If you've ever wanted to own your own piece of the Austin legendary music scene, now's your chance.
The popular venue The Parish, which has been a Sixth Street mainstay for years, will soon be up for grabs on eBay. Doug Guller, CEO of the venue's parent company ATX Brands, said the auction will begin Friday at 12 p.m. CST.
“It will be a 10-day auction and at the end of it I hope we have a new owner of The Parish that’s an excited fan of music,” said Guller.
Guller said the sell will include all intellectual property, furniture, fixtures and equipment -- including a new Nexo Sound system. The venue has two full bars, a walk-in cooler, a private office, central air conditioning, and two green rooms.
The headliner green room itself includes a bathroom and a shower, which Guller said is pretty unique in the live music area. In all, he said the venue adds up to about 5,300 square feet.
"The winning bidder is going to get the opportunity to do what they want with it, but it’s my hope that it remains a live music venue because, you know, that’s one of the main reasons I decided to move to Austin 12 years ago because of its rich culture, and I’d hate to see that go away," said Guller. "I hope that I’ll be three for three in finding good owners of the venues."
Guller said ATX Brands, which used to own Austin's Scoot Inn and the Schroeder Hall about two hours from town, recently decided to sell its three live music venues to direct focus toward its many restaurant properties. Scoot Inn was sold to Austin events promoter C3 Presents.
ATX Brands hopes the sell of The Parish returns a similar result as the sell of Schroeder Hall, which was also conducted through eBay in April. Guller said the dance hall was purchased by widow Linda Krause, who had been going to the venue since she was a kid -- and later on with her late husband.
"I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of Austin’s music scene for the past eight years with Scoot Inn and The Parish, and I hope that there’s someone here local that has a similar story to Linda Krause," Guller said.
The Parish also predates Guller's time in Austin. He said the venue started out as a place in the late 90s called The Mercury. It was later renamed to The Parish when the owner of a downstairs Cajun restaurant decided to keep with the Louisiana theme, where counties are called parishes, and rename it. It's stuck ever since.
He said whoever becomes the highest bidder will become a part of a legendary Austin venue.
"A ton of notables have gone and played at the Parish, from worldwide-known artists to local residencies like Shakey Graves or Leon Bridges or Fastball," he said. "A pretty wide genre of music has played at the Parish, and I think that’s what makes it so special."
Raoul Hernandez, the music editor for the Austin Chronicle, said The Parish is one of the only music venues on Sixth Street to have live original music played by bands.
"I think it's important that there's the opportunity for them to discover something a little more than a cover band," he said.
See the eBay listing by clicking here.