The first Sunday in October was overcast with the type of
constant drizzle that outlasts the stamina of most folks and by nightfall a
serious damp had crept into the atmosphere, turning the prematurely fallen
leaves into mounds of asthma-inducing clutter. The Patriots had sustained their
first loss of the season and many folks had already retired to the warmth of
their dens, couches and favorite chairs to escape into Sunday Night football.
But a steady flow of patron’s into downtown Amherst’s longtime mainstay
latenight bar, The Pub, didn’t seem to notice the foul weather or foul mood of
New Englanders across the area.
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| Fans check out Outer Stylie |
If it was a
bad night for live music, someone forget to tell Nate Martel, a local
axe-shredder and live music promoter known for his psychedelic wall of guitar
noise. Martel was leading the band on stage as well as the hopes of the
audience, and his efforts were not going without reward. Having wrapped on a
longtime stint as the leader of a Sunday night open mic at Sunderland’s
“Snowzee’s”, Nate and compatriot bass player Tom Shack had scoured the area for
a new venue to bring their inherited Sunday night crew. Just another in a long
line of casualties in the war on live music in the Pioneer Valley, the
ownership at Snowzees had recently changed hands. With the changing of the
guard, the lights went down on Martel’s long-standing showcase.
But AJ
Jolley, owner and general manager of The Pub, had recently parlayed with Martel
and Shack and with the mutual goal of providing the local music scene with a
positive and regular outlet, they agreed to revive the Sunday Night affair on a
long-term basis in a new location.
“There’s
just nowhere to play in Amherst,” AJ opined as the band was running through its
first jam of the evening.
“I just
want to show people that live music can work in Amherst, and we think we have
the right place to get it off the ground.”
He isn’t
wrong. On either account. Amherst-based musicians have struggled for many years
to implement a thriving showcase in any number of local would-be venues. But
often town bylaws calling for low decibels after certain hours, along with
other declarations of minutia from Town Hall and the Zoning Board have made it
extremely difficult for venues to keep a consistent schedule of live local
music. The difficulties plaguing Amherst’s local music scene have been well
documented. In the 2000’s, Amherst Brewing Company carried a live music
calendar for some time but eventually even ABC was forced to pull the plug as
dwindling attendance and constant heckling from town administration made it
hard to afford and more trouble than it was worth.
Nate Martel
and Tom Shack’s lineup tonight is a stripped down version of their psychedelic
blues and hard driven, up tempo rock outfit Outer Stylie. And at this point,
they’ve both become a constant presence in the local music scene. Finding a
place to perform on a consistent basis is a blessing and one they hope will
start to spotlight once and for all the power of live music in the Amherst
area.
As more
local music fans began to pile onto the Pub’s central dancefloor, the band
responded by bringing more musicians to the stage. First Tuba player Jay
Witbeck and Guitar aficionado Dan Thomas of Primate Fiasco and then elusive
saxophone player Bob Moriarty joined the group. Upon taking a break, Martel
announced Wildcat O’Halloran would be sitting in with his band’s next set. It
became quickly evident that fans have been clamoring for a local spot to
showcase the music scene. And by all appearances, the Pub will be filling this
void nicely.
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| Local Music Fans show their support |
The battle
for local artists not only to find venues but all manner of distribution outlets
for their sounds and scene has been a struggle for several decades now. The
five college area, seemingly so conducive to the idea of live music venues, has
been plagued by false starts and predictable failures over the past 20 years. In
2012 a proposed music venue in the Hampshire Mall was dead on arrival. Hadley,
well known to be more accommodating to new business ventures, seemed ready to
take on the addition and Hampshire Mall officials were on board as well, but an
11th hour loss of funding caused the management group to crumble and
effort faded. The Quarters, another Hadley-based venture has appeared to be on
the verge of opening a vintage video arcade/ bar and grill which has long
promised live music to a be a large part of their vision, but their Facebook
page has published a number of pushed back opening dates and the doors remain
locked. The result is that talented musicians have been forced to take their
show on the road, causing Amherst and the surrounding towns to lose out on the
economic stimulus, tax revenue and third party vendor sales associated with the
operation of a fully functioning rock club.
For now,
with bands like Outer Stylie and the highbrow funk and R&B sounds of Full Spectrum Dominance, a group that features
Darby Wolf of the successful nationally touring dance-rock troupe Rubblebucket
and Ryan Hommel of the Grammy-Winning Seth Glier Band, The Pub is poised to be
the shield for the local music scene whose heritage continues to be undervalued
by those unwilling to take a closer look- or listen. And for the musicians in
the area, it’s a welcome port in the ongoing storm.
