The Anniversary Party

Photos by Patrick Wall

Happy anniversary, Art Bar. You’ve been gracing the Vista with your colorful presence since 1992, and on Saturday we celebrate five years of live music in your hallowed, robot-flanked halls.

To those of you crying that you distinctly remember the Art Bar offering music prior to July of 2004, let us clarify: What this quinquennial celebrates is the fifth anniversary of the renovation of the Blue Lady Lounge — once Art Bar’s secondary stage but now its main one — upon which the Art Bar offers live music on Saturdays.

Andy Rogers, co-owner and general manager of Art Bar

“Five years ago, Andy Rogers called me and proposed doing [live music] on a Saturday night,” says Marty Fort, Art Bar’s booking agent. “And that was a big leap for them because as it stands today, Art Bar does everything from karaoke to poetry to dance to live music, but at that time, the live music was by and large a Thursday night affair.”

Indeed, Fort and Art Bar’s owners — Clark Ellefson, Jeff Helsley and Andy Rogers — have transformed Art Bar from the little dance club that could into one of Columbia’s most established live music establishments. And to think it was all due to some unexpected windfall from a snafu down the street.

In 2003, Marty Fort was in a bind.

The musician-cum-talent-buyer had lined up a series of Jam Room-sponsored showcases, replete with large corporate sponsors the likes of Jägermeister, at Senate Park, a music hall that once occupied the building at the corner of Senate and Park streets that now houses a Monterrey Mexican restaurant and a Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

But on May 31, the club, which had been operating at severe losses since its opening in early 2002, shut its doors. Fort went into damage-control mode.

“I was accountable to that,” Fort said of the showcases. “And I like to see things through.
So I had to quickly come up with something.”

Fort scrambled to find a replacement venue. He didn’t look far; Art Bar general manager and co-owner Andy Rogers and bartender (and then-booker) Tim Bedford agreed to take on the showcases.

“All we did was the festivals, and those were on Sundays,” Fort says.

Fort says Rogers and Bedford were accommodating and that the festivals and showcases went extremely well. But as far as he knew, that was the end of it.

Art Bar's Blue Lady Lounge by day

In July of 2004, Columbia’s bar scene hit a rough patch: The Elbow Room was long gone, Senate Park had been shuttered for more than a year and Sundance had recently rode into the sunset; the Lyons brothers had yet to re-energize the New Brookland Tavern; Five Points Pub was still years away.

To accommodate a scene that was starved for stage space, the New Brookland Tavern would often book two shows a day — one a matinee and one an evening show. Headliners was and is still a rather large and difficult room for most local acts to fill, and there was a rise of independent venues like The Boiler Room and The Art Garage. The musicians persevered as they always have, but Columbia was sorely lacking a space for the independent and in-between bands. And, outside of Headliners, few places in the Vista were offering such bands a space.

Rogers wisely observed a niche that needed to be filled.

“There was a void in the market,” Rogers says. “We were all too happy to rush in and fill that void. So I think we picked up some of their lost crowd.”

To be fair, Art Bar had a history of hosting live music, but only on sporadic Wednesdays and Thursdays. It wasn’t until July of 2004 that Art Bar began offering live music on the weekends; dance parties and DJ music filled out its lineup card. But according to Rogers, the dance scene was getting stale.

“To be honest, we’d kind of worn out the dance genre,” he says. “At the time, it seemed like there was a big decline in the dance scene in Columbia. And, to be honest, we needed the help; Saturdays were falling off the chart.”

The idea was simple: Low-admission shows featuring local and regional bands that started at a reasonable hour.

Robots line the wall of the Blue Lady Lounge

To fulfill that quest, Rogers and Ellefson remodeled the Blue Lady Lounge into the room it is today, replete with plastic robot sculptures and a stage backed by a wall of televisions. The Jam Room donated a bare-bones sound system. All the Art Bar needed was someone to book the bands. Rogers called Fort.

“We just decided that we needed somebody who was a little more connected to the band scene,” Rogers says. “And Marty was a good fit.”

“I was kind of blindsided they asked at all,” Fort admits.

Fort confesses that he wasn’t sure that the great Saturday experience would last a year, let alone five. Indeed, Art Bar’s initial offerings had primarily been acoustic troubadours and the occasional fock act. But Fort concentrated on upping Art Bar’s cache by bringing in regional acts — especially Athens bands. Art Bar’s formed quite the Athens connection over the years: Elf Power, Venice is Sinking I Am the World Trade Center, The Woggles and a host of other Athens-based acts have been frequent weekend guests at Art Bar.

“Up to that point, I think a lot of people were willing to dismiss us,” Rogers says. “I mean, we were one step above a coffeehouse. But by bringing in some national acts and some hard rock acts … we expanded.”

That’s not to say it’s always been smooth sailing.

“Sure, we’ve had times where we’ve gotten close [to losing live music],” Fort says. “We’ve definitely come close. But we’ve been able to vary it up enough to where it’s righted itself.
Indeed, Art Bar used to host music on Wednesday and Thursday nights in addition to Saturdays, but those dates eventually dried up. Fort says they just didn’t make the bar enough money.

“I think Thursdays are hard anywhere,” Fort says. “Even playing at the [New Brookland] Tavern on Thursdays is tough.”

“It’s a business,” he adds. “But some good things came out of it.”

The Thirsties (Blue Lady Lounge, April 11)	This Machine is Me (Outdoor stage, July 4)

Things, Fort says, like the wildly popular Mr. B’s Goodtime Karaoke Explosion and the now-defunct iPop!, which have helped Art Bar get through some “dry spells.” Fort also has a few other hump-busting tricks up his sleeve; special events like the Crooners and Swooners specials and various tribute shows have also helped shatter slow goings. But Fort’s careful to keep up the commitment to original music.

“If you look up at clubs in Charlotte that were doing original music, they’re doing tribute bands three out of four weekends,” Fort laughs. “And I don’t ever want to become that.”
“I’m always very aware of the numbers,” Fort says. “I’m not just doing this as a goof.”

And Art Bar’s persevered thanks in large part to one simple edict.

“Marty, from the beginning, emphasized to me that we needed to treat the bands as partners,” Rogers says. “It’s a reciprocal deal. We try to establish a relationship with them. Because the reality is that we want them back. We want people to want to come back and play.”

“We treat bands very fairly,” he adds. “I’ve heard horror stories about … other venues, and I hate to say it, but I think that one of the things that helped us is [some people] were screwing bands over so much. I mean, we would have bands that would come in and they’d say, ‘Wait a minute, you’re going to give us some free beer and we’re going to get the door and we’re going to play on a cool stage in front of a bunch of TV screens?”

“And we have air conditioning!” he laughs.

And the air conditioning isn’t the only thing that keeps Art Bar cool; its interior décor is bright, colorful and quirky, and unique unto itself.

“That’s all Clark,” Fort chuckles. “He wins awards for a reason.”

“Clark’s concept was he wanted a bar with a dance floor attached; he didn’t want a dance floor with a bar attached,” Rogers says. “And we’ve done the same thing with the bands; we don’t want to be a stage with a bar attached.”

The fifth anniversary is the wooden anniversary, but instead of getting a gift of cedar, they’re getting a gift of concrete: plans are in place to replace Art Bar’s current stage — a rickety, makeshft stage comprised of three planks of wood — with one made of solid concrete. (Art Bar’s public address system, Fort and Rogers say, is also in line for some upgrades.) It’s a sign, Fort says, of Rogers’ and Ellefson’s commitment to continuing the Art Bar’s growing tradition of live music.

“In the past 12 months, [Ellefson and Rogers] have become more committed [to live music],” Fort says. “They’re great people, and they’re committed to it long-term.”

It’s that type of commitment — to the bands it hosts and to upgrading itself — that places Art Bar among Columbia’s premier venues. In its five years of hosting regular live music on Saturdays, it’s become an anchor of Columbia’s club scene. Since 2004, clubs have opened (see: Wet Willie’s) and clubs have closed (The Boiler Room), but the heart of live music in the Vista beats safely and soundly at Art Bar.

The Art Bar has long been considered a hallowed haven for the Columbia’s hipster elite, but once it got into the live-music game it took a strong foothold on Columbia’s party scene.
The Art Bar has undergone a nightlife renaissance, if you will, and the reintroduction of live music to the club’s weekly offerings was the veritable storming of the Bastille that ushered in its revolution.

And it’s not going anywhere, says Rogers.

“We’re very much looking forward to being in the music scene for a very long time.”  

Let us know what you think: Email music@free-times.com or editor@free-times.com.