There are two Coor’s Light beer cans on the top of The Vinyard Restaurant. This Bristol, VA restaurant closed their doors for business last night and someday, someone will be on that roof and wonder how those two cans got there.
I wasn’t involved, but I watched them catapult about 20 feet above the high roof and skate across the gravel on top. My gear was loaded in the Jeep and most everyone had left and the spring breeze over Bristol conjured memories of nights on the coast. It was a great show for The Reagan Bogg’s Band as we turned a corner, initiated a new bass player and added a few songs to the set list.
I was glad it wasn’t raining too. The weather was gorgeous in East Tennessee on Friday, April 14th and I left work a bit early to beat the guys to The Vinyard for what could be our last performance on this stage.
Earlier in the week, I received an email from one of the songwriters performing there and they broke the news The Vinyard was closing. Sure enough, Joy Rudder and her staff decided to let the liquor license run out and the doors were closing Saturday.
The original owners created a re-known Italian family restaurant in this location and for several years it served more music and had very little live music. I was kidding with Greg earlier that I did play a couple of gigs here during this era on Valentines and New Year’s with Kevin Adams.
The Vinyard decided to make some changes because the economy changed them. The mall used to be the hot-spot in Bristol, but that was before ‘Exit 7.’ Now this part of Bristol is kind of like a back alley, but Joy Rudder took over the building three years ago. She is a well-known caterer and she had high hopes for the building and its potential. She loves music and recognizes good talent too.
She’s had a lot talent there over the years and I enjoyed playing with Kevin Adams, Reagan Boggs, Greg Smith and Richard Houser on this stage. Rob Russell and The Sore Losers, Old Crowe Medicine Show, Virginia Ground, Drivin, CattleAxe and several other artists performed here, but evidently it wasn’t enough to keep it alive. Tonight’s crowd was so-so for the last night or last gasp, but that’s just part of the history of this building as it morphs from this to that.
I’ll admit I was surprised by some of the cars in the parking lot that night. a BMW, several imports and a pickup truck with Virginia tags that had a bleached blonde 40something in between two rogues and a large sticker on the back of the cab that read ; AK-47. Your guess is good as mine.
Nevertheless, we were excited to play the last night and Greg, Alan and Jason joined me for dinner and we were set up early enough to enjoy some time with our regular fans, Rick, Lenny and Kevin Jackson, Rhoda Gamble and Debbie Price, wife of our new bassist Jim.
We’ve been rehearsing with Jim for a couple of weeks now and he’s done a great job learning the songs and adding a full sound with his instrument and background vocals. Jim is a full-time musician recording regularly at Maggard Sound Studios in Big Stone Gap and was Reagan Boggs first engineer to record with her while she was with the band Carbon Blue.
Earlier in the week, I had bought a new hat from Dad’s Hats online. Alan has been wearing his gaucho and a baseball cap with regularity and I was ready for something new. When we played at the Down Home, their guitar player had a pretty cool derby, so that inspired me to get one of my own and it was hat night at The Vinyard! Jim had a baseball cap, Alan with his gaucho and me…with a derby. Nothing quite like the thrill of something new…
The sound check sounded good and it was about 9.00 when we hit the first notes of our set and it sounded better than ever. I suppose the extra rehearsals and the embarrassment over the the last time we played kicked something into gear and all the songs sounded great. Jim’s full bass tone and his deep baritone voice added a nice element to the mix of songs. I had a great time too on the new cover of Alison Kraus’s ‘Atlanta’ – I cooked up a pretty cool Rhodes sound and it was a thrill.
Reagan’s performance was one of the best that I’ve seen from my side-car on the stage. She seemed to be having a great time and was she actually dancing during the new song, Dancing Girl?
As I mentioned, it’s always great to see loyal fans and I need to buy all of them a beer next time because they’ve been good to me. As I mentioned Lenny was in the house and bought me a cold New Castle and it was good to see Jeff Malone with his daughter Audrey. I can only imagine what she thought of the middle-aged piano player with a derby and cigar.
I was very surprised in our break to meet Alan Gamble’s father, Bill and his wife.
For some reason, I’ve never connected Bill and Alan together. I was kidding Alan earlier that perhaps I recognized him for his own ingenuity. It was extraordinary to meet his father, whom I ironically mentioned earlier on my blog because he’s a jazz legend in this area who will be appearing with Charlie Goodwin and Rick Simerly at Milligan on Monday.
Bill is a tall man and was well-dressed. He has an ideal smile and strikingly intelligent. We talked a little about jazz and I shared with him my love for cuban music and how hard I’m working on understanding the clave.’ I’ll probably never forget his short-impromptu suggestion. He said he learned to play latin by memorizing the phrase – “A Shaaaave and a Haircut …two bits!” (emphasis and slide on the a in shave). This probably means nothing to most readers, but if you’re studying music, latin has a different syncopation than western music and I’m still trying to absorb it, so that was a cool lesson.
Our extra rehearsals paid off and Jim’s addition is a treat. His wife is charming too and we look forward to a great series of concerts over the next several weeks as we tour North Carolina. We also paid close attention to the changes in between songs and things seemed to be more enjoyable tonight for everyone.
The last night at The Vinyard was memorable. I’ve enjoyed playing this stage on many occasions and I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before live music will once again appear on this stage. It wasn’t that long ago that Kevin Adams and myself played a improv-jazz gig at The Vinyard in front a big clock. The past few year’s I’ve performed with Reagan there with many folks in the crowd and know that it’s a great place.
After our last gig, I was discouraged. It’s not like me to be so extremely critical, but my playing sucked. I can’t let that happen again. I’ve been playing music for more than 30 years now and it’s the one thing that comes natural to me. It’s not something I do for money (although that comes in handy), but rather for the love of craft. Music has a way of lifting us away from our concerns and I feel blessed to consider myself a minstrel. It was in Knoxville that I mentioned to someone that being a musician is part mystic, part pirate and part gypsy and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
So good night Vinyard. We’ll see what happens next. It was a cool night of music with the band, a warm spring breeze in East Tennessee, a good cigar and Thelonius Monk in-between your parking lot and my driveway. Can’t wait to see what happens next.