From the Court Street Grill (Pomeroy OH) e-newsletter

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
Damn! Hate to announce this, but due to hard times, The Thirsty Turtle in Parkersburg has closed its doors. The Turtle had a very nice back room for "live" music. And even though they didn't book a lot of acts, owner/manager Mike Umensetter was always cooperative when ask to book some blues on occasion. The place has been a bar on and off for years and probably will be again someday. But this time around they never seemed to attract enough crowd to support the music and were never consistent with the bookings. Seems the regular Friday afternoon crowd wasn't least bit interested in the blues. And the blues crowd never became part of the regular Friday afternoon crowd. Although no doubt some of the biggest crowds ever in the place were made up of blues fans to see Johnny Rawls or Dennis McClung. But all too often blues fans were ask to pay a cover (which they were more than willing to do), while non-cover paying customers could sit at the front bar, drink the same cold beer, eat the same good food and hear the same good music. Sometimes this made for a unique mix of clientele. So long Turtle, hate to see ya go.

This brings to mind some others who have shut down over the past few years. Places like Haggi Cabana (Parkersburg), The Crow Bar (Marietta) Blues Angel Cafe (Parkersburg) all come to mind. All were very popular at one time but weren't able to make it. Can't blame it on the "no smoking" law. That ain't it. Some it seems just got away from what they did best. Or never did anything best, other than the music. ex: The Cabana once offered some of the finest Caribbean fare anywhere. But cut back on the menu. Some may remember they actually began on 5th St downtown in a place the size of a closet, offering great Jamaican food. They all probably tried to do too much in the way of booking blues acts. And some probably had a little too much chrome and neon lights. And none at that time had a reliable website. Things have changed in recent years with the World Wide Web.



Sooooo.... as a point of interest. And keep in mind I ain't ever owned no bar, juke joint, tavern, restaurant, movie theater or nothin'... but have been know to frequent a few. Next time someone in Parkersburg, Marietta, Reedsville, Belleville, Letart Falls or New Haven is thinking of opening a blues bar, consider this. For one thing, ta hell with location. You ain't looking to buy a house, so you don't care who your neighbors are or even if you have neighbors. Dammit! It's gonna be a juke joint! Don't worry 'bout WHERE it is. If you're doing it "right", peoples gonna search you out! Decide who you are and who you wanta be and go with it. You CAN'T please all the people all the time, so DON'T try to. You CAN'T rely on "live" music to keep your doors open unless you're only gonna be open on weekends and special occasions. So best offer some DECENT food and be CONSISTENT with it. BBQ works well with the crowd I run with. So does fried catfish, hot wings and popcorn. In other words.. back off with the twigs & nuts! Well stocked jukebox that kicks on during band breaks is nice. And DON'T worry about too many bells and whistles aka flashing neon lights & chrome. But most importantly, DON'T over extend yerself. Ain't never seen no bar owner yet that had deep pockets enuf to book everyone the fans wanted to. Yeah, it'd be great to have BB King on Friday and Buddy Guy on Saturday... but can that be done? And pleeeese, NEVER on no occasion ever offer karaoke or gambling machines. Most all blues crowds would be way more than happy to see a place with dim lights, simple wooden bar, low stage, small dance floor, retro furniture, strings of Christmas lights, domestic longneck beers (back off the imports & micros), and cheapass whiskey. Ya get the picture? So ends the crawlinkingsnake Success in Jooks 101 seminar.

Hold on, think maybe just described The Court Street Grill, The Canal House, The Thirsty Ear, Moondog's, BB Kings (Memphis), Bradfordville Blues Club (Tallahassee), Red's Lounge and Ground Zero Blues Club (Clarksdale). Huh, go figure... must be something to what was just said