, 2022 @ 8:21 am
Maybe one day I will stop by have a drink listen to your real country music just to witness what these greedy corporate crooks are doing to your revered country family land..godbless y’all and hope to make friends with you guys..born in New York…adopted by country songs..John D.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:33 am
It seems to be confusing to me..some locals say nobody lives there??? Others say different…guess I will have to take a back seat and hope faith will allow the right decision to be made here..Godbless.
June 29, 2022 @ 2:55 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
April 22, 2023 @ 9:35 am
The Distillery is on Luckenbach Road.
June 7, 2022 @ 1:30 pm
Another new development. We need that like a hole in the head!! Apparently not everyone feels like me because people flock to these new places. I prefer the old and historical. Hope Luckenbach stays Luckenbach!!
June 13, 2022 @ 8:23 am
Why not have a festival on stage comprised of concerned folks to raise funds to make this crap go away??
June 29, 2022 @ 2:56 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:00 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
September 29, 2022 @ 1:15 pm
THANK YOU for standing up for those of us that live in the real Luckenbach! It is unbelievable that someone thinks that they can tell families that have been there since they homesteaded in the 1800’s that they can no longer use the name of tbeir community!! Luckenbach is NOT a ghost town and never has been! Thank you for brining your side of things to light! I might not think we need more commerce in Luckenbach….but let’s be fair!!
June 7, 2022 @ 1:49 pm
I had the pleasure of hosting Community Radio Station KEOS (89.1 FM) back in the early 2000’s. Featuring Rosie Flores and Alejandro Escovedo and others, we had one of the best fundraiser turnouts ever. Music on the outside stage and a Green Room inside the dance hall with food for musicians and VIP’s I and fellow KEOS’er Anne Preston interviewed all the players and recorded radio call signals. The proprietors were gracious with their support and we support their efforts to preserve their legacy.
June 7, 2022 @ 2:18 pm
Luckenback supported us when no one else in Texas would, even though they knew they would lose money, they donated their Dancehall for the Barbara Leatherwood fight for the Cure to hold a Ovarian Cancer awareness benefit.
Jamie and Alex stepped up in their advice and support for the Women of Texas!
Luckenback holds a special place in our hearts and in our history.
We are so tired of Company’s stepping in and ruining our history with their so called progress.
Let Luckenback stand alone as it has for 100 years with it’s name it’s history it’s tradition and it’s values.
June 7, 2022 @ 6:19 pm
I visited Luckenbach for 4 reasons: Jerry Jeff Walker made a great record there, Waylon sang about it, Dale Watson wrote a song about it (Everybodys somebody in Luckenbach Texas) and, i love Texas dance halls. What i learned from going: Its a cool little place to get a beer and a frito pie and its a great place to catch a live show. Thats it. It aint set up to accomodate thousands of tourists, maybe a few hundred perhaps. Bringing tourbus loads of people in would wreck it entirely. And as much as i love Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, do we really need another distillery?? Everyone and their brothers cousin already has a distillery. Balcones is great, Garrison is great, there are more than enough to go around. Austin is full of them. This move smacks of big city money grubbing investor whores. Can you imagine what ol Hondo would tell them? I can.
December 1, 2022 @ 6:56 pm
This is the real and live version of “YELLOWSTONE”. Luckenbach wants to keep their community the “same” and an outsider wants to capitalize and ruin it. Notice BTW, that the owner of “the still” has evidently used the names of other companies “with a twist” and also mimicked the bottling of those other companies in order to attempt to confuse and get name brand familiarity for profit..rather than build a name and a brand from scratch on their own. I say that after reading the Court case against these folks/ the distiller.
December 10, 2023 @ 4:20 pm
Real life “Yellowstone”….ahh…yes indeed.
I know deep secrets of the Grahams going way back…Cris Grahams real character rubbed off on her grandson Kit.I know the Grahams adopted a teen in the 80s that was from a troubled home,and would hate for that info to get out because it would tarnish their rep. The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.
They refuse that adopted daughter to associate with them now, we wonder…is it because ?
Anything to do with Luckenbach!?
June 29, 2022 @ 3:02 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:03 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 2:40 pm
Everybody and their dog have shamelessly piggybacked off of Gruene. Hate to see it happening to Luckenbach now but there’s no way to stop them.
June 8, 2022 @ 9:34 pm
I have always loved Luchenbach over the years. Sitting inside and drinking beers at the bar and playing Horseshoes out back with people you’d just met.
I am a small town girl and I love antiques and Country Music. I love Luchenbach, Tx. ????
June 29, 2022 @ 3:12 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 3:22 pm
I’m sure the next rendering will show a prospective Bass Pro Shop, Costco and Buccee’s.
Count me out.
June 10, 2022 @ 4:07 pm
Well, with the Harley dealership, a Quaker Steak and Lube will probably be next door. A wiser man than me said the opposite of progress is Congress, so, anyway you look at it, this poor little town is screwed.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:04 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 3:32 pm
No story about Hondo Crouch tops the one about him running into his former UT classmate, Texas Governor John Connally. Connally asked Hondo, “What are you doing, now?” Hondo answered, “Running some sheep in the Hill Country.” Then Hondo asked of Governor Connally, “So, what are YOU doing now, John?”
June 10, 2022 @ 10:22 am
Those comments, referencing Hondo Couch, are likely factual! I had a cafe in Comfort, Texas, and would often have Hondo Couch to stop by and sit at the bar, just before closing. He would tell me of happenings in Lukenbach along with stories of his swimming feats while attending The University Of Texas! All in all, he was quite the entertainer, himself!
June 7, 2022 @ 4:45 pm
I’m a Texan thru and thru, 81 yrs old and so tired of this “progress”. What the hell is progress ????! I call it greed. Nothing but a bunch of leeches, usually from somewhere else, profiting from what we have and they wish they had!! I’ve never been to Luckenbach but just the songs, tales and spirit make it special to me. The fact that people don’t know how, and don’t want to, appreciate the love and serenity of such a place, (but think they need to change it), is one reason a big part of this society has a serious mental problem.
This is part of my opinion.
June 9, 2022 @ 9:14 am
They Call It The Hill Country – Kent Finlay
They call it the hill country, I call it beautiful
I’d call it progress if it could be saved
They call it the hill country I call it home
But what will they call it
When it’s levelled and paved?
June 9, 2022 @ 9:51 pm
One of my favorite songs. I’d blare it coming home from college while driving into the hill country on hwy 46. Sistersale highway (from Boerne to Luckenback) was and still is a favorite drive of mine. After walnut Grove road it is just pasture and hills. God’s country.
June 10, 2022 @ 5:19 am
That is a beautiful drive, such an awesome area.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:04 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 4:47 pm
The liquor business is shady, they ready have booze for sale under the name mentioned and don’t even have a distillery built! WTF?
July 1, 2022 @ 3:12 pm
Rob,
Good afternoon.
There are always two sides to every story. The publisher of this article on savingcountrymusic.com has kindly posted our side of the story at the bottom of the origin al article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
Regarding our distillery not yet built, we used my 3rd great grandfathers recipe and began the process off-site over 5 years ago. We have barrels of our 3 expressions at our site aging in containers and do our proofing, bottling and packaging from our temporary facility at 21 Luckenbach Road. We are working to be open Q4 of next year and hope you will come by as our guest and give us a shot, pun intended.
Have a great 4th of July and holiday weekend!
July 5, 2022 @ 10:39 am
To Skloss and his business,
My family owns a ranch off of old Luckenbach Rd and it’s a shame to see what your plans are for the area. We don’t need another alcohol establishment because there are already too many. What we need is to keep the land beautiful and untouched. The hill country is such a treasured spot in Texas and it’s a shame that you are playing a part in turning it into more concrete and buildings. If you are such a proud Texan as you claim, then it’s a shame that you are disrespecting the state’s beauty by bulldozing it. We won’t be patronizing your establishment.
July 5, 2022 @ 12:30 pm
Meagan,
Good afternoon.
What we are building is truly an asset to the area and the Texas Hill Country as a whole, in so many ways. Would be interested to learn more about your concerns in person and where you are in relation to our place if you care to discuss. Feel free to send me a note at Sskloss@frontierspirits.com if you want to chat more.
June 7, 2022 @ 4:58 pm
Please, no to this “progress”! Do not destroy this peaceful place. My husband and I decided to get married after visiting Luckenbach the first time years ago. We came back many times after that and it was “our place”. Sadly he passed away a few months ago. I can’t imagine destroying the area with something like that.
June 7, 2022 @ 5:00 pm
In 50 years much of this country will look like fucking Disneyland
June 8, 2022 @ 1:50 pm
Thanks boomers!
June 7, 2022 @ 5:31 pm
“What will they call it when it’s leveled and paved?”
Randy Rogers
June 7, 2022 @ 6:37 pm
Please don’t let them destroy Luckenbach. My husband and I love visiting there and the surrounding hills. It’s peaceful and not much traffic. If something is built there all that is going to hell. Keep LUCKENBACH beautiful, Serene, quiet, peaceful!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:12 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 7, 2022 @ 6:43 pm
Oh man, are these people silly and deluded, bless their hearts. They’re about 7 years tops, from not having a country, and they’re worried about the name of their town. In another time I would’ve backed these efforts, but we’re just too far gone now to care.
June 7, 2022 @ 8:43 pm
That which is threatening Luckenbach and the greater Hill Country is a symptom of a bigger problem. The destruction of authentic culture & personal relations, the commodification of essentially everything, & the “tourist-ization” & “luxury-ization” of rural landscapes & basic leisure to the point that ordinary people can no longer enjoy even the simple things ,… you don’t think this is playing a role in the destruction of the nation?
June 8, 2022 @ 3:12 pm
Hi Melany,
I completely agree with you that everything you listed really stinks, and I love how you explained it. You nailed it.
My point though, is that we are too far gone now to worry about symptoms. You might save this town’s name, but without western civilization and all the freedoms that come with it, it doesn’t make a hill of beans that you saved the name of a town.
June 8, 2022 @ 9:21 pm
Globalism has destroyed local cultures. The gig is up. The elites have decided that Western civilization and its Judeo-Christian heritage must be destroyed in the name of diversity.
June 9, 2022 @ 10:44 am
You gave up
June 9, 2022 @ 10:54 am
Hi Bill,
Let me ask you a question. If you knew someone was going to dump a 50 gallon drum of water on your head, would you:
A. Spend time figuring out how to stop it?
or
B. Spray one of your boots with water repellent?
June 9, 2022 @ 11:39 am
A
June 9, 2022 @ 12:12 pm
Me too. Luckenbach chose B.
June 7, 2022 @ 7:18 pm
Luckenbach started goiNg main stream when they added the first outdoor stage and then the new theater. Money talks. I’ve been going there for over 30 years. Used to be cool to sit out behind the post office and watch the deer run through the creek. Now I go and have one beer and leave because so much going on and money being made. Don’t complain about things changing around you when you started the change to make more money.
December 10, 2023 @ 4:44 pm
The family makes millions off a dead man that was the town drunk and neglected his family. They grew up to love what power and prestige money brings.
Cris’s daughter is a known alcoholic like Hondo!
Very very sad…then has the audacity to play gospel songs at Hondas on Main …like their Christian!?
Funny!
Not.
June 7, 2022 @ 7:36 pm
Sorry Kit, Luckenbach will always be a State of Mind. Let’s talk about the changes and new buildings you’re building. Jealous?
December 10, 2023 @ 4:46 pm
Jim..you’re spot on!
June 7, 2022 @ 7:40 pm
If possible get the State Legislature Representative whose district includes Luckenbach to have the area all the way to HWY 290 named as a State Historical Landmark thus preventing any new development that infringes upon the Luckenbach historical area..
June 8, 2022 @ 4:39 pm
I got to go inside Johnny bushes bus and visit with him before a show in leukenbach 6 years ago. His father and step mom were my God parents. He was an amazing man and singer. Leukenbach is a wonderful place and should be a national landmark.
June 10, 2022 @ 12:05 pm
Great thinking! Stand your ground!!
September 29, 2022 @ 1:22 pm
There are many families that live in that area…with many family businesses. You would be destroying their livelihoods like the LTI Corp is trying to do. There is a lot of hypocrisy going on.
June 7, 2022 @ 10:06 pm
So many stories! Jalapeño Sam Lewis, armadillo races, Luckenbach ladiesvlynching league, singing under the live oak! Friends were made there for life, memories will live. Save the intimacy! I was there last year and it felt like I had never stayed away after so many years. Magnolia Thunderblossom, Allegani Janie, Vel Ann ????❤️❤️????????
June 7, 2022 @ 10:37 pm
yes!
June 8, 2022 @ 12:18 am
Well Enough is Enough Kit I was on Staff at all 5 Willie Picnics and Do know how to Party and for the Life of Me don’t Understand Why These Prune Pickers want to Try and Steal YALLS NAME but As Sure as Hell is Hot all I got to say is COME AND TAKE IT ????????????????
June 8, 2022 @ 1:10 am
Luckenbach is the Disney World version of Texas Country…
June 8, 2022 @ 2:08 am
I remember reading one time back in the very early 1980’s that there was nothing in Luckenbach apart from two people and a drunken pig. The image still makes me smile. Might have been Waylon who said it.
Anyone cast any light on this?
June 8, 2022 @ 3:50 am
It’s the Republican Party’s dream to have these “businesses” springing up everywhere. Next there will be a golf course too, you’ll see.
June 10, 2022 @ 12:37 pm
Don’t blame the republicans!!!!
June 10, 2022 @ 1:51 pm
Whine some more, sweetheart
June 8, 2022 @ 5:42 am
The county should just change the name to Candy-ass City Boy Road for as long as necessary.
June 8, 2022 @ 6:19 am
Where does so-called progress stop? It’s all about big money and big money doesn’t care about culture, or history, or anything else. I hope this DOES NOT go through! Luckenbach should be preserved at all costs!!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:14 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 8, 2022 @ 7:52 am
This is an obvious infringement of the Luchenbach name and location. This distillery tried this before and lost. This case should be the same. If the founder really has toes to Fredericksburg then he should develop there. His attempt to circumvent the copyrighted name should be thrown out.
I have organized several Road Rallies to the real Luchenbach, and will continue to do so. I for one will only buy the true Luchenbach whiskey.
Signed Another ticked off Texan, sick of big business ruining the things that make the Hill Country great.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:11 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:14 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
November 14, 2022 @ 8:29 pm
you can’t even spell it correctly. such a huge supporter.
June 8, 2022 @ 7:57 am
So, this will be located across 290 from Luckenbach Loop Rd. They will be neighbors “down the road” … maybe a mile away. This will have no impact on the location of Luckenbach. I understand that many people would prefer all of the area to stay untouched… but, that just isn’t realistic. This is what a free market looks like. This is America. If you don’t like it then buy all the property around there and … just sit on it. But, who does that? Land is an investment.
June 8, 2022 @ 9:15 am
“This is what a free market looks like. This is America.”
America and the free market still have reasonable regulations to make sure the free market operates in a healthy and fair manner, specifically in this case, trademark protections. My guess is that 117-acre property will be developed into something. What’s being disputed here is what that something will be called. As some others have pointed out, there’s a huge RV resort/water park going in much closer to Luckenbach. They’re not taking issue with it, because it’s not attempting to use their trademarked name. You’re completely right, people should be able to do what they want with their property. But trademarks are an established part of the free market system, and should be protected.
June 8, 2022 @ 1:31 pm
I am not sure why the owners of the bar were able to trademark the name in the first place. I live out there, and they don’t want me to be able to say that! Luckenbach is more than the post office just like any town. Why were they able to steal away the name to themselves?
June 8, 2022 @ 2:42 pm
How they were able to obtain that trademark is a fair question. Obviously, you can’t trademark the name of a town, but at the time they made the trademark, Luckenback wasn’t a town. That’s how they were able to trademark it. Perhaps that’s a deeper question there, but there is no question that they currently hold the trademark on the Luckenbach name, which gives them the right to work to protect it if they believe there is fair concern for confusion from the public. And since the individual behind Luckenbach Road Whiskey first attempted to license the name before he moved forward, he clearly saw this as something that was necessary, at least at that time. Whether adding “Road” to the mix absolves those concerns is what the court will decide.
I saw you mention in another comment that there are two sides to every story. Just for the record, as it stated in the article, Luckenbach Road Whiskey was contacted through multiple channels in an attempt to interview them, or to receive some sort of statement. They have yet to return those requests, but multiple quotes and bits of information from their original press release on the Luckenbach Road Whiskey development was included in the article.
November 14, 2022 @ 8:32 pm
are they gonna sue waylon next?
June 8, 2022 @ 1:42 pm
Try 7 miles away according to Google Earth to travel from Luckenbach to the corner of Luckenbach Rd and 290. It sucks they’re using the cities name to sell whiskey, but this development is far from next door.
If they don’t want neighbors they should’ve bought the property.
June 8, 2022 @ 9:26 pm
Free market?
Brad, America is no longer a free market economy. The last few months has made that clear.
Look at this comment section. People are asking the government to stop this project.
America is just playing out the string at this point. The endgame started in 1913. Every empire falls. Greece fell. Rome fell. Britain fell.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:10 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
July 1, 2022 @ 2:53 pm
Brad,
Buenos Tardes!
Thanks for your comments.
To be a bit more clear on our location, as one day we hope you will come by for a visit, we are almost 5 miles from Luckenbach, Texas, 21 Luckenbach Road to be exact.
Have a great 4th of July and holiday weekend!
November 14, 2022 @ 8:42 pm
are you challenging the trademark to use the word Luckenbach?
June 8, 2022 @ 8:08 am
Ruth James, where do you live?
I’ll take you to Luckenback before you get called up.
June 8, 2022 @ 9:33 am
Well Kit I see the Predicament here Your Grandpa is Probably rolling over in His Grave. I was on Staff at all of Willies Picknics and Understand the True Meaning of Luckenback So I’d say “COME AND TAKE IT”
June 29, 2022 @ 3:10 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 8, 2022 @ 11:38 am
The song was a mistake. Ever since, it’s been a struggle to keep it the way it was.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:09 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 8, 2022 @ 1:11 pm
If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em. This could be just what you need to take you to the next level.
June 8, 2022 @ 2:03 pm
I am not a fan of the distillery that we will be able see from our back porch, but also not a fan of people who don’t get facts straight. What the article doesn’t mention is that they are also suing anyone in the neighborhood who tries to use the Luckenbach name for anything – even people who are directly linked back to the original founders of our community. They say it’s a branded trademark, not a community . . . I guess they’ve forgotten there was a Luckenbach School on Luckenbach Road long before Hondo bought the store from my family … my great great grandfather is the one who founded it and many of his ancestors still live in the community of Luckenbach … the owners of Luckenbach store are in no way the heroes they are trying to look like by protecting us from the big bad distillery.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:09 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
November 14, 2022 @ 8:47 pm
you just used the word Luckenbach for your name. get out your checkbook. you will never get your valid points across to what ultimately is a bunch of tourists. these people probably think willie nelson owns luckenbach.
June 8, 2022 @ 2:51 pm
Change the name of the road to Henry Crouch rd
June 8, 2022 @ 5:47 pm
My maiden name is Luckenbach. My father hated the idea of our name being used as an outfit that promoted drunkenness. He drank beer. I never saw him drunk. I say that to say this: whiskey is worse than beer. I like a good drink, one, not a fifth. I have many good cousins that still live in the hill country of Texas. Maybe someone should ask them what they think about the overpopulation problem in and around Fredericksburg and Kerrville. What used to be a quaint little town is now a tourist trap. We have to do business in Fredericksburg but we creep around the back roads to avoid the throngs who have taken the specialness right out of Fredericksburg and they will do it to Luckenbach as well.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:07 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 9, 2022 @ 10:06 am
Somehow even losing Luckenbach to capitalist pursuit of profit is the fault of………….casting more black people in marvel movies? Gay CEOs? What is it exactly in terms of public policy that you tie to ‘diversity’ which would relate to the uncontrolled acquisition of property for money? The through-line in these comments is baffling. Yall know its white people in your own country making these choices–both democrats and republicans cheerlead this ‘progress’ (and I know no one in America cares to consider the vast political matrix of ideologies outside ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’). Get off the Facebook groups and get some air! What on Gods green earth……
June 11, 2022 @ 5:00 pm
Name the road Trump road and all the yuppies from Austin will not drive on that road !!! LMAO !!
June 29, 2022 @ 3:06 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 13, 2022 @ 2:26 am
Just another sleaze bag wanting to take advantage of others work promoting Luckenbach. Hope the owners of Luckenbach win in keeping the name Luckenbach for their little piece of Texas sacred.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:06 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
June 13, 2022 @ 2:05 pm
If this really meant anything to any of you, you would be beating down the doors of your state representative, threatening to vote them out unless he/she did something about it. Instead, you’re venting in a comment section with like-minded individuals who are doing the same amount of nothing as you. Imagine if you actually organized and did something other than complain to eachother? You might actually accomplish something. No one that can make a difference is reading these posts.
June 18, 2022 @ 1:56 pm
I really wish all of these people moving into Texas would just LEAVE TEXAS ALONE!! And I really think this particular company should be punished in some way for trying to use the fame of Luckenbach in their brand name. My grandaddy always taught us… if you can’t make it on your own merit, you don’t desire to. As for the jerk comment above (Lenny!) you don’t know what we’re doing or who we’re going to and complaining to, so get off your high horse! We’re allowed to vent our frustrations just like you’re allowed to vent whatever you’re venting about. Have you contacted anyone yet? Probably not. I have!
June 21, 2022 @ 10:14 pm
I agree with your comment “leave Texas alone.” I love Luckenbach, esp the laid back cozy atmosphere, an escape. And I’ve enjoyed reading the fond memories folks have posted here. I’d hate to see Luckenbach infringed upon to its detriment. And you’re right that we don’t know what’s being done or who’s being contacted. Good to hear that that’s being done. My thoughts are that sentiments don’t hold up in a court of law. So focus on the legalities is important. I applaud you for “what’s being done or who’s being contacted.” What is the process for protecting the Luckenbach brand that so encompasses an aura? Perhaps there’s a venue for passing that info on to Luckenbach fans.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:05 pm
To the readers of the one-sided article on savingcountrymusic.com about Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, and the strong opposition by the owners of the dancehall and general stores in Luckenbach, Texas, we say there’s always two sides to every story. The editor has kindly published our response just below the original article. We are confident that if you take the time to read our response to the article in its entirety, with an open mind and an open heart, your opinion will change.
We sure hope after learning the whole story and all the facts, you’ll have a much better idea and positive opinion of what exactly is going on here in the Texas Hill Country. Please don’t be shy about sharing whatever thoughts you may have now with your friends and family on what is understandably a very emotionally charged and heated debate. Have a great day, and God Bless America!
July 1, 2022 @ 2:45 pm
D,
Good afternoon
“I really wish all of these people moving into Texas would just LEAVE TEXAS ALONE!!”, really? I am from Texas, my family has been here since 1731.
If you take the time to read the other side of the story, the truth, which the publisher has now posted at the bottom of the original article, I believe you will see that you were misled, it happens, not your fault in any way.
After you read our response, we hope you will one day join us when we open as our guest.
Have a great 4th of July and holiday weekend.
June 19, 2022 @ 5:24 am
Everything dies, eventually. Even Willy.
June 29, 2022 @ 3:11 pm
As the old sayin’ goes….. If you giv’em an inch, the will take a mile…
I’ve been to Luckenbach a couple of times…..leave it alone….
June 30, 2022 @ 4:30 pm
Tall Texas Tale? There is a fine line between exaggerating and telling lies. Quote from another article,
“As a seventh generation Texan, I’ve got whiskey and tequila in my veins. My great, great, great grandfather made whiskey himself, and I’ve taken the best of that family recipe and poured it into the Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery for those who appreciate the finer things. I guess you could say spirits are in my blood, and after more than a decade of making the finest tequila on Earth, I’ve rekindled the family fire for Texas whiskey.” https://www.totalprestigemagazine.com/stewart-lawrence-skloss/
July 1, 2022 @ 2:32 pm
Laura,
Good afternoon.
Understandable how you might be confused, but your comment is completely unnecessary. If you study up a bit on your Texas history, you will see that both are technically correct. My 9th Great Grandparents (Juan and Gracia Curbelo, Lucas and Maria Delgado, and Juan and Maria Goraz, immigrated from the Canary Islands to the area to found what is now San Antonio, Texas. That would make my generation the 12th from the area and my daughters the 13th. I am a 7th generation “Texan” as Texas did not exist back in 1731, but our family are now 13 generations, inclusive of our daughters, from the area that is now Texas back before Texas was Texas. I hope this clears up you accusation of a “Tall Texas Tale”.
July 1, 2022 @ 4:53 pm
Well folks we can call it anything we want to, but the reality is, everything changes with time and nothing stays the same. I left my hometown in West Texas many years ago, I will always remember it like it was. but it is not. We can work together and try to keep the old memories and ways alive, but they may not be the same, it is called progress! So, suck it up buttercups! We can work together and have a wonderful place for people to come to and have fun. Luckenback will always be Luckenbach in our hearts and memories. The world is in turmoil, let us have a peaceful and fun place for people to go. Including us locals.
October 1, 2022 @ 1:00 pm
Read both sides of the article as I’m heading to the dance hall right as I type this comment to mix sound for my good friends Texas Country band, they embody the spirit of what it means to be Texan. I’ve been in Texas for 2.5 years, bought 20 acres of land, am building my own house and will soon welcome a Texas born son or daughter raised in Texas in the house I built. The culture here is truly amazing, and you see all sorts of for profit establishments that embody the culture of the state and serve as gathering places for people to celebrate it. For those demonizing LTI or Skloss, or corporations for attempting to do so, look around you and there are hundreds of companies making honest livings celebrating the heritage of this place.
LTI is trying to protect Luckenbach. Without efforts from people that put the money down to preserve things, they die. And they have a business to run to keep going. Generations come and go and things change hands.
Skloss has a perspective, so does Kit.
What stands out to me, regardless of whether LTI is a litigious group or not, and completely separate from their own happenings inside Luckenbach, is that maybe Skloss is failing to consider that maybe not all of the elements of their development honor what Luckenbach is all about. Some of them do, and they may be coming from the heart. But multi family housing in the middle of the country? I work in a business solely focused on providing technology to multi family properties but even that seems out of place.
Perhaps rename it to Gap Creek Distillery, or remove some of the elements that make it feel like a big corporate development. Move in slowly and fit into the culture, get along with your neighbors.
The saddest part of it all is that now Luckenbach is embroiled in controversy and legal battles. That alone distracts from the purpose of both parties. Kit, Skloss.. go horseback riding together and talk it out, you are going to be seeing a lot of one another.. now is your chance to make compromises together and turn this into something positive for those who wish to enjoy what Luckenbach has meant to Texas for so long. Don’t ruin that by continuing this pissing match.
November 4, 2022 @ 6:48 pm
Luckenbach Inc. has turned a wonderful venue into a tourist trap. After Hondo and Geech it became a commercial commodity. At the same time Fredericksburg turned from a historic and quaint community into a shopping mall. By turning the community into a commodity it generated other undesirable influences. A case of reap what you sew.
The lawsuits against locals using their own family name or businesses that have been using Luckenbach in their name for 150+ years is an atrocity.
Oh course I would like to see Luckenbach continue to promote local music and stay the same. But this is almost impossible given current growth and greed cycles.
Tejano