The
Musican Story
The
Musician pub in Leicester is one of the best
small/medium music venues in the country. Not
bad for a place that six years ago was abandoned
and derelict.
The
Bakers Arms, as it had been since being built
around the turn of the century, was a central
Leicester community pub serving the inhabitants
of the terraced houses that clustered around
it. Time and social change had not been kind
though. First the community vanished, then
their houses, to be replaced by offices, car
parks and light industrial units. By the late
1990s it was empty, derelict and unused.
Enter
local property developer Jim Kelly, who had
a vision of a chain of music pubs across the
country, all called the Musician. Six months
and much money and refurbishment later the
Bakers Arms opened as a music venue with Nicola
Turner as licensee, featuring in the main tribute
and cover bands with the odd local artist thrown
in for variety. Sadly lack of experience meant
that, although the venue was a great space
for music it struggled financially and it's
future did not look good.
Across
town, local music promoter and record label
head (Rideout Records) Darren Nockles had a
problem as his main venue, the Royal Mail,
was about to close to make way for new office
development. With his Rideout partners Dawson
Smith and Paul Allatson he recognised the Musician's
potential, started to promote there and the
Musician was reborn. Sadly Paul died in 2001,
and Dawson moved on to other things around
the same time, leaving Darren in sole charge
of the music.
A
glance at the November 2000 flyer, some six
months after he started to promote at the Musician,
is instructive. There's music every night of
the week, with a range of local artists, some
blues and some folk/roots, but it's the country
and Americana performers that catch your eye.
Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary, Sid Griffin (Long
Ryders, Coal Porters) and his new venture,
Western Electric, and Nicola favourites Tandy. "I've
always been an Americana fan" says Darren, "from
Neil Young to Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons
to Guy Clark, through the 1980's New Country
movement, particularly Steve Earle & Dwight
Yoakam, who in turn led me on to Hank Williams
and George Jones."
The
new Musician flourished as an intimate space
(120 capacity, though it was a bit snug when
full) that attracted a huge range of performers.
It's renaissance coincided with one of those
blips in popularity that country and Americana
music experiences from time to time in Britain,
and pretty much anybody who was anybody played
there at least once.
As
time went on though it became clear that the
small size and lack of facilities were restricting
what could be put on, for practical reasons
(some bands simply wouldn't fit on the stage),
financial issues (the cost of putting on some
bands was too great compared to the audience
that could be accommodated) and simple oversubscription
(the venue couldn't accommodate everyone who
wanted to see certain artists). So in 2004
plans were put in place for the next big change.
This was a major expansion to increase capacity
to 220, provide a better stage, a proper dressing
room, better toilets, a seating-cum-chatting
area well away from the music, a new PA system
and purpose built sound desk.
The
old Musician closed it's doors for the last
time on 31 December 2004, after a New Years
Eve bash where staff, performers and audience
alike made a valiant effort to make sure that
not a drop of alcohol would be left to remove
the next day! During the next month basic work
was done, including adding the new toilets,
and doing the groundwork for the extension.
It reopened on 1 February, actually smaller
than before because of the toilet repositioning,
and live music continued unabated until May.
Recalls Darren "It was a pretty stressful time,
constantly working in a building site managing
the project, at the same time as doing all
the promotion work." Work continued apace though
and in May it closed again for four days to
allow the old building to be knocked through
to the new extension, the new entrance and
sound desk added and everything readied for
the grand re-opening, which also featured a
new purple look outside!
Despite
some inevitable teething problems, particularly
with the sound, and equally inevitable audience
nostalgia, the unanimous verdict was that the
new Musician was a vast improvement that still
retained the character and atmosphere of the
old one. The famous mural along one wall has
been extended and the feel of the space is
the same. The range of artists presented has
grown dramatically though, with numerous sold
out nights, including a particularly heaving
Laura Cantrell gig last year.
Unlike
many other venues, the Musician's sole raison
d'etre is music. It doesn't open during the
day and it's position means that it will never
attract passing trade. Everyone associated
with the venue is steeped in music. From Darren
and Nicola (both of whom act as sound engineer
as required), Malcolm the main sound man, Ken
on the door and Dan and Andy behind the bar,
everyone is a hard core fan and/or a performer
of some sort. Apart from the usual posters
advertising forthcoming events, the walls are
lined with framed and signed photos of previous
performers. Jay Farrar, Eve Selis, Laura Cantrell,
Gretchen Peters, the list is endless.
There's
still a big focus on local talent though, including
the regular Monday night acoustic club sessions
(run by Andy from the bar) and opportunities
for support slots on the major tours that pass
through. And local talent makes good too. Liam
Dullaghan, who used to work behind the bar,
was there for the Ryan Adams gig and played
him one of his songs in what passed for the
dressing room in those days. He is now one
half of alt.country act The Havenots, who are
two albums into a critically acclaimed career.
Darren's
aim has always been to create "a Borderline
for the Midlands", taking as his template Barry
Everitt's acclaimed London venue. He sees the
Musician as a work in progress. "It's about
80% there now", he says, "the PA and staging
are sorted, but I still need to improve the
seating, make little tweaks to the facilities,
add a bit here and there." Such is his passion
for improving the whole Musician experience
for performer and audience alike that you suspect
he will never actually be finished
Over
the years Darren has put on thousands of acts,
but some gigs stick in his memory. Ryan Adams
is one. "He had a classic rock and roll rider
- a bottle of vodka and 40 Marlboro Lights!" he
recalls. He'd had his lyric book stolen the
previous night and that day he wrote in the
venue and performed that night, a song called "Dear
Thief" which has never appeared anywhere else. "A
unique moment" says Darren. There are still
a few holes he'd like to fill though. "A
secret warm-up gig for Emmylou Harris would
be nice, or perhaps Richard Thompson."
Venues
like the Musician and people like Darren and Nicola
play a key role in keeping the music alive, providing
a great space for performers and audience alike,
giving exposure to new artists, many of whom progress
from small support slots to major headliners. Long
may it continue to flourish.
Jeremy Searle
Jeremy
Searle is a regular contributor to Maverick
the U.K's leading monthly, country, roots and Americana
magazine. This article was first published in the
April 2006 issue of Maverick magazine and is reproduced
here with thanks. |