Learn history and hear stories about Maine's most remote music venue from the owner, bartender and local historian.
Announcer:
You’re road tripping to America's best music venues with Kyle Lamont on this episode we're at Maine's most remote music venue, Eureka Hall.
Concert Cast the podcast is an 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:
Hi, I'm Kyle Lamont. I'm with Ben Cosgrove, and we're in Aroostook to county in Northern Maine.
Ben and I have been passing the time before his gig with a snowy stroll in Stockholm. And then we made a quick jaunt up to the origin of Route 1 in Fort Kent, Maine. We're now in route back to Eureka Hall, where he's performing later tonight. Ben has traveled all over the country as a solo musician and also as a keyboardist for The Ghost of Paul Revere. He plays and writes modern instrumental music about landscapes and just like being drawn to geography. He's drawn to playing in nontraditional venues.
Ben:
I think my best shows happened in like living rooms or bookstore, like places that aren't laden with, like history of like other musical things happening there. Like I do a lot of work with national parks and conservation organizations. And so I end up playing in places that are like not quite like I'm the first musician to ever do anything like that, a little bit more like play anywhere.
Kyle:
What do you mean, like at a national park?
Ben:
Yeah and I've done a bunch of artists residencies with National Parks, National Forests and worked with the National Scenic Trail for like the last year and a half. What I like a lot about those relationships is they kind of inevitably result in me playing music and a bunch of places that don't usually have music. When I was working with the White Mountain National Forest, they had me run around, play like I played in a bunch of like day care centers and elementary schools. And I played in the prison in Berlin twice. And I played in a town hall, in a church basement and private home. I worked for the New England Trail and they had me play in the library and in a brewery and in a professional conference for conservationists.
Kyle:
So you like the untraditional venue?
Ben:
Definitely. I think it's much more fun because everyone is equally surprised to see you there.
Kyle:
Which is Eureka Hall in a nutshell. You're surprised that anyone is around because this region is so far removed from the rest of the state. But I think that the journey to get here is partly why Eureka has garnered such a cool reputation for being one of the best places to see live music in Maine.
Well, what are your thoughts on Eureka as as a venue?
Ben:
Aw man, I love it. The first time I played there is like five years ago. I think it's been around for maybe eight years. But you should ask George about that. I don't have the hard data, but I like it a lot because it's. Especially in the winter, like you get all these people kind of from all over who have come up here to like drive around on machines and things. It's also it's like the only it's the only kind of public house for a while in any direction. So people kind of like the first couple times I came here, no one knew or cared who I was, but they came out anyway because it was like. This person from Massachusetts drove up here to play music. We should go see what the hell that's about.
Kyle:
Can you speak on just the interior of the venue slash restaurant, just from a literal standpoint? What is it look like to you when you first walk in?
Ben:
It reminds me a lot of a place near where I grew up called Harlow's, which is where I played a bunch of my first gigs. It's like there's a lot of everything's made out of wood. It's very like warm and cozy feeling. There's not an obvious stage like you like musicians kind of set up in a corner. Everybody seems to know each other, which is a rare and special thing. I mean, it can fit about 70 people in that bottom room, I think. And oftentimes there are 70 people.
Kyle:
And so for me, like it's like when I walk in, just the essence of the building makes me feel like I'm supposed to hear maybe country music or rock or, you know, something of that genre.
Ben:
Yes.
Kyle:
Just is part of the way we pair a space with the music that's supposed to play there. Right. And that's sort of the fascinating feature of a venue, is sort of the music that's supposed to be there or what its purpose is. But you're playing tonight. Yeah. You're you're deviating from the stereotype.
Ben:
I don't think so. I think, like, the great thing about your Eureka, they really do a little bit of everything like they've committed to earlier. I like I don't know if you met Travis Cyr. He was there today. He'll be there tonight. I think he does a lot of the booking for Eureka. He's a musician or up here. He founded the Arootsakoostik Festival, which you saw a couple T-shirts. I think advertising it happens up here every summer. And I think there's there's a general commitment among the Eureka people and Travis and everybody to kind of like bring all types of music from, however far away maybe to the people who live up here. It's you know, there are many places for it and there's plenty of people willing to make the trip, especially because, like, Eureka, that goes out of its way to be so good to musicians. The first time I played here, I was immediately made to feel as though I was part of a family. And I know I think it behooves venues to treat musicians that way like I feel I would play here for free. It's a purely joyful experience. It's not like we come up here to try to get a record contract or anything. It's like. People come because they like listening to music or people book us because they appreciate music. It's a rare thing and it's especially special in rural places like this.
Kyle:
Well, you know, not to be cliche, but part of the fun is the journey. Right. And Eureka is an expression of discovery. Right. And so, yeah, it really feels like that when you get to this venue is, you know, four hours later, you're at this very cool spot.
We roll into the parking lot and the building is a glow with lights and warmth. Ben jumps out to regroup with Max, who's co headlining with him tonight. I park in between two snowmobiles and then head inside. Sort of crazy, right? Parking in between snowmobiles. I mean, come on, first impression of the venue is cozy. There's Pinewood everywhere and you can feel the history as well. White twinkling Christmas lights are strung up and old photos of the town adorn the walls. I head to the bar, belly up and ask for George, the owner. He comes out from the kitchen and after lighting up a shot of alcohol, apparently a new type of drink they're offering here and downing it with the bartender.
He asks me what I would like for supper because, oh, by the way, Eureka is not just a great music venue. It's also a fantastic restaurant that offers contemporary twist on pub fare, a major departure from meat and potato meals that this region is known for. I order Oysters Rockefeller and Pad Thai. George tells me that once the show's over, we can talk more about the venue and I can already tell this is going to be a fun conversation.
The venue fills up with diners and concert goers. Ben and Max Garcia Conover a Portland folk musician who's sharing the bell with him tonight. Take the stage. They are doing a round robin set and even jamming together on certain songs. Ben opens up, as he said he would earlier with his song Montreal.
[Music Plays]
Kyle:
He's such an awesome performer. At times it's like a bonafide rock show. People are bobbing their heads, smilin, really feeling it. I even noticed the bartender, whose name is Ezra, bouncing to the rhythm as well.
Ezra is from the area and started out as a reluctant patron before he became a staple here.
Ezra:
When I came back from college and I could finally go out to the bars. Which was never something I ever wanted to do in Norther Maine. Like I don’t want to go out to the f**ing bars … and they’re like we're gonna go to Eureka. I said, “That is the LAST place I ever thought I wanted to go.” But we come here and I walk through those doors like, this isn’t the same Eureka that I used to know and there was there was music playing, actually the first band that I ever saw here was Ghost of Paul Revere was a freaking good time. I've been coming back ever since.
Kyle:
Ezra believes that Eureka is made for outliers like him.
Ezra:
You come here and you see people that don't really fit in that larger entity, that is Northern Maine and for whatever reason, they gravitate towards Eureka. Because for whatever reason their outsiders. They don't fit in there. They get something deeper then just like trying to get. They try to get to the tombstone without actually being underground. And it's all about that journey. The people that get the journey, they like Eureka it pushes their comfort zone, it pushes their boundaries.
Kyle:
And for snowmobilers who stumble in off the trail that goes along the backside of Eureka. Clientele who might not otherwise come in here if it weren't for the location?
Well…
Ezra:
it’s one of the few places in the world that you can make fun of somebody from across the bar. Really interesting character studies, because everybody is a character.
Kyle:
But in general…
Ezra:
All roads lead seem to lead to Northern Maine in one sense or another. It's just like I said, it attracts people that wander and a lot of people that are wandering, end up settling down because they find that it's it's a good place to live, a good place to just stay. It's not really dangerous unless you’re wandering outside without a gun during bear season. The only thing that can kill you is nature up here. You don’t have to worry about people, people care about each other. People pitch in to keep each other happy.
Kyle:
And of course, I immediately want to know some backstory about the building.
Ezra:
Eureka has gone through 1000 iterations. So this is the second building it used to be four stories tall.Then it burnt down. It used to be the town office. It used to be the nursing home. It used to be an arcade. Used to be the town hall. Used to be you name it. That's where they used to take care of kids, old people. And then they converted into a restaurant back in the 80s. And now it's technically this is the 21st birthday of Eureka as a restaurant. So it's worth celebrating.
Kyle:
But this building in particular has been special just for—
Ezra:
So if you look down here, audio, people were looking down at the floor. It's it's a bowling alley. This place used to be a bowling alley. Yeah. Actually, I recommend that you go and talk to Tim Sandström, the gentleman, oh he’s having a smoke right now, he's coming back in. You'll see. He's that gentleman right over there.
Kyle:
With the plaid?
Ezra:
With the Plaid
Kyle:
Okay.
Ezra:
He’s he's like the historian of Stockholm Maine. He'll tell you everything you want, you want to know. He grew up on Karlstrom Hill. He's like he’s as Swedish as they get. And he'll tell you exactly why Stockholm matters, why it's important and why Eureka fits Stockholm.
Kyle:
So I trail after Tim. Cold is an understatement. And I'm surprised that snowmobilers are still worrying about. I introduce myself and ask him for the bullet points on Stockholm's history.
And how is Stockholm related to Sweden in the grand- like the bigger picture here?
Tim:
Well, we were part of the people that migrated over here 1860 some like that.
Kyle:
He tells me about the Swedish Colony Act, which brought Swedish people here as a way to help preserve public land from the Canadians. In essence, they formed a barrier between French, Canadians and Americans to protect lumber.
Tim:
I mean, it was the river and I mean downtown where the Legion and stuff is. That was all mills, all of it. There was a there was a clothespin factory there. There was a veneer mill. There was a pulp mill in 1925 this was the capital of the world. This was an enormous. This was a huge town. Nothing like it was. These are this is one of the few buildings, this Andersen store across the street. One of the few original buildings that are still here. But this was like a city back then.
Kyle:
Stockholm was a bustling city at one point because of all things, clothespins, in the 1920s. This area was the biggest exporter of clothespins in the entire country. And the Swedish heritage still runs thick here every summer. There's a three day Midsomer Festival that celebrates Swedish traditions, complete with a Maypole and everything. What is your recollection of this building back when you were a kid?
Tim:
Well way, way back in the day when it was opened, my Uncle Albert built this place and owned it. He would be a great uncle and there was a bowling alley in the basement here. And I don't think George has removed pretty much all that. But at one time when Bob and Suzy had it the bar was made out of a piece of bowling alley. And then and then upstairs was they called it the shop. But it was a big gathering place. This used to be another story taller than it was. It was also a rooming house at that time because this was quite a place once upon a time,
Kyle:
isn't it nuts now that it's a music venue now that brings in people from all over the state.
Tim:
I think it’s fantastic. I love it.
Kyle:
Did you ever want to leave this area?
Tim:
I was gone for many years. I took off out here in 1985. I went to Alaska, which is almost a birthright thing for a boy from Stockholm.
Kyle:
Why is that?
Tim:
Just a large percentage of young men from Stockholm migrated to Alaska for years and years.
Kyle:
What’s up with that?
Tim:
Just a couple of my, I call them uncles, but they're really cousins. And they went there in like 1958. They were some of the original from Stockholm that went there. They made big construction businesses up there, which still exists. And then there was money to be made. you know, and the other place everybody went from here, like in the 60s, up into the 70s was Connecticut. You ask somebody, where where did so-and-so go? They've gone to heaven, hell or Connecticut.
Kyle:
So what made you come back?
Tim:
The entire time I was gone. All I wanted to do was come back.
Kyle:
What is it about this place that you loved so much?
Tim:
It's home. In a matter of minutes, you can be where you're not gonna see anybody for days. And I like that. I like the woods we got a little hunting camps here and there tucked away. My favorite one doesn't have cell there. The cell phones won't work there. Don't I love that!? We're we're nowhere ville, but it's big. You know, the area the land area is enormous.
Kyle:
Are you seeing people moving here at all?
Tim:
There is. There's a lot of people from outside that come here.And for the most part, they come and then they're here for a couple years and they go. But there are people that are coming. There's a lot of people that come here and buy places all around Stockholm here that they just come to hunt fish sled four wheels. The four wheeler thing is a big industry. The snowmobile thing is huge, you know. And of course, since they pulled up the rail bed, we have I mean, that's like the interstate for snowmobiles is just there's nothing like it.There's nothing like it in the entire northeast being. And farming is becoming popular. And even Sigrid's here, she's tending. She's a waitress, her. She's into organics and honey and bees and all kinds of stuff like that. And it is very small in comparison to big, big potatoes and, you know, big business. But the market is there, you know, so. And, of course, we got plenty of room. No shortage of land. Enormous state but it's a small community, you know. Well, I can drive from here to Bangor. Just keep my arm out the window because everybody I see. I know.
Hey, take care Tyler. You bet. Right. Right. The moose are moving there. That's the daddy of my grandson.
Kyle:
I head back inside to take in the last few songs. Up next, I sit down with George, the owner of Eureka Hall.
Announcer:
The Bright Lights social hours enveloping song to See of the Edge has a music video from Good to Go Studios and Director Kyle Lamont watch, Love at Last Light, like a love story about two travelers who rendezvous at a lighthouse in Maine. goodtogostudios.com
Kyle:
George is originally from New Jersey and grew up in the service industry.
George:
The town I grew up in was called Wall. But my father at a bar in Bellmore for 40 years.
Kyle:
He ended up in northern Maine. Well, because of a girl who happens to be from here. But they met, of all places, in Maui, Hawaii. They moved back to Aroostook County together. And in 2010, George bought the building and got busy remodeling and transforming Eureka into what it is today.
George:
My buddy's a timber framer, an organic farmer down the road here. So him and I did all this work. All the live edge bar. That's all. Cut. Cut from the county. It’s actually cut from like I'm about five miles from here, probably, but nine months into the renovation, like we did it all behind the wall. And then we just tore the wall down and like one day there was half of a bar. And then the next day there is a whole bar.
Kyle:
Like a grand reveal.
George:
Yeah. Yeah.
Kyle:
Did you get a lot of whispers when you first moved into town?
George:
I'm gonna say probably, yes. You know, you don't really hear that if you're from away. I mean, people are really cool in town, but it was definitely, you know, like the outsiders are.. have bought like who who owns Eureka now. And people were definitely really interested. You know, there's only two hundred and fifty people in this town. But as far as what it is now, it's more of a destination for the entire county. We we get people from as far away as Holton and, you know, as far north as as the Allagash. So it's it's the music. It's the vibe. And, you know, definitely, ah, our family, you know.
Kyle:
And the food.
George:
Yeah. I try to bring the best, the best quality ingredients I can to the table and try to make it as affordable as possible for the area. You know, it's a tough, tough one to put like a big ticket item on on food when you want people to experience something that they've never been able to experience.
Kyle:
And hosting life music was also part of his vision.
George:
I always wanted, you know, the local original talent to to come play. And it was always a passion of mine to be an original venue, you know, you know, give respect to the musicians that are grinding it out, you know, playing the music that they wrote from their heart, you know.
So hooking up with Travis was one of those things that just seems like it was in like in the stars, like it was bound to happen. He was he was searching for a venue like us. And we were we were searching for a guy like him. And from from first meeting, it was like meeting a brother, you know. So and since then, it's been I don't think I go seven days without seeing him, so..
Kyle:
Travis here is an awesome roots rock and folk musician from Van Buren. He's known statewide because of how passionate he is for bringing great music to northern Maine. Without him, let's just say he'd be pretty quiet up here. And also because he started a music festival called Aroostook Acoustic.
[Music Plays]
George:
By treating the bands, you know, the way we think they should be treated, you know, kind of making them feel like like they're rock stars, you know? And they're in their own way because they are. I mean, they're they're grinding it out at a level that's amazing. And for them to take a ride up here, you know, five, six hours, you know, we tried to give them as as much praise and and accommodation as we can.
Kyle:
They can stay here. You have apartments for them upstairs?
George:
I have a full apartment, three bedrooms, a lot of inflatable mattresses. Generally one to two nights, depending on how how their schedule works. We booked him for and the other treated to like a home away from home.
Kyle:
Eureka has bands practically every night. They've even hosted The Ghost of Paul Revere.
George:
They were a band. I don't know if I would say that. It was like they made it like, wow, these guys are playing here. It was more like. Wow, these guys have a lot of talent. And. We got to be with them before, you know, before anybody got their hands on them, before they got to be. You know, touring nationally and super busy.
Kyle:
I just love how this community is open minded enough to, like, hang out. Have a good meal. Listen to music. Maybe they're not quite used to or accustom to and and leave. Probably feeling a little bit surprised, especially with like Ben's music, with it being a little bit more like, what do you think about that, like presenting a different taste of music to this community. Was that conscious risk?
George:
It's been a little bit of conscious risk. We've definitely had we've had acts that that push a bar in different ways.
Ben is definitely in in a way that when you if you take him a minute to listen to your jaw just kind of slowly drops and you're you're kind of immersed in what he's doing. The first time he came up here not knowing totally about him. He came up solo and he doesn't really sing. So. You know, he played for three hours just playing his songs on piano for the room. And it's still even though people were, you know, it was different for them to hear, you know, a piano, I guess, controlling a room like like he does.
Kyle:
And one of the more memorable performances for George was from a woman named Phoebe Legere.
George:
She showed up, you know, she showed up. She had a microphone like a headset microphone so she could do all her stuff as a one woman show. She plays the accordion, the guitar, the Indian flute, like Native American flute. You know, I was I was just walking through the tavern while she was setting up.
And she's having a full, fluent conversation with me, like looking me in the face, having a full on deep conversation with me. And this guitar was making sounds that just like melting my heart kind of thing. And how did this come about? Her booking agent found us kind of as like a stopping point that, you know, she she must have found out that we hired musicians, give them a place to stay, feed them, you know.
And it was an in-between when she was heading to Canada. She when she took the stage per say, she was wearing a mini skirt that just barely covered everything.
And like I said, she's in her 60s. Probably I'm guessing maybe I hope I'm not wrong. Absolutely beautiful. Like long legs, a beautiful woman.
And she was on chairs. Well, you know, like you said, challenging, challenging customers. She got up on a chair, you know, playing with her her accordion, singing songs that were like my toot toot.
And, you know, totally shaking her hips to the point where, like, wives were kind of like like slapping the arms of their husband first staring at her.
And she I mean, she was amazing. It was it was one of the the best shows I can remember as far as challenging, like the crowd up here for songs were written almost like like campfire songs that a family would sing. But they definitely had the innuendos. And it was it was an unbelievable show. And her, the level of of musician was kind of like, how is this happening, you know? How did she find us? You know.
Kyle:
Seems to be a common theme here. Like, are you just sort of dumbstruck sometimes, like how is this happening?
George:
Absolutely. You never can underestimate how word travels amongst musicians and how making them feel at home really means a lot to them.
Kyle:
Well, and it's just this whole, like, essence of the journey to come up here and like, being handsomely rewarded with great food, good beer and good music. And just like, awesome personalities behind the bar.
George:
Yeah. The county people are awesome. They have great personalities. They love people. It's why they call it vacation land. You know, they they love entertaining and showing people their culture up here. And, yeah, it's been it's been great.
Kyle:
But whenever George can, he likes to explore other parts of the state.
George:
I haven't seen enough of Maine. So those are my excuses whenever I can, as much as Travis plays in the building. I actually don't see his music as often because I'm running around. So when he goes and travels downstate, I'll, I'll load up my dogs and and go follow him around, pick a camping spot and go, you know, go go meet other other people from other spots of Maine and, you know, see the coast and see what it's all about. So it's a lot of fun.
Kyle:
The crowd has dwindled and I bid my Adieus to everyone. But it's so hard to leave. You know, that feeling of when you arrive in a new place and already know you want to return like this trip can't possibly be your only visit or your last. As soon as I stepped into Eureka Hall, that's how I felt. I knew I'd be back for the hospitality, for the vibe and for the damn good food and music.
Announcer:
Next episode, Lamont heads to the Highlands, the home of Sugarloaf Mountain, to hang out with the Ghost of Paul Revere before their show in the King Pine Room. For places to stay in Stockholm. Your best bet is an air BNB. So many awesome lake houses in the area. Or stay at the Northeastland Hotel in downtown Presque Isle, about 30 minutes from the venue. This town is also where you'll find more restaurants and bars. This has been a Good To Go Studios production made in Ellsworth, Maine. Our resident mastermind is Mark Tekushan, our editor and engineer is Pete McGill. Subscribe rate in review concert cast on your podcast, app of Choice. Type in ConcertCast.live for a music centric itinerary and to learn how you can be part of the show and find us on Spotify to listen to our Maine music playlist. Special thanks to George Papis and everyone at Eureka for their hospitality. To Ben Cosgrove for the Sweet Tunes and to Travis Cyr his song Great Big Beautiful Thing and to Pepper Little Amy Charley, Abbey Rock Jessiman, Corey Chandler, Emma Thieme, Eddie Contento, Jesse Couto. And thank you for listening.