Whiskey Scars, Bobby Bare Jr., and Son Volt

Tuesday night was terrific…Ron and Paul on the town again!

It’s good to be retired and out on the town…not having to worry about “tomorrow is a work day!” God, I hated that and am so thankful things worked out so that I have this free time. Time to enjoy my favorite’s in concert even during the week! All the free time I can stand right up until the end of my time.

We hit the ground running, charging up the hill from the parking garage to the back door of the Downtown Grill & Brewery and into the restroom. The twenty minute ride into Knoxville is sometimes uncomfortable with bladder urges in check until the last step before the porcelain bowl, and you almost think you’re going to lose it before the horse is out of the barn!

We passed on through the Brewery and out on Gay Street and headed for The Old City and The Crown & Goose. We looked over the menu, but decided to get a sampler each of their most popular micro-brews!

Having sampled the beer, surveyed the waitresses, and taken a few snaps, we were off in reverse direction to the Brewery. We took the high-top table nearest the door, ordered White Mule and Downtown Alt (for me), and watched the evening’s dinner traffic come and go. Ron ordered their famous burger and I sampled the “fish & chips” and washed it down with two more micro-brews! Mighty tasty grub!

We then made our way over a block to Market Square, where we intend to take in Robert Earl Keen with Jypsi next week at the Farmer’s Market.

We decided to have a Sierra Nevada and a Yuengling at the Preservation Pub before making our way on to the Bijou Theatre, and enjoying our evening with Bobby Bare, Jr. and Son Volt! You’ll notice I took a bar shot and a couple from the bathroom! Ron said, when I finally came out of the restroom, “I was wondering what was taking you so long when I saw the flashes coming from under the door!”

The walls of the pub was also festooned with hilarious photo art with words of wisdom from little known’s like “Whiskey Scars” to Tom Waits!

I took a few existing light shots of the bands to post, and one three shot merge I made of the inside of the refurbished theater. It is about a third the size of the Tennessee Theatre, but a beautiful place just right for small bands to spread their early wings. Don’t laugh at the name Bobby Bare Jr. either, because Ron and I were wonderfully surprised at the great music they presented to us. The band is made up of all Tennesseans, Bobby, of course, the son of Bobby Bare Sr., lives in Nashville, the horn section was from Oak Ridge, the drummer was from Mt. Juliet, and the bassist was from Kingsport - just hometown boys, and one girl, doing well!