Does your idea of a perfect night out consist of dancing until you drop? Or would you rather kick back and listen to some jazz, while sipping a cool local brew? Either way, you are in luck, because these are two types of musical experiences that you can enjoy at the Root Cellar, Greenfield’s new music venue located at 10 Fiske Ave. (beneath the Mesa Verde restaurant).
The Root Cellar, which officially opened its doors last Thursday, plans to offer a wide array of live music six nights a week.
The Root Cellar is the brainchild of a musician and a farmer. Owner Wendell Rheinheimer is a professional artist and screen printer who owns Moonlight Designs, which is also located on Fiske Avenue. Rheinheimer has also played in various funk and afro-beat bands, including VT Shakedown.
His partner Shana Totino is an organic vegetable farmer with a long history in the restaurant and hospitality business. She plans to use her knowledge of plants and herbs to create some unique homemade drinks and infusions at the bar.
For the past few years, the couple hosted Barn Bash, a festival held on their farm in Charlemont that celebrated local beer, food and music.
In many ways, the Root Cellar is an extension of this festival. Rheinheimer said that while hosting that festival did inspire him to open the club, he has always wanted to be part of operating an established performance space that presented regular shows.
Of course, he did have some concerns about opening a music venue in a town that doesn’t have an established nightlife, unlike, say, Northampton.
“I did worry about setting up a music scene in Greenfield,” Rheinheimer said. “But Northampton has been tapped out, and even if you could squeeze in, you would be spending a lot of money because of the real estate. Greenfield is more affordable and, besides, there are cool people here in Greenfield and in the surrounding hill towns. So I decided to give it a shot.”
Rheinheimer and Totino want The Root Cellar to be a positive space for people to come together and enjoy all types of music. They said they envision it to be the type of place that will provide, “a sweaty dance party one night and a mellow acoustic site another.”
I stopped by the club on Saturday afternoon, as Rheinheimer and his staff were getting ready for the evening ahead.
For their first official Saturday night in business, they had an early show with The Mother Animal, a trio consisting of members of Bella’s Bartok, followed by a show with the local reggae band The Equalites.
From its shiny checkered bar top to the bright red walls and the booths nestled against them, the fully renovated Root Cellar is a comfortable, attractive room.
In addition, it has both a good-size stage and dance floor and a top-of-the-line sound system. There is also an inviting patio right outside the door, where patrons can relax in the fresh air.
Looking around the club, it’s clear that the owners are committed to all things local — the beers on tap, for instance, which will constantly change, are from local brewers like Element in Millers Falls and the People’s Pint in Greenfield. And cocktails like “Sunshine Daydream” and “The Roots” are packed full of local ingredients.
The walls are adorned with posters celebrating area artists, like Rusty Belle, which makes it clear that there will be plenty of local music to enjoy at the Root Cellar.
“We aren’t going to be heavy on the rock, but we will have about every other genre,” said owner Rheinheimer. “There will be lots of reggae, funk, jam bands, folk, jazz, soul — a little bit of everything. But we will not be heavy on metal or rap, but at some point I wouldn’t rule out a hip hop show.”
You kind of need an identity, but at the same time you don’t want to limit yourself to one particular style, Rheinheimer added. “I definitely don’t want to box us in.”
One thing that is clear is that The Root Cellar is serious about bring first-rate music to downtown Greenfield, and to do this they have enlisted the help of Simon Says Booking of Orange (formerly of Greenfield), which is an established booking and publicity firm.
Rheinheimer is working closely with the booking agency to present the best in both local and nationally-known musicians and bands.
“We basically have agreed on a long list of styles and groups that we would like to see in here — that fit our parameters, which is that the club is a 100-capacity room, and that fit within the kind of music that we want here,” Rheinheimer continued.
The weeknights will focus on local musicians who will hold residencies in specific genres.
Every Tuesday will be a jazz night, with members of Bella’s Bartok, and beginning in August, the jazz music will be followed by a rockin’ blues jam featuring Nate Martel of Outer Stylie, Brother Sal of the Medicinal Purpose and Chris Bell of the Alchemystics.
Both of these are drop-in sessions, so musicians of all kinds are welcome to join in.
Wednesday are “peace and rhythm night,” which will feature a mix of styles and disc jockeys, as well as bands.
Thursday nights are funk night hosted by Sam French and friends, and beginning in the fall, Sunday nights will be devoted to acoustic and folk music.
Weeknight shows begin at 8 p.m. and are free.
Looking at the venue’s schedule, I can see that the weekends will welcome a full spectrum of sounds. This weekend it looks like the dance floor will be getting plenty of use, because on Friday night, it’s Tidwell’s Treasure, a group from Northampton that describes its sounds as, “a mix of Zappa-style prog 90s rock and groove funk of the 70s.”
Tidwell’s Treasure has a new album called, “Radical Shift,” which you can check out on Bandcamp.
Then, on Saturday it’s Rodd Cummings and The Vibrators out of Wendell. This group, led by Courtney Parker of Rice, is based on the same concept — a bunch of musicians from other bands getting together to play fun and sexy cover tunes; everything from “Magic Man” by Heart to “Debra” by Beck.
Also coming up is the popular reggae/hip-hop band the Alchemystics on Aug. 5. And it will be a special night on Aug. 13, when there is an early show by Adam Ezra, followed by St. Lucien reggae artist Taj Weekes and his band Adowa.
Rounding out the schedule: Friday, Aug. 19, will feature Rhythm Inc.; Saturday, Aug. 20, The Rev Tor Band; Saturday, Sept. 3, Flux Capacitor and Colorway; and Friday, Sept. 9, Shakedown.
New additions are constantly being added to the schedule, so visit: www.rootcellarbar.com or the venue’s Facebook page for updates.
Times can vary from show to show, so check out the website for this information, as well.
Tickets for weekend shows can be purchased at the website or at the door.
Jeff Fest at Look Park
Just a reminder that one week from today, JEFF FEST, a tribute to the celebrate the life, music and spirit of the late Jeff Martell, will be held on Thursday, Aug. 4 (Martell’s birthday), at 6:30 p.m. at Look Park in Florence.
Martell, who was a former resident of Greenfield and a mainstay of the local music scene, lost his life in a car accident in January. He was an established singer-songwriter who performed his self-described “acoustic groove” music throughout New England.
In the years preceding his death, he had become involved in Kirtan, a type of call and response chanting, which he performed with Libby Volckening.
Martell was a founding member of the Franklin County Music Collective (Coop Concerts) in Greenfield, and was also one of the key organizers of the Green River Festival.
Tor Krautter, Martell’s good friend and former bandmate, is the musical director for JEFF FEST. He said assembling the first-rate lineup, which includes the Nields, And the Kids, Heather Malone, Lux Deluxe, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Boxcar Lilies, Lonesome Brothers, and many others, was easy, as so many musicians wanted to be involved in the event.
“We asked the performers to either do one of Jeff’s songs, a song he covered or liked or one of their own that they feel would be appropriate,” said Krautter.
Look Park is located at 300 N. Main St. in Florence.
Admission is a suggested donation of $15 to $20 with proceeds going to the Jeff Martell scholarship fund at Greenfield Community College. Kids ages 12 and under are free.
Look Park charges a $7 parking fee.
In the event of rain, the show will be held at the Garden House at Look Park.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at soundslocal@yahoo.com