Armadillo World Headquarters proprietor Eddie Wilson opened the original Threadgill’s on New Year’s Eve 1981, exactly one year after the demise of the famed Austin music venue. The Depression-era building previously served as local country music figurehead Kenneth Threadgill’s gas station and beer joint from 1933 through the mid-Seventies. Ex-bootlegger Threadgill obtained the very first beer license in Travis County when Prohibition ended. Janis Joplin performed at open mic hootenannies there in the early Sixties before decamping to San Francisco. These days, the Southern-style restaurant maintains its musical legacy by hosting bluegrass, jazz, and country artists during the Sunday brunch hours.