The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe has been a staple in Galveston since 1996. Owner Joel Mora, who took over in 2017 from long time owner Rex “Wrecks” Bell, has long been dreaming of doing something bigger for music on the island.
This weekend the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe will host its first ever Old Quarter Songwriter Festival featuring three days of music with performances sprinkled throughout downtown Galveston at venues within walking distance from one another.
The festival kicks off today, Thursday, November 13 for VIP ticket holders who can attend the legendary open mic night at the cafe that evening as well as the launch party at the Naked Iguana Brewery.
The kick off party will feature performances by The Waylanders followed by Two Tons of Steel and Naked Iguana has created and canned a special craft beer for the Old Quarter Songwriter Festival.
The next two days and nights are filled with performances from over thirty artists including Jesse Dayton, Shake Russell, Kevin Anthony & G Town, Possessed by Paul James, John Moreland, Alex Maas from The Black Angels and many more.
The festival links up events at Naked Iguana along with The Proletariat, The Old Quarter and The Scottish Rite Theater.
“Hopefully this is the first not the last,” says Mora, who hand-picked the entire lineup and is particularly excited for the songwriting workshop hosted by Adam and Chris Carroll. “I went a little big the first time,” he admits. “I just always wanted to do it and I’ve been threatening to do it the whole time we’ve owned the Old Quarter so I just finally pulled the trigger.”
Mora and his team were able to take the leap with a grant from the Live Music Society, an organization dedicated to helping protect small venues and listening rooms across the United States.
For the Old Quarter Songwriter Festival Mora also teamed up with Art Downtown in Galveston, a like-minded organization focused on supporting and nurturing the arts community on the island.
To plan the festival, Mora counted on the countless contacts he has made through booking the Old Quarter and got to work. He intentionally set out to highlight local talent while featuring some out of towners as well.
He describes his long term vision of hosting a festival partly as an outlet for his love of music, but also to help push Galveston further into the limelight as a musical city and destination for fans and artists alike.
Mora, who has been a musician for over twenty years, identifies a recent uptick in support and nourishment of the musical community in Galveston. “For me this is the first time whereI’ve seen that there are several people trying to bring original music to the island. There’s always been cover bands but now there are several people that are bringing great original music to the island so we are just trying to help grow the scene and make it a touring thing for bands to come through Galveston and give them places to play.”
Though Mora now owns a place for bands to play, he used to be on the other side of that equation, playing gigs which sometimes included The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Mora first played there in 1998 with a punk band he was in, explaining how contrary to what one would assume, it has been a great spot for punk bands to play throughout the years. “Everybody has said it, when you walk into the Old Quarter, there’s just something there that is magic or a ghost,” he explains.
When asked how he came to take it over his response is a laid back sense of disbelief. “It’s weird, it doesn’t really make any sense. I don’t know, sometimes I don’t think it’s real.”
Bell, who passed away just this month, previously owned the original Old Quarter, located in Houston and famously known for Townes Van Zandt’s widely regarded live album recorded there. Mora describes hearing that Bell wanted to close the Galveston club and he decided to send him an email expressing his interest. To his surprise, Bell promptly responded and took him up on his offer.
“I didn’t want to change anything,” he says. “That was one of the selling points for him. I didn’t want to change the venue, I just wanted to keep it going and the changes I’ve made have just been to improve it. There’s people that still think Rex owns it, they didn’t even realize it changed hands.”
At the festival this weekend Mora and his team, which includes his wife Angela, will preview the trailer for their documentary on the Old Quarter that is in the works. Mora describes how finding footage and stories from the Houston location has proved to be harder but finding artists touched by Bell’s legacy and talent are easy to find.
“His passing has really shown what an impact he’s had on the songwriters in Texas and beyond because the memorials that are coming in, it’s just wild. Everyone has a story about meeting him and about how he was just so welcoming and he always made you feel like you were at home at the Old Quarter.”
The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe Songwriter Festival will take place from Thursday, November 13 to Saturday, November 15 in Galveston. For more information visit oldquarteracousticcafe.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.