The Incredible True Story of Dosey Doe, The Woodlands’ Wholly Unique Big Barn of a Music Venue

Originally slated to be a coffee house when it opened in 2006, Dosey Doe’s big barn owes its music venue beginnings to music legend B.J. Thomas, according to owner Stephen Said. But that’s only part of the fascinating true story of this one-of-a-kind multilevel music venue in The Woodlands area.

Said and his wife have owned the property since the 1970s, and wanted to open a coffee shop. They thought that having it in a barn would be a logical move for a Texas coffee shop.  After not finding a suitable barn locally, they turned to professionals.

“We hired two guys in Indiana whose job it is to find barns for people,”  Said tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “They must have shown us 40 to 50 barns before they had one that was promising.”

The Saids hopped a flight to Kentucky to see the promising barn.

The 165-year-old barn they discovered had been used as a bus repair depot for a local school district. After a dispute over a bridge repair between the school district and the barn owners, the barn fell into disuse. That disputed bridge repair made getting the barn disassembled and across a river difficult, but the barn was taken down, loaded onto a flatbed and trucked all the way to The Woodlands.

“My wife and I greeted the truck — and then realized we had to put it back together,”  Said says. “It took us two months to get the shell up and two years to get it fully operational with electric and plumbing.”

As a former lyricist, Said knew his way around the music industry. Once the barn was up, he suspected that the place had a special sound.

Sound engineers Said hired proved him right, declaring that the acoustics in the barn are superior. Those acoustics are what led to Grammy Hall of Fame inductee B.J. Thomas himself reaching out in 2007.

“I got a phone call from B.J. Thomas and I thought it was a joke,” Said says. “But he said ‘My voice is my instrument and I want to play in your barn.’ He said, ‘I’m going to be your best spokesperson.’ And that’s how we got launched as a great acoustic space.”

Thus the budding legend of Dosey Doe was born.

Why Dosey Doe Is No Ordinary Barn

The 300 to 600-year-old growth oak and birch massive beams of this Kentucky-transplanted barn are the foundation not only for a beautiful room for also for great acoustics, according to musicians who have played the room.

“The acoustics are incredible,” Lyndon Hughes notes. “It is legitimately my favorite music venue to play — and I have played hundreds. The sound system is world class as well. It just feels great to sing and play in there.

“I love the wood throughout the barn.”

Hughes is a Houston-based drummer, vocalist and sound engineer, formerly with Roger Creager and now with The Wilder Blue.

But playing in a barn isn’t every musician’s dream. Some artists are surprised when their agent books them into Dosey Doe.

“Janis Ian came in and she was NOT happy. . . she told us she was only doing it because she couldn’t get out of it,” Said recalls. “We were scared to death. But when she sat on the stage with her guitar, she was sold. She wrote every employee that was there that night a thank you card and gave them a gift.”

Dosey Doe is an intimate venue, seating about 420 folks, which makes for a personal experience for both musicians and the crowd.

“They are big enough to draw quality national acts but small enough that you can be just feet away from the stage,” singer and The Wilder Blue frontman Zane Williams says. “Some of my favorite memories are of totally unplugging from the sound system and doing a song acoustic in the room, hearing the acoustics ringing off that old barn wood.”

There have been some “cool nods” for Dosey Doe recently as Said puts it. After winning the honor in 2017, the big barn is again nominated for Best Venue by the Texas Country Music Association. The Country Music Association of Texas also will make Dosey Doe the permanent home for its Awards Night, starting in October.

And that coffee house dream? It’s still alive. Said still roasts coffee, and says that Exxon and Southwestern Energy buy his brews. The Saids also have a coffee house in Alden Bridge on Research Forest that’s open for breakfast and lunch too. Just don’t expect to hear anything but the radio.

You will get live music at Dosey Doe’s Breakfast, BBQ & Whiskey Bar, also on Research Forest. Yes, it’s about much more than just one spectacular big barn. Dosey Doe has grown.

Check the Dosey Doe calendar for upcoming shows. Dosey Doe — The Big Barn is located at 25911 Interstate 45.