Friday, October 21, 2011

Retro: Kimmer

Retro: Kimmer

Link to Retro: Kimmer

THE CHRISTALLY BY AL G. GWYLLT

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 06:25 PM PDT



There is only one thing that truly binds all of humanity together, and that is the question: "Are we alone in the cosmos?"

A group of brilliant scientists discover an object buried deep beneath the desert near Las Vegas, Nevada. After unearthing a 1200 year old, oblong vessel, they discover a skeleton lying nearby. The remains are not totally dissimilar from an upright walking hominid as we know them, but there are clearly atypical morphological differences.



Was the skeleton that lay before them the only being, or were there others that had once lurked the area so many millennia ago? But, more importantly, are they still here?

In the waning light and gathering gloom of night, in "The Crystally", the answer to: "Are we alone?" becomes crystal clear with every throbbing beat of your pounding heart. It soon unfolds into a resounding . . .

OF COURSE WE'RE NOT!

RETROKIMMER, THE MODFATHER, DEE GILBERT TAP ROOM OPEN JAM!

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 10:24 AM PDT


The Tap Room History

From Brian Bickley:

The old Tap Room had fallen on hard times by the time it we saw it. The beautiful wood work was all there but the top trim piece had fallen off years ago exposing fluorescent light fixtures. Half the room was full of booths and chairs and the other half was full of the broken pieces of booths and chairs.

Apparently whenever a chair broke the standard procedure was to take the pieces and put them "over there". And keep in mind the place was open for business! A handful of colorful characters and some college students frequented the joint on a regular basis.

John Farres and his wife Teddy had owned the Bar since 1941. They bought it just a few days before they announced that the Bomber Plant was being constructed in Willow Run. John said he never would have been able to afford it if the previous owner had known the plant was coming. When he sold it to us he was 95.



Unfortunately as the years went by the interest in live music began to fade. The attendance at the live shows got smaller and smaller. In 2004 we made a very painful decision to end all live music. The place just wasn't big enough to have music and a game room with a pool table. The last open mic night with Chris Buhalis was a very sad and tear filled evening.

In comes the pool table, a bunch of cool video games, a new counter with stools in the back and surprise, a whole bunch of new customers. Lisa and I were shocked at what a fun place the bar became.

As Jon our longtime bartender says "this place is Cheers!" Everybody knows everybody. Just show up and within a few minutes you will be playing pool with a new friend or catching up with an old one.

The Annex

About the same time all this was going on we took over management of Louis' Cafe. The restaurant was located next door to our building and had been there for years. We saw an opportunity to someday connect the two to allow the Tap Room to have a larger kitchen, more pool tables and room to bring back live music.

Lisa named the restaurant The Tap Room Annex which is the name John Farres used for an adjoining space that he had many years ago. Our water bill for the bar has come in the name Tap Room Annex ever since we owned it.

Our Tap Room customers and a lot of folks that haven't been in the bar love our food and the atmosphere at The Annex. The Ann Arbor News raved about us in their review and we couldn't be more proud of our staff. Brian Brickley



The Tap Room has been around Ypsilanti long before I was born... I think... I always remember seeing that very cool Neon Martini Glass whenever riding through town with my mom back in the early 60's.


Brian Brickley Tap Room owner and Kimmer

Around the time I moved back home to Ypsilanti (1997) I heard a young couple had bought the Tap Room and turned it into a cool jazzy club. It was true! Brian and Lisa did buy it and it was now a very hip place to hang out. I worked right down Michigan Avenue from the club and hung out for "Happy Hour" a lot. Loved the club. But I moved in 2002 to West Ann Arbor and didn't frequent Ypsi much after that....


The Original door is still there....

Enter my friend Dee Gilbert.... She wanted to come out and see The Modfather (Mark Boone) play keyboards with the Martindales Brian Bickley's house band. It was a gloomy rainy day and I thought oh why not? Let's go see what is shaking with the Modfatha!

Thursday night is Open Jam and that is always a lot of spontaneous fun... We had no idea what musicians would be appearing other than Brian and Modfather.


Downtown Ypsilanti Mich. Ave


3 Amigos.. Kimmer Modfather and Dee Gilbert

Had not met Mark Boone since the Spaghetti Bender days of the 70's so that was really fun for me to see him again. Dee had met him online and it was a blast for them to meet.


Modfather and Kimmer

Mark and I are both such shy people... We try to put our shyness aside when cameras are present....LOL


Mark and Dee

I don't care if this photo is fuzzy it just totally captures the energy of my two friends perfectly.... Tinkerbell and Peter Pan!!


Halloween Modfather


Mod at the keyboard....

Mark is really fun to watch on the keyboards.... I had Dee laughing a lot this am when I was playing keyboards on my coffee table ala Modfather.... :P



One of the best moments last night was watching Roosevelt and Daniel. Roosevelt is a kick ass drummer/blues vocalist and Daniel a killer keyboard player. Modfather told me Daniel was ver much like Billy Preston.... High energy for sure....


Roosevelt Kimmer and Daniel



Was also thrilled to meet Vocalist Tarya... We were digging her Janis Joplin style bluesy vocals... Enjoyed her so much and thanks for the soup Tarya!!!





The biggest surprise of the night came on late. Matt Mruzek... Now 25 Matt has been playing guitar since he was 12. Really good looking guy and talent everywhere.... Really enjoyed meeting drummer Jake O'Quinn whose grandfather has a surprise that my readers are going to freak over... Stay tuned on Sunday night for that story.....



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