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Work up a mean, mean thirst with Old 97's, Brent Best and a star-studded Twilite Room second anniversary weekend

We were first introduced to the Twilite Room in January 2013, when a site plan and a specific use permit turned up without warning on a City Plan Commission agenda. What caught us off-guard were the names attached to the Elm Street bar: Musician and Hardline producer Danny Balis and Slobberbone guitarist Jess Barr, who, we soon discovered, had been hatching their whiskey scheme since 2010. The Twilite officially opened in June 2013, just as Deep Ellum was on its 395th rebirth. And if you're not yet convinced it's one of the best bars in town, it's only because you haven't been to the Twilite.

"I can't believe it's already been two years," says Balis. "It's ridiculous. It's flown by. We started at a grassroots level. We didn't have a legit sign out front for a long time. It's been a slow burn but the trajectory has been up and up and up. There's never been a slow month. There's never been a month where we went, 'What did we do?'"

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Perhaps they will ask that question at some point this weekend -- say, sometime around dark-thirty Saturday night, when Slobberbone frontman Brent Best and the Old 97's take the outdoor-patio stage (the former a 10:30; the latter, 11:30). Expect a packed house and a long line -- first-come-first-served, one-in-one-out, y'all best be patient.

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The second-anniversary festivities actually begin tonight and run till damned near first-thing-Monday morning. The complete, all-star schedule is below for those to like to plan their hangovers ahead of time.

Funny thing is, back when Balis, Barr and I talked about the Twilite back in 2013 they weren't planning on doing many live shows. Said Barr at the time, hey, "if it happens three times a month or just once a month, great." To which his partner added, "I never want to have to fill a calendar and worry about booking bands just to have live music."

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But that changed pretty pronto. And it's not just, oh, Americana or indie rock. That's too obvious in a bar owned by a King Buck and a Slobberbone. Shelley Carrol's jazz band has become a Twilite fixture; so too Dave Washburn's Three Quarters Fast Jazz Band. It's very much in keeping with Balis and Barr's original dream of making the joint feel "a bit old Hollywood, a little New Orleans, a run-down European hotel lobby."

Says Balis now, "We realized being in Deep Ellum people expect that to a certain degree, and every band that's played here - and I don't know if we got lucky --- but they say it's one of their favorite rooms to play. And it sounds great, which makes no sense because we don't have a professional, high-end PA. But it does."

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Maybe the second Twilite Room will too.

A spinoff's no sure thing; far from. As Balis reminds it took three years just to find the Elm Street spot -- and back then, Balis and Barr weren't even considering Deep Ellum. But two years into their run, they're considering a second location -- because, well, why the hell not? Only, there's no rush. Far from it.

"It took us two years to find this particular space we fell in love with, so I don't know why we wouldn't want to wait," Balis says, ticking off the possible spots. "Lower Greenville? Could work, but the occupancy there's starting to fill up, and rent's double what it was a few years ago. Oak Cliff, west of Bishop Arts? Little Forest Hills? The Cedars is always a possibility. And Lake Highlands is staving for something like this. Your usual suspects. But it has to make sense economically. And, it has to have the right vibe."

See ya tomorrow night. Here's your schedule.

Friday (Doors open at 4 p.m.)

Indoor Stage:

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10 p.m.: The Naptime Shake

11:30 p.m.: American Werewolf Academy

Saturday (Doors open at 3 p.m.)

Outdoor Stage:

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10:30 p.m.: Brent Best

11:30 p.m.: The Old 97's

Sunday (Doors open at 1 p.m.)

Outdoor Stage

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8 p.m.: Chris Johnson (of Telegraph Canyon)

9 p.m.: Quaker City Nighthawks

Indoor Stage

11 p.m.: Hamell on Trial