News - The Happy Out Irish Band from San Antonio, Texas

We’re on Instagram Now!

Well, it finally happened. We caved to the pressure and started an Instagram account. We can only post so many flyers on the pub wall, and apparently “just come to the show” isn’t a valid social media strategy in the Year of our Lord 2026.

So if you’d like to see photos of us looking slightly bewildered under stage lights, the occasional video of Klaus mid-solo, and updates about where we’re playing next, come find us at @the.happy.out.sanantonio on Instagram.

We’ll be posting gig updates, behind-the-scenes nonsense, and whatever else strikes us. Give us a follow, and we’ll give you something to scroll past between cat videos.

Sláinte! 🍻

Happy Birthday to Us

Today marks a momentous occasion: it has been four years since The Happy Out’s current incarnation played together for the first time! Our first performance for the new version of the band was at The Black Potion, a similarly new board gaming tavern that was also getting started around the same time. Big thanks to Enrique for letting us stage our debut there and drown out the sound of rolling D20s in the main room for a bit! (I think we’ve still got that banner tucked away somewhere!)

We had a great time playing together publicly for the first time, and were abuzz with excitement as we parted ways after the show.

As Klaus drove away, he saw this over the site of our debut. It was surely a sign that the luck of the Irish would follow The Happy Out in the years to come. (Or that God would never destroy the band with a flood.)

Happy Out Filling In for Brian Ralph This August

Our good friend Brian Ralph usually holds down Friday nights at The Cottage Irish Pub, but this August he’s handing us the keys for a couple of evenings. We’ll be filling in for Brian on Friday, August 14 and Friday, August 21, both starting at 6 PM.

Expect the usual mix of Irish tunes, pub songs, and whatever shenanigans we get up to. As always, there’s no cover charge — just come ready for a good time.

So if you can’t make our regular Sunday gigs, here’s your chance to catch us on a Friday night instead. Sláinte!

Great Show and a Proposal!

The craic was mighty at The Cottage this past Sunday. Not only was it the last match in the World Cup, and not only did we get a flood of requests from the crowd, but after crooning Willie’s “Can I Sleep In Your Arms?” to his girlfriend Alex, Klaus got down on a knee and proposed. She said yes — and Blair and Sean eventually forgave his use of a country song instead of an Irish one.

Big congrats to Alex and Klaus!

The Happy Out at Wavemaker Studio

This past Thursday night, we had our first recording session at Wavemaker Studio with John Pollock as our recording engineer. As you can see, we had a great time laying down tracks for some of Blair’s newest tunes, I’m Gonna Drink and Gotta Hit That Road, as well as a new recording of that ol’ crowd favorite 3 Sheets to the Wind. John is terrific to work with, has a really enjoyable studio space to work in, and no shortage of entertaining war stories to share.

We’ll be working with John over the next few weeks to get these streaming ready. (There have even been whispers of a CD for those who like to own their music or who don’t have enough coasters.) More news to come — sláinte!

Sign up for the Newsletter!

Want to know when our shows are each month? Need to keep up with our latest merch offerings and other band news? Keen to learn some Irish history along the way? Can’t get enough of Irish toasts and dad jokes?

We’ve got the solution to all of your problems! The Happy Out newsletter is going to press! It’s published once a month, with all of the gigs and news from your favorite Irish pub band and a little tilly thrown in for luck. Sign up here!

No Show This Sunday — World Cup Takes Over!

Hey folks — just a heads-up that our regularly scheduled show at The Cottage this Sunday, July 5th, has been preempted. The Cottage will be showing the World Cup Round of 16 matches that evening instead.

Sunday’s World Cup slate includes:

Spain/Austria vs. Croatia/Portugal — AT&T Stadium, Arlington — 2:00 PM CT
Brazil vs. TBD — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford — 3:00 PM CT
TBD vs. TBD — Estadio Azteca, Mexico City — 7:00 PM CT

With matches running right through our usual 5–8 PM slot, The Cottage will be all football all day. Sláinte to the beautiful game! ⚽🍻

We’ll be back at The Cottage for our next scheduled show on July 19th. See you then!

Fajita Fund-Raiser Sunday

Hey friends! Please consider coming out to The Cottage Irish Pub this Sunday, June 28 for a fajita fundraiser for Daniela Rodriguez. Daniela is the wife of Taco, one of our favorite barkeeps at The Cottage. She’s facing a long regimen of cancer treatment, and this is one way her community is supporting her.

We won’t be playing, but there will be a DJ outside, and possibly live music inside a bit later. The fajitas start flying at 3:00pm!

Our April Schedule

Howdy, friends! Just a note that, in the wake of our (very) busy March, we’re going to be taking it easy during April. The only chance you’ll have to see us perform will be on the 19th, and that will be only Blair. Come give him some love at The Cottage Irish Pub, 5:00-8:00pm. We’ll be back to our usual routine in May. See you then!

The Happy out on KSAT TV

Among all of the other great things we’ve got going this St. Patrick’s week, we were honored to appear on a “Foodie Faceoff” segment recently that featured our pub home, The Cottage, and Gina, one of its owners. It’s a great segment, and we got to be musical background, on-screen band, and Very Hungry Patrons. See the whole segment right here!