The Case Room grand opening Sunday

By Jenn Miori Hodges

Case Room owner

The Case Room, located in the alley behind Fiddler’s Green Music Shop at 108 N Main Street in Lockhart, opens on Sunday, Oct. 27. Hours are Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-midnight.

This bar is my love letter to Lockhart. I wanted to create a hideaway for grownups only, with the lights and music turned down low, and a good martini.

Music is my first love. My husband and I met at Fiddler’s Green Music Shop in Austin in 2009 when he was the shop manager there and I came in to buy a bluegrass guitar book. We moved to Lockhart from Austin in 2015 because we were drawn to its historic charm and wanted a slower pace of life for our family. It’s been so exciting to watch Lockhart grow from a quiet downtown square to a thriving town with a bustling entertainment district and vibrant community.

In 2020, we moved Fiddler’s Green from Austin to downtown Lockhart. The shop is now located in a beautiful, historic building on Main Street built in 1896. We’re an acoustic string shop, and all of the banjo, guitar, and mandolin cases were shoved in the back along with Ben’s luthier workshop.

We’ve always called that back room “The Case Room.” My favorite aspects of running a music shop are the events and bringing people together for an evening of music or jamming. One night after a great night of music at the shop, Ben and I were thinking about how crazy it would be to turn the case room into a bar. And the idea took off from there.

Once we envisioned a cozy cocktail spot back there in the middle of Lockhart’s entertainment district with an alley entrance to boot, we couldn’t unsee it, so we got to work!

I have always loved entertaining and feel like I’ve been gathering inspiration for this bar for years. I was in a touring band for many years, and I got to play country and bluegrass music in so many bars around the world. The Case Room is a culmination of all of my favorite things to find in a bar: cozy booths, plush bar stools, low-slung ceilings, old wooden floors, lamplight, killer cocktails, and a good jukebox.

The Case Room Bar will be a reflection of the same values (or obsessions?) we already hold to in our music shop. A love for history and tradition, the finest of materials and ingredients, and paying homage to the masters, may they be classic cocktails, or the old R&B and country artists who fill the jukebox. The menu features Martinis and Manhattans, along with a curated selection of house cocktails with a nod to country music.

“Speedy West” and “Lloyd Green” are named after famous pedal steel players, and the “Corn Pony” is a tribute to my honky tonk band Jenny & the Corn Ponies. The menu is also adorned with fine Italian vermouths, aperitivi, and amari, a salute to my Italian heritage. And no party of mine is complete without tiny ham sandwiches, so they’re on the menu too.

Lockhart has given so much to me and I can’t wait to give Lockhart another great place to go for date nights, meeting up with friends, or celebrating special occasions with loved ones. We’re going to have so much fun in here.