Devil’s Backbone Tavern is new again

As the song says: Everything old is new again.

And that includes the Devil’s Backbone Tavern.

New owners Robyn and John Ludwick and investor Abbey Road have big plans for the old tavern in Fischer. Over the years, the old buildings have served as a stagecoach stop, a Sinclair service station and, since the day after Prohibition ended December 5, 1933, a bar. For years, the tavern has been in a state of disrepair. Rusting vehicles littered the two-acre property and the dance hall became a cluttered storage area.

Robyn first visited the tavern when she was 17 and has had a soft spot for it ever since. “I talked to the owners and told them that I had heard they were going to put the tavern on the market,” says Robyn. “I told them I cared what happened to it.”

When the Ludwicks took over the tavern the first order of business was removing the piles of junk from the property. Dumpster after dumpster was filled with trash and hauled away.

But the junk was just the first step. The roof leaked. The wiring needed to be totally replaced. The walls needed stain. The floors needed patching. But the bones of the old place were in decent shape.

The sale closed on Aug. 20 and the bar reopened on Oct. 10. Robyn and John, who are both musicians, work there seven days a week. John often puts in 16-hour days. When they are not repairing things, they are helping the bartenders or cleaning up.

After the initial cleanup, the first big change was to ban smoking inside the tavern and dance hall. “We couldn’t even bring our kids in here,” says Robyn.

They took a little heat for that decision, but, says John, “the majority seem to like the change.”

They now have a tidy area outside by the old pit house where people can puff away under the majestic live oaks. The picnic tables in the smoking area were donated by a friend. Many members of the community volunteered to help with the restoration.

The Ludwick’s main goal is to keep the Devil’s Backbone Tavern and Dance Hall as authentic as possible. The sign out front is a replica of the sign from the old days. The faded beer signs on the walls of the dance hall are antiques. So is the dartboard and the lamp fashioned from a bowling pin.

Even the beer is a throwback. For three bucks a bottle you can get a long-neck Schlitz, Pabst Blue Ribbon or Pearl. For four bucks, you can get an “exotic” beer such as Dos XX, Real Ale or Heineken. During the week they offer $2.50 beer specials for the local customers who have been dropping by for years.

There’s live music on the weekends and word has been spreading that the tavern is back and better than ever. A show last week drew more than 150 people to the dance hall which is about all the place can handle. There’s no AC in the dance hall so, John laughs, “we tell people to wear shorts in the summer and wear a coat in the winter.”

Besides bringing the tavern and dance hall back to its former glory, the Ludwick’s other passion is Americana music that draws from numerous styles of traditional music. Robyn is a singer, guitar player and songwriter. John plays the bass guitar.

Top Americana acts will play the dance hall, but when there’s no live music, there’s always the vintage jukebox where songs are three for a dollar or 18 or five dollars. “That’s the best deal,” John points out.

A long shuffleboard table lines one wall of the tavern and plans are in the works for a dominoes night.

What does the future hold? Probably some food, maybe a food truck at first. There’s plenty of room in the old gas station that may work well for a general store featuring local products.

But, for now, getting the old place gussied up and getting the word out is job number one. “We’re not really changing anything,” says John. “We want people to be able to step back in time,” says Robyn, finishing his thought.