At Lowbar
“Dave and I’ve hung our shingle on beer and rock ’n’ roll and good instances,” says Mike Grimes of his longtime enterprise associate Dave Brown. With the duo’s newest venture, opening this week, it appears there’s a brand new shingle in East Nashville, and it is held on the identical basis.
On Friday, Oct. 11, the crew is opening Lowbar at 917C Woodland St. The identify, Brown says, is a reference to Sluggish Bar, their former 5 Factors bar (later dwelling to three Crow Bar, and now Buds & Brews) that reworked each the East Nashville neighborhood and the Nashville dwell music scene between 2000 and 2003. However it’s additionally tongue-in-cheek, as a result of Lowbar is on the decrease stage: a bar under The Basement East. (Brown and Grimes are co-owners in The Basement and The Basement East. Grimes additionally owns Grimey’s New & Pre-Cherished Music.) “It’s a nod to our historical past and a precise description of what it’s.”
Inside Lowbar
Till now, the area that’s opening as a 285-person bar had served completely as storage for the venue upstairs. The 2 had hoped to develop as a strategy to generate extra income in area they already occupied. However doing so was not permitted till an relevant parking mandate within the East Nashville neighborhood was rescinded. As soon as that they had the authorized go-ahead, they began planning a spot meant to be for neighbors, as their initiatives traditionally have been.
Lowbar, which they’re cheekily billing as “East Nashville’s solely domestically owned underground dangle,” will provide patrons of reveals at The Basement East an possibility for ingesting and consuming on-site earlier than the live performance. They’ll then be capable to transfer upstairs for the present with out going again exterior and ready within the entrance line. After the present, they’ll head again downstairs for extra revelry, together with dancing, karaoke and occasional post-show hangouts with the musicians who’ve been performing upstairs. As well as, Lowbar can even be open as a neighborhood bar with good drinks, music and food-truck eats for individuals who aren’t planning to catch a present at The Basement East. There’s additionally a 40-seat patio for sipping cocktails exterior.
Lowbar might be open Sunday by Wednesday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Thursday by Saturday 5 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Patrons with tickets to reveals at The Basement East will be capable to transfer freely between the 2 areas.
At Lowbar
The oldsters behind Rosemary & Magnificence Queen, together with Jim O’Shea, Matthew Bell and Andrew Mischke, developed each Lowbar’s eclectic nostalgic aesthetics in addition to its drink menu, the latter in tandem with venue supervisor Phil Simpson. Whereas, sure, you will get a Jack-and-Coke on both stage, the vibe is completely different at Lowbar. The menu features a collection of elevated takes on the Paloma, three cocktails on draft, wines and extra. New meals truck JaQ Rabbit Slims might be stationed by the door for wings with home made sauces each day from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. (Empanada purveyor Chivanada will now not be in entrance of The Basement East.)
Inside Lowbar
The vibe, Brown and Grimes say, is Saturday Night time Fever meets Cheers. Partitions are adorned with pictures of 5 Factors through the years, providing a historical past of East Nashville. There’s fake stained glass, purple lanterns and a neon signal. The 900-square-foot area has snug cubicles, pool tables, darts, room for dancing (a DJ will present music for what Grimes calls “a superb late-night dancing vibe”), a VIP room and karaoke.
Brown and Grimes had been satisfied of the recognition of karaoke after an worker vacation occasion the place workers did karaoke for 4 hours straight. Staff instructed them there weren’t sufficient locations on the town the place “common folks” might dance and sing karaoke, so Lowbar plans shifted to satisfy demand.
Grimes acknowledges that there’s numerous competitors today for bars, eating places and music venues, so having the ability to welcome of us to Woodland Avenue for a couple of hours earlier than their present at The Basement East might be welcome extra income. However greater than that, he says, it will likely be enjoyable: “We do know curate good instances upstairs and downstairs.”
