Rock out on Rodick street in Bar Harbor Maine. On this episode, Lamont takes you to The Lompoc Cafe and The Annex, two awesome venues with totally different sounds.
Announcer:
Your road tripping to Americas best music venues with Kyle Lamont on this episode we veer off route one and visit Bar Harbor, Maine, an iconic town on Mount Desert Island. This is Concert Cast, the podcast Audio Atlas filled with music, maps, conversations and discoveries to help you navigate America's soundscape and tune into every state's live music scene. Concert culture is travel centric and every venue has a voice. So let us go and listen. Created and hosted by Kyle Lamont
Kyle:
To leave Ellsworth jump on Route 1A, a corridor of commercialism. You know the deal. strip mall fast food, another strip mall. And then you'll come to a fork in the road. Go left and you'll be headed down east and eventually make it to Canada. Go right. And you'll be headed towards Mount Desert Island known as MDI. And you'll eventually make it to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. I'm Kyle Lamont. And that's right we’re going right.
In the summertime while making your way to the island the smell of firewood from roadside lobster shacks will permeate through your window and you'll pass a small airport that services puddle jumpers and private jets. Ask any local about the time when President Barack Obama came to MDI. And their stories will inevitably start here. Why? Because it was absolutely bonkers. Miles and miles of traffic, helicopters, armored motorcades and Secret Service people everywhere. I've been commuting to the islands since about 4th grade. It started for early morning swim practices. And then as I got older, it was for waitressing. And now it's to produce local films and commercials. I can do this drive with my eyes practically closed. But it doesn't mean that I'm blind to the fact that it's pretty cool that I get to commute to an island for work.
One might expect a grand entrance to the 25th best island destination in the world. At least it is according to Travel and Leisure magazine. But nope, just a small little sign made out of granite. And I'd like to keep this in mind when traveling around MDI because there's only one way on and one way off. It's like an open invitation to get comfortably lost.
So now that you've made it to the island, well, you're going to need some jams and for that tune in to 89.9 WERU a community radio station based out of Blue Hill, Maine, that is always on and always far out and their award winning for their stellar programming. My favorite shows are Tone's from Home, a live show that features musicians from Maine and Da Vibez two hour block of obscure beat huggin electro and hip hop.
Radio DJ:
Alright It is community radio WRFM 89.9 Blue Hill W.R.U.O.R.G.
Kyle:
Sometimes after a long night of slinging lobsters, I would pull over on the Mud Creek Road in Lamoine, blast the music and dance under a midnight moon. Shout out to Sam West for making my drive back home from Bar Harbor. Way more fun.
Rusticators have been traveling to the island since the 19th century to revel in the beauty and boundless activities that are offered here today. The restoration continues, but in droves. On July 5th, 2019, a record 37,000 visitors came to the island. That's about the size of Cape Cod. The quaint town of Bar Harbor is experiencing over tourism, where travelers are flooding popular places and wreaking havoc on the local infrastructure underneath the picturesque landscape here. There's a housing crisis going on where people are buying up so many rental properties, which is jacking up prices and icing out locals. And the overbearing presence of monster cruise ships dropping anchor in a working harbor is, needless to say, distressful. However, I can tell you that there is a subculture here and so many hidden gems. When you look beyond the globe trackers and drown out the drama, this island is gorgeous and one of the most diverse places in all of Maine. In both nationalities and socioeconomics, there are students, scientists, Jamaicans, Ukrainians, film producers, TV hosts, fishermen, farmers, financiers, gardeners, photographers, artists and of course, musicians.
Ryan Blotnick:
I think when you're in New York, it's hard to find your inner calm. And when you're on this island, it's kind of all around. Like all you have to do is go for a hike. Even just talk to people.
Kyle:
That was Ryan Blotnick. He's a local jazz musician who scored the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House. I'll be hanging out with him when we head over to the quiet side of Mount Desert Island. And there are so many stories of musicians making a pilgrimage here, like Phish, who played one of their first shows outside of Burlington at the College of the Atlantic or Arcade Fire, who recorded their first E.P. in a barn in Southwest Harbor. Or even Bonnie Raitt, who played at a bar here called Jedi's, even though a majority of travelers and artists are coming here to explore the national park. It's only natural to seek out human connection, get a good bite to eat and listen to some local tunes.
And for that, you'll want to head to Rodick Street in Bar Harbor, a.k.a. Music Row, a term I coined just now because of all the awesome music venues and restaurants that line the street.
The Lompoc Cafe is halfway down Rodick's street, nestled in an urban garden. When you walk in your greeted by a large owl carved out of wood, there's a bocce ball court to your right and plenty of seating inside. It's very cozy. Ceiling to floor, pine wood and a low key bar. The place has garnered a reputation for having the best live music around touring bands play here as well as a bunch of locals. There are poetry nights and dance parties. It's small stage packs, a punch and you wouldn't think it, but the venue has come a long way.
Doug:
We bought this building was a rundown building on a side street and we've probably spent a lot more time dealing with the police with noise complaints.
Kyle:
That's Doug Mafucci. He founded Lompoc Cafe and without trying to also founded Atlantic Brewing Company, New England's finest craft beer maker. At first, Doug had a tenant in the space, but that only lasted for one year. Now, you know, the first rule of real estate is
Doug:
you don't use it, you lose it.
Kyle:
So Doug and his partner John decided to run the place for themselves.
Doug:
So our whole premise was like, we're not going to be serious, get it running, don't do anything big. Let's have beers that no one ever heard of food no one ever heard of. Have a little fun.
Kyle:
After just getting it running on the fly.
Doug:
It was an instant hit, this place. We had customers came in. What's this Lompoc place? What's this going on here?
Kyle:
The Lompoc is named after W.C. Fields movie.
Doug:
Oh, that was part of we first started out with the whole joke about it running this place for a year. Let's give it a name. We wanted to give a name that was not nautical or typical. And we sat in the corner there and just sort of had a couple beers and started thinking about names. And one of the buddies there, Dave, said he started reciting like imitating W.C. Fields. And he he said he knew the Lompoc Cafe was a W.C. Fields was describing that in some movie, The Back Deck. And we heard the name. We all started laughing. And since we all started laughing, I said, well, that's our focus group. We're laughing. It sounds silly. Let's call it that. And at the name, it's not mellifluous, but it sticks in your head. Lompoc, Lompoc. So it worked. I heard people in town saying all meet you at the Lompoc. We attracted sort of a bohemian clientele that wanted to hear different kind of music. And the musicians came to us. They started walking in and saying, we'd like to play this venue. It's a neat venue. We want to play here. It was simply a nexus of interesting bar food, interesting beers. And it brought in interesting music. And the clientele was already interesting. Got more interesting.
If you could fit us five piece band in there, which they did in a six foot by six foot space. You were welcome. And we had gosh, there were these Ukrainians who came into town for like three weeks and they were a really tight Ukrainian band. They were playing old, old Ukrainian favorites. I never heard, but they were wonderful and they packed it in here. We had people waiting on outside, on the street, listening to the music.
Kyle:
In a place like Bar Harbor it became the spot to be to sit down and talk about all that you've done during the day.
Doug:
They called it their third place. They where their whole vacation, they had outdoor activity, you know, lobster of dinner. Then come the Lompoc for music and hanging out.
Kyle:
And Lompoc proves that no matter your background, music makes people gather.
Doug:
Couple of guys, you know, insurance guys in their suits next to a guy who got off just got off work next to a Mason, next to a person on vacation who was, you know, director somewhere. And then just the mix and the conversations you hear, people would immediately interact with each other across every socioeconomic line you could imagine.
Kyle:
So they had the space, the atmosphere and the music. It was only a matter of time before the beer started happening.
Doug:
I went out to visit my brother and sister in law out in Seattle. Gosh, get. About 20 years ago, the ladies went out and my brother in law said, Do you want to go to a brewpub? And I said, What's a BrewPub? That became one more new layer of the Lompoc, you know, interesting beer, homemade beer, live interesting music, and it all tied together.
Kyle:
Eventually, Doug made the choice to focus on the beer and moved to a bigger location at the head of the island. Today, the owner of the Lompoc is James Pike. He prizes live music and has upheld the avant-garde atmosphere here. But Doug is never too far from where it all started.
Doug:
I love coming by here and seeing, you know, the night scene going on, the music playing and thinking that that just by some chance, 20 something years ago, we sort of evolved into this thing. And now it's an entity that just keeps on going.
Kyle:
And in essence, he created a notable stop on Maine's music map
Doug:
By having a good venue here, it actually encouraged venues to pop up along the way. And you had the sort of music trail you could go on vacation and see music along the coast of Maine every stop along the way if you're making that trip.
Meghan:
This place just feels really important to Bar Harbor because Bar harbor is becoming a little touristy. Day by day. And it's fun to find a place that's real and is really interested in the community and music. And we deserve to have an awesome year round music scene because we have so many really talented musicians here. And this venue is so awesome.
Kyle:
And that was Meghan. She's a local baker and bartender at the Lompoc. And Peter Nelson, a Lompoc regular says.
Peter:
I love it here. It's like actually the lights aren't on tonight. But usually when the lights are on in the garden, it's got this ethereal glow. You can see it from anywhere in town. It's like a cozy little bungalow. Everybody’s cool here.Yeah, its the place to be
Kyle:
And in a nutshell,
Meghan:
Lompoc is the only place on this island where you're going to get some good real rock and roll. Some real music that real people make that they put time and energy into thinking about not just some like cover music to make the audience happy or whatever, playing some Jimmy Buffet or whatever. This is some real creative artists who put their stuff together to perform for people who care and appreciate it.
Peter:
But they also have the prettiest bartenders in town. No question
Kyle:
The Lompoc Cafe is the last bastion for local subculture on Mount Desert Island. And in the summer of 2020, look for subtle change in pace. Pike is switching up the place a bit and turning it into a cafe and bookstore. The vibe will stay the same, but he's swapping out late night barflies for breakfast eaters. But don't you worry. There will still be live music. From the front door, the Lompoc. Please allow me to backtrack to Cottage Street, where I would be remiss not to mention the Criterion Theater. It was opened in 1932 by bootleggers. The Criterion is one of only two art deco style theaters in Maine. For years, it was the place to be to catch a vaudeville show or a movie or to get a drink and a former speakeasy. I've even heard that there are still underground tunnels. Over the years, though, the Criterion Star waned a bit and about a decade ago it actually closed. But in 2014, a non-profit bought the old theater and restored it to its former glory. Today, its interior still dazzles. Head there for a movie, or you might even catch an awesome concert by the Wailers or David Crosby or Arlo Guthrie.
Up next, we make our way to the annex, Rodick Street's newest venue.
Announcer:
A forger finds a family secret in the forest floor from producer Kyle Lamont and Director Jim Picariello comes The Mushroom Huntress, a modern day fairy tale made in me and now Desert Island. Good To Go Studios dot com to watch the trailer and more.
Kyle:
It's a tranquil winter day in Bar Harbor, but sort of eerie without the steady hum of travelers walking around a park in the vacant lot and ready myself to meet up with Jenna Young. She's the co-owner of Side Street Cafe in Thrive Juice Bar, together with her co-owner and husband, Jeff. They're repurposing an old house that was once a Mexican restaurant called Miguels's into a speakeasy style bar and venue called the Annex.
I see her in the middle of the chalky room from all the drywall and she's answering a text or email. I patiently wait and take in my surroundings while also trying to calm down a bit to me. Jenna is a triple threat and therefore a tad intimidating. She's a compassionate mom, an active community member, smart businesswoman, and very good looking. If you eat at Side Street Cafe, the restaurant she owns next door, chances are she's bussing your table and asking about your meal. An unusual practice from an owner. But for her, a way to stay connected to her town and in touch with both customers and her staff. It's this characteristic of her, though, that makes me feel less intimidated, because at the core of Jenna, she's a hardworking and humble Mainer. We talk about the bitter temps and then jump right into the tour.
So does this conjure memories for you being in the old Miguel's, which was a hot and happening place and just being in here in general, like, do you think of its past?
Jenna:
Absolutely. I thinks I'm so excited to bring life into this space and to make it something new. But honor what it was before and honor what people loved about it. People really loved a lot about the vibe of Miguel's and how it was welcoming. And you walked in and you knew people. And I feel that we've really created that at Side street. So I want this to be an extension of that. And the live music at Side Street has been great. But the space, it's it gets really chaotic in there. So I want to have something that's a more dedicated.
Kyle:
Are you more of the visionary that can like start seeing things and then you designate the work to Jeff? Or How does that work?
Jenna:
Yeah It's so the opposite. Jeff is a builder by trade. And so he sees things visually. He sees the space. But I am really I see the concept and I'll see the way people will feel or I will see the vibe I want to create. But he sees the walls and the floors and the space and where the tables can fit. And I have the hardest time visually seeing those things. It's it's completely like a major disability of mine. But we work well together because he's so focused on that. And I'm so focused on the environment that I want people to experience here that it ends up being a good match.
Kyle:
You just have a way with space, you know, like you took Side Street, which was an old house. You saw something there. I mean, what is it? Have you always been like that as a little girl, like always trying to one up or do something different?
Jenna:
I've always been obsessed with trying to improve year by year, day by day. Always be one step better. The biggest strength that I have when it comes to space is my husband Jeff, because he is the builder and he is the anything's possible man.Whereas I will look and say, but what if what if he says “no, we can help see a solution.”
And when he finally gets me on board, I look at the space and say, I can feel this. I can feel that people will appreciate this. It's serving a need in our community. And that's where I start to get motivated. So we don't start any businesses that are kind of played out. And we had the opportunity to open this annex and just very simply make it more side street seating. And I said that this town does need more side street. We've we've done that. Let's make this feel different. Let's fill the need of live music. Let's make this feel like a special space that does not exist.
So this has been a fun space to pull together because all of these beams or dark wood and the walls were pretty dark too. So simply the only thing we've really done in the space is paint it. And it feels drastically different. And then we have our stainless light fixtures coming in and different floors and all of that. It'll feel like a very great space. We think it's really important to make this space feel different and new because there's such this connection to what it used to be.
Kyle:
But they'll be honoring their predecessors.
Jenna:
Found old Miguels's margarita glasses in the kitchen and we'll pull those out and have that be image to the Miguels's before us.
Kyle:
And we were talking earlier just how Bar Harbor in general or the island sort of could be better at live music.
Jenna:
I have visited cities that do live music so well. You know, you go to New Orleans and there's live music everywhere. You have to try to not find my music. I think that we have some ordinances in our town that make it very difficult to have music and make it a deterrent for businesses to do so. They have to jump through quite a few hoops. And one that I personally disagree with is that you can't have music outside. And I think that it would be so nice to walk down the streets of Bar Harbor and hear different musicians on decks. And I can't imagine anyone would disagree with that. But I think some of these ordinances are put in place for the worst case scenario.
I'm all about creating the experiences for people and making it not just about coming in and feeding them, but really making them walk away with a memorable time.
Kyle:
A walk down Rodick Street is like scanning for radio stations. Each venue is like hearing a new genre of music.
Jenna:
We try to mix it up and bring in different types of music and be really clear about how. You know, you're going to hear something different. Pretty much every time you come in
Kyle:
And the stage is gonna be raised huh?
Jenna:
Yes, stage raised right back there. Not high. I mean, it's not going to be like you're looking up at it by any means, but a little bit of a dedicated space. When we don't have music, it would be easy to put tables there. And then when the music comes in, we can move them.
Kyle:
And that's great that you've already consulted with like two top guys in the island that know their music and know venues.
Jenna:
Yes. Yeah. They play all around. And they're people who have been there, musicians who've been so consistent for us and people who I think really understand what we are all about. And so I feel comfortable asking them those questions.
I don't want to put all this work into something. Then have a musician come in and be like, I can't believe they didn't do this. One simple thing that would have made it a better looking stage. So I love pulling the people around me who I can turn to for advice. And I do that all the time with both businesses, whether it be Staff or just associates that I know
Kyle:
Your associates…
Jenna:
My associates…
Kyle:
Because you are very much like, yeah, you're the queen of the island.
While standing in the middle of a construction zone, it’s hard to believe that in less than three months they're going to be serving the masses. The thought alone makes my blood pressure raise a bit. But Jenna has a very calm and zestful take on it all.
Jenna:
I am much better at managing my stress than I've ever been. Because we have pulled off the impossible so many times and I have so much faith in what Jeff can get done. It doesn't scare me anymore. But no, I for sure get stressed. I just can manage it a little bit better than I used to be able to. And I do my best to stay on track and recognized by our team around us is so strong
Kyle:
and so is their love for Rodick Street.
Jenna:
We love being on Rodick street for the people watching. And because you're in the heart of downtown, but you're not on the main street. It takes some effort to find us. But once they do, they feel like they found. I mean, Rodick Street is my favorite. Obviously, I'm biased, but such great, diverse food. And like you said, there's great music here. And I truly think it's the place to be.
Kyle:
I was so happy to be at the annex on opening night, even though it was a torrential rainstorm. It didn't stop Jenna and Jeff from opening their doors. The place went from chalky chaos to urban chic, and the Mallett Brothers band broke in the venue. They played under new stage lights, but it was really Jenna that was glowing.
The last stop on Music Row is Dog and Pony. A very fun outdoor dance club. It's at the top of Rodick Street. And this is where you raise the roof. Get low or skeet, skeet. Whatever the kids are saying these days. The Dog and Pony is where you go to let your hair down and dance with lobsterman and travelers alike. Sure, there are occasional brawls between the two groups of people, but basically it's not pretentious here. It's carefree and a wicked fun time.
The beauty of this island is all the many towns and how all different they are from each other.
Next episode we venture to the quiet side in Southwest Harbor to chat with Ryan Blotnick, a local musician who scored the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House.
Ryan:
There was other things where the key made a big difference, which in a way that I still kind of baffled by because I don't have perfect pitch and I hear things like pretty relatively but sometimes the difference between something being and B flat being and B was like major. You just feel like a different scene.
Announcer:
There are so many places to stay in Bar Harbor, but we recommend Emery Cottages. It's on the outskirts of town, but is a great home base for all your island ventures and your own private beach prefer to be in the heart of Bar Harbor. Then stay at the balance rock inn amazing views and a very cool happy hour by the bay. As for the restaurants, you really can't go wrong, good food everywhere. Type in Concertcast.live to build your own music centric itinerary and find us on Spotify to listen to our main music playlist. This has been a Good To Go Studios production created by Kyle Lamont. Max Hauptman is the story editor and Mark Tekushan and is our resident mastermind. Special thanks to Jeff Dobbs at Dobb's Productions. Doug Mafucci of Atlantic Brewery first time all those years ago, Lompoc Cafe and Jen and Jeff Young to Pepper Little, Abbey Rock Jessiman, Corey Chandler, Amy Charley, Emma Thieme, Eddie Contento, Jesse Couto and thank you for listening.