Grog Shop kicks off new year with free shows

Kathy Blackman, the owner of the Grog Shop.

The Grog Shop, on Euclid Heights Boulevard at the corner of Coventry Road, is kicking off 2014 with a weekend of free shows. The concerts will take place the weekend of Jan. 3 and will feature a variety of musical styles. On Friday night, the club’s focus will be on indy-rock, with Pleasure Leftists, Royal Blood, Ultrasphinx and DJ Nig Champa. The following night, the club will host a big dance party, with Secret Soul Club, Ma Holos and Shit-Box Jimmy. And on Sunday night the focus will be on acoustic music, with Tiger & Boy, True Stories, Noon and Carrie Ryan.

“The holidays are so crazy, so we wanted to give something back to the community,” said Kathy Blackman, the club’s owner. Blackman and two of her friends, Matt Mugridge and Sean Heineman, from Club Isabella in University Circle, opened the Grog Shop in September 1992. It was originally located at the other end of Coventry, in the space that is now occupied by Piccadilly Artisan Yogurt. The club moved to its current location in 2003, and Blackman is now the sole owner.

Over its 21-year history, the Grog Shop has developed a reputation as one of the finest rock clubs in the country. “We’re now veterans on the Cleveland music scene,” Blackman said. “We’ve been around longer than any other club, with the exception of the Agora.” In its early years, the Grog Shop focused on presenting alternative-rock and indy-rock bands. But over the past couple of years, Blackman has expanded the club’s offerings. “We have been presenting comedians for the past few years,” she said, “and we also bring in more established artists, like Dick Dale.”

On Jan. 18, the club will be presenting a show by comedian James Adomian, and on Jan. 29, it will feature a show by Wayne Hancock, a country musician who is known as the King of Juke-Joint Swing. In addition, the Grog Shop presents shows that attract a younger audience. For example, on Jan. 19 at 3 p.m., the club is putting on a show by singer-songwriter Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players. That show is expected to draw children who are five years old and younger.

Asked what her favorite shows have been over the years, Blackman mentions the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill and Hank3, or Hank Williams III, the grandson of Hank Williams. “There have been so many shows, it’s difficult to mention only a few,” she said.

Blackman is a longtime resident of the Heights area. She grew up in University Heights and attended Heights High. She now lives near Roxboro School in Cleveland Heights. She’s married and has two children, ages seven and eight. She also has a dog, Colton, and a cat, Georgia. “I am very committed to Cleveland Heights,” Blackman said. “Rock clubs don’t usually last 20 years, so I am very connected to this city. I am vested in this community. It’s my home.”

James Henke

James Henke, a Cleveland Heights resident, was a writer and editor at Rolling Stone magazine for 15 years. He is also the author of several books, including biographies of Jim Morrison, John Lennon and Bob Marley.

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Volume 7, Issue 1, Posted 10:54 AM, 12.17.2013