The Grapevine Cafe, Booze, and Rock 'n' Roll

An article about The Place in Nashville's The City Paper mentioned Elliston Place's long forgotten '90s hangout of mine, The Grapevine Cafe. How I forgot about it, I can't figure. I was there to hear The Wooten Brothers regularly before it closed and 3rd and Lindsley got the opportunity to host their funky jams on a weekly basis. My buddy Chris and I drank many beers there and took any number of short-term girlfriends there during our brief stints of twenty-something coolness.

Me at my foggiest, using-parking-meters-as-walking-sticks period was also a proud supporter of my city's Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies as they played so regularly at the small digs of The Grapevine Cafe. I remember them as such a great Black Crowes-ish jam band. Of course, they had to jam well to make up for the absence of a lead singer who would tend to show up 30 minutes or more after official start time. (This reminds me of a time at the club next door when a band started over an hour late. I asked the record label rep who had given me the free ticket what the hold up was. He replied with a smile and a shrug and the words, "rock 'n' roll." That was reason enough. I smiled back, took another swig from my beer and waited patiently for The Tragically Hip to take the stage.)

I ran with a beautiful, blonde rock 'n' roller at the time who was enamored by the Wheelies...so much in fact that she ended up dating one of the musicians. There's something about losing a girl to a rocker with long hair and a guitar that just doesn't hurt at all; I mean, aren't we non-musicians supposed to lose girls to these guys? It's when we lose them to equally non-cool guys that it makes us question why. Anyway, they had their on-again off-again relationship, which coincided with our off-again on-again relationship. That's another thing about losing a girl to a musician -- they're bound to piss them off at some point.

Anyway, I have great memories from The Grapevine Cafe flooding back to me tonight. The location has housed Empress Chili, Sherlock Holmes' Pub, Piranha's Bar & Grill and is now home to Aladdin's Hookah Lounge (I hear there are bellydancers for your entertainment!). Rock 'n' roll.