What could be better than a pleasant evening in the peaceful rolling hills of rural North Texas with great country meal cooked outdoors and then enjoyed in a rustic dining hall filled with antiques? How about finishing off the evening with a performance by the Quebe Sisters Band!
Branscome Hall hasn't become a household name across North Texas, but that could very well happen with more events like the one held in December in Blue Ridge.
Quarter Circle B Chuckwagon Dinner & Show put on two shows at historic Branscome Hall December 11 and both shows sold out.
Outside there was a canvas tent over the chuck wagon where dinner was prepared. It's hard to beat chicken fried steak cooked over an open pit with a delicious cloud of mesquite smoke permeating the air. All the guests milled around, chatting, taking photographs and warming by one of several fire pits.
Randy Branscome and his son, Aaron, converted a small country church on FM981 into a dining hall for regular music events. The hall is rustic with a lot of Randy Branscome's interesting collected "artifacts" and artwork, including a large barn timber-framed Remington-type painting in the background.
Randy and Aaron were all duded up, right down to a handle-bar mustache, britches, and suspenders busily preparing vittles for everyone. It was quite a festive, trip-back-in-time affair.
Randy lives next door in what used to be his dairy barn, and is now a loft, and his home. It's an incredible collection of antiques, floor to ceiling, every conceivable inch. Visitors just walk in for a self-guided tour. His wife Jan was there to greet them.
After a great meal and a wonderful evening in the country, the Quebe Sisters Band took the stage. Grace, Sophia and Hulda Quebe are remarkable fiddlers that sing softly blended three-part harmony the way only sisters can. Lovely and talented, the sisters are a wholesome breath of fresh air. But all five musicians in Quebe Sisters Band are gifted musicians.
Rhythm guitarist Joey McKenzie is a five-time Texas State Guitar Champion who also happens to be a three-time World Champion Fiddler. On bass is UNT grad Drew Phelps, a versatile performer who has played with everyone from Bob Hope to Jack Ingram.
Maybe the most amazing thing about the Quebe Sisters Band is that people around North Texas still have opportunities to enjoy a band with this much talent. QSB tries to play as many local venues as possible when they aren't touring.
If you are interested in booking the Quebe Sisters Band, email info@quebesistersband.com or call 817-875-6022.
Photos by Carroll Burgoon