After 13 years of bringing live concerts to West University, Coffee House Houston will launch its latest season of shows at a new location in the Heights this week.

Beginning this Thursday, March 19, Lambert Hall will be the new home for the nonprofit’s bi-monthly concert series. For more than a decade, Coffee House has done pay-what-you-can concerts at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, rounding up Southern singer-songwriters like Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Alejandro Escovedo, Radney Foster, Dale Watson, and others.

“We didn't think anybody would come and dig it,” says Coffee House president/creative director Pete Owens, “and fortunately, 13 years later, people are still supporting us through, basically, donations.”

Owens, who runs the operation with his wife Donna, says they had a nice setup over at St. Andrew’s, with its family room setting and built-in sound. But changes the church was going through prompted them to look elsewhere.

“They're having capital campaigns, building new buildings, and we lost parking,” he says. “So, we decided we wanted to be free from a church and we wanted to be in a normal building. Oddly, this used to be a church.”

Built in 1927 as the first permanent sanctuary for Heights Christian Church, Lambert Hall eventually became a performing arts venue, complete with a basement tavern where people can get German beer on tap. This is all thanks to the Houston Saengerbund, a local musical society (their website refers to them as “Houston’s Best Drinking Club with a Singing Problem”) that’s been around since 1883.

“Our mission is to promote German music, language, and culture and share it with Houston,” says Saengerbund president Rodney Thorin, “and part of that is to make space available for organizations that might otherwise not be able to have a place to perform.”

Before Coffee House made the move, they did a December show as a test run. Says Owens, “We invited, I think, 75 people, just to try out the sound and the room and getting people in and out, and that kind of stuff, right? Because my wife and I had never run anything here before. And everything went great.”

John Paul White (formerly of the Grammy-winning folk/country duo The Civil Wars) will kick things off on Thursday night at 7:30 pm. In the coming months, performers will include Marshall Crenshaw, Mike Stinson, Kevin Russell, and a jazzy holiday show featuring the David Caceres Orchestra in December. They’ll even debut a comedy night in July with comics Andy Huggins and Bob Biggerstaff.

Thanks to a welcoming Lambert Hall, Coffee House Houston will continue its mission of giving Houstonians affordable live music.

“We love live music,” says Owens. “We have to have it. It fixes us. But it gets more and more expensive every year, depending on where you go, right? Even if you go to the Mucky Duck now, you can spend $85 for it. So that's what we want to counter here. People can come; they don't have to give anything. They're welcome to come in. We do have a donation box. Some people give 10 bucks, 20 bucks – it's all worked out. We have sponsors to cover the rest of the costs, and we curate the music.”

Coffee House Houston 2026 Concert Schedule·

• March 19 — John Paul White
• May 21 – Marshall Crenshaw (and band)
• July 16 – Comedy Night with Andy Huggins and Bob Biggerstaff
• Sept. 17 – Mike Stinson (and band)
• Nov. 12 – Kevin Russell (of Shinyribs)
• Dec. 10 – Holiday Big Band with The David Caceres Orchestra