Dwane Hall receives the 1918 Ameripolitan Award from Ray Benson (left) and Dale Watson.

Twelve years ago, playing the Sportsmen’s Tavern in the Black Rock section of Buffalo was a less than glamorous gig. This was a long and narrow old bar, dimly lit, with a front window looking out on Amherst Street and its uneven flow of traffic through this mostly lower middleclass neighborhood. The dark brick spires of the Assumption of the Blessed church loomed in the east beyond Grant Street, dwarfing the rows of two-story homes. At night, the stray cats came out, along with many of the local denizens looking for some action.

The Sportsmen’s Tavern was it, with good live music most nights and an owner, Dwane Hall, who grew up in the area, knew most of those night people, and treated them fairly so long as they didn’t cross the line. I should note here that Dwane, a stout ex-Marine and prominent country-western musician, had a very effective way of dealing with the ones who crossed him. There was never any doubt as to who was in charge.

Dwane Hall also had a larger vision for his little bar and the recording studio he owned next door. He’s a home boy, and there was never a plan to uproot his family. Instead, he was determined to not only improve his personal businesses, but also to promote a hip scene that just might make the whole neighborhood seem more attractive and accessible to people from all over Western New York and Southern Ontario. He explains, “I really wanted to do something to make people want to come here, and I believed that good live music was the key.”

Although Dwane grew up and went to school in Buffalo, he spent most summers and holidays with his uncles, aunts and cousins in Gowanda. Thus he was no stranger to the city, the towns, or the countryside, where he worked the vineyards, baled hay, and dug all kinds of vegetables. Gowanda was also where he got his musical start as a teenager playing in a country band with his uncle and cousins. “We were called the Circle D’s,” he explains, “because all our names started with D.” He was performing in the bars in the rural regions of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Erie county before he was old enough to be in them legally.

Maybe it was because he grew up with so many older siblings and cousins that Dwane Hall did not lock into traditional schooling. He dropped out of Riverside High School his junior year and later enlisted in the Marines. But he would never really leave home — his heart belonged to Denise Masset, whom he would marry right after boot camp when she turned eighteen. After a three-year stint with the Marines, Dwane returned to his wife in Buffalo and resumed playing country music.

With drummer Randy Bolam, Dwane founded Stone Country Band in 1974. For the next 10 years the band made a living playing music at venues across the region. During that time was an 18-month stint playing weekends at the Red Dot Bowling Lanes in Sheridan. Dwane and Randy were mainstays of the band that featured singer Carl Eddy and pedal steel player Rich Kilmer from Stockton. They also occasionally featured Kenny Roberts, who claimed the distinction of being the “World’s Greatest Yodeler” and wielder of the “World’s Smallest Harmonica”.

“That was a great gig, but with some scary drives in the winter,” says Dwane. “The people loved the band there, and we were always treated well by the owner, Dick Foti.” He recollects one trip when his singer didn’t show up until late. “His car had overheated on the thruway, and when he went to check his engine, there was big old owl with a mouse in its beak stuck dead on his front grill!”

Dwane bought the Sportsmen’s Tavern in 1985 and managed it himself while continuing to play and sing with Stone Country. (The band would later be inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.) Eventually he built a stage near the bar, and soon the club became a live music venue that attracted a lot of different kinds of groups. It became an eclectic scene, one that offered a mixture of music genres, including blues, jazz, and folk. During that time Dwane also founded Sessions Studio in the building next door, which fostered great interest in original music.

In keeping with his Black Rock and red neck roots, Dwane has always been a fan of NASCAR racing. In 2001 he created the prototype for what would become the NASCAR Membership Club. But as the new millennium progressed, he dedicated himself more to his dream of creating a greater venue that would serve multiple roles in support of live music in Buffalo. In 2013 Dwane established the Buffalo Americana Music Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of Americana music.

Over the past decade, Dwane, with the help of his three sons Jason, James, and Jeff (Circle J’s?), business pal Ken Biringer, and a host of dedicated friends, has implemented a renovation plan and booking strategy that has turned the little bar on Amherst Street into arguably one of the best live music scenes in the country, bringing to Buffalo the top talent in Honky Tonk, Outlaw Country, Western Swing, and Rockabilly music. Add to that regular performances by some of the best local players — Mr. Conrad, George Puleo, Bobby Parker, Joe Baudo, to mention just a few — and you have the recipe for a vibrant live music scene.

Along with the expansion came numerous awards and honors. Locally, Buffalo Spree magazine designated the Sportsmen’s Tavern as “best live music venue.” The club has won The Buffalo Music Awards “Best Eclectic Music Venue” several times. Most impressive is the club’s 2018 Ameripolitan Award for “Venue of the Year.” Dwane received the award in a ceremony at The Guesthouse at Graceland in Memphis. “That was just totally cool,” says Dwane. “What an amazing place, and it’s right down the street from Elvis.” This year Dwane had the honor of presenting the 2019 Ameripolitan Award at Roberts Western Saloon in Nashville.

Dwane is proud to note that it’s not just his business that is doing well. The neighborhood has seen numerous enterprises develop in the area, including the Wegman’s plaza, Fretless Buffalo, Allentown Music, and Mama’ Canteen; it seems that Black Rock really is rockin’!

I asked Dwane about what he thinks is the key to the success of the Sportsmen’s Tavern: “What’s most important is not the music itself, but the way it is presented, and received. That’s what makes us different. We offer audiences an up close and personal experience with the musicians. You feel like you are in a place with a high bar, but there still is that human touch. And the musicians feed off that. It’s definitely a win-win situation.”

I believe I speak for many music lovers — performers and listeners alike — in expressing concern over the future of live music, especially with regard to the effects of technology. This is an age when human interaction has been largely relegated to a dependency on “devices” and remote communication. The real-life, physical connectedness among us seems to have become something to avoid. Music, perhaps more than any other art form, will lose its magic and mystery if it becomes dehumanized — if the artist is removed from the listener. Digital programming has already “perfected” so much of the creative process that listeners often don’t really hear it. No one speaks, no one listens.

Such is not the case at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, where hundreds of folks gather throughout the week to hear excellent music performed by talented individuals. What has evolved through Dwane’s dream, beyond the venue itself, is an understanding of the power of music to not only entertain us, but also to lift us collectively, perhaps even spiritually. The Sportsmen’s Tavern is indeed a community.