Club Review--The Culver Saloon

Tomm Carroll
(3/31)

Yee-Ha! Folks hankerin' for them thar days when Culver City was a cowboy town are advised to gallop on down to The Culver Saloon, which features Country & Western-style rock, swing and folk nearly nightly in a roadhouse atmosphere.

The Buzz: One of the Westside's best kept secrets. A small, unassuming Country club, the Culver Saloon has rustled up quite a scene for the cowboy-and-girl crowd, ably filling the void left when the great Palomino club in the Valley had to be put down years ago. This place is happenin'.

The Roots: Formerly the low-key (and low-rent) Country music bar and dance club called the Culver Cowboy (and decades before that, it was Archie's sandwich shop!), the moniker change to Culver Saloon a few years ago was followed by a live music booking policy favoring name acts of local and sometimes national persuasion.

The Look: Suburban saloon. A low-ceilinged U-shaped room with paneled walls decorated in a wide array of western imagery -- from horse shoes to pictures of the Duke. A partial, presumably weight-bearing wall separates the seating area from the long bar, while the stage platform up by the entrance is corralled off by wooden railings. It all has the down-home feel of your Texan uncle's remodeled cellar.

The Crowd: Mixed-aged cowboy casuals, country-rock fans and locals pack this place -- especially on weekends -- to dance to the live sounds and show off their western-style duds -- from cowboy hats and fringe jackets to tie-dyed denim blazers with sequins and cowgirl boots. Celebrity Sighting: Local rockabilly chanteuse Melba Toast and her 10-gallon bouffant hairdo were spotted sipping on a longneck Bud back by the pool table one recent Friday night.

Where There's Smoke: Outside in front of the club. Chewing tobacco inside is still okay, however, so beware of second-hand spit.

On Tap: Nuthin.' Bottles only, like Corona, Heineken and Rolling Rock (a club fave), along with Budweiser and Coors and their respective Lights. Guinness Pub Draft in a can ($5) is your best beer bet. Full bar service is also available -- for those who wouldn't two-step to Charlie Daniels without two shots of Jack Daniel's.

The Sounds: Live bands Wednesdays through Sundays, virtually all of them immersed in or influenced by Country music. From Country rock and blues (the Witchitas, Jon Burton Blues Deluxe Band) to Western swing (Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys, Lucky Stars) to rockabilly (James Intveld, Ramblin' James & the Billyboppers) to alt-country (Buck Sawtooth, Cousin Lovers) to singer-songwriters (Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts), The Culver Saloon's basically got the genre covered.

Club Facts: The Culver Saloon, 11523 Washington Blvd., Culver City, 291-1519, live music five nights a week, 21 and over, cover varies.