From WXXI news.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour will be made just before Thanksgiving, when the Abilene Bar and Lounge plans to close for good after nearly two decades on the Rochester music scene.

Owner Danny Deutsch says now is the right time.

He wants to see some shows and other venues, maybe get a little bit more sleep.

Hard to blame them, but this is not the only change.

Hitting the music scene recently.

Skylark lounge is closing at the end of this year.

The Hi-Fi lounge is looking for someone to take over.

40 years ago, it opened as the CD exchange and you might laugh at the notion of CD is seemingly outdated.

But The Washington Post reports that CDs are having a big moment of their own.

The growth of CD sales outpaced the growth of vinyl in the past year.

CD lovers praised the sound quality, not just the nostalgia.

So maybe someone will step in for the old CD exchange.

Maybe everything old will be new again.

Let's talk about the local music scene.

And here to co-host the show is my colleague Hannah Maier, who is of course, the music director for The Route.

Frontwoman of Candy has performed at Abilene.

How many times?

Too many to count.

Too many to count.

Yeah.

Remember the first Abilene show?

You know what?

I don't think I do, but I don't think that was my fault.

Yeah.

Thank you for coming over to our studio over here to listen.

Thanks for having me.

I'm so happy to talk to these guys today and be here with you and Danny Deutsch is the.

He wanted us to introduce him as a lowly saloon owner.

He is not a lowly anything.

But I'll do that one time.

The lowly saloon owner of Abilene.

Thank you.

Evan, how are you doing these days?

I am well, I'm looking forward to, the next couple months and then beyond.

So, yeah, we're thrilled at this point.

Well, it's nice to have you here.

And it's nice to have Mark Katie, owner and operator of the Hi-Fi lounge.

Welcome.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Evan, I appreciate it.

So, Hannah, when someone like you who not only performs, but you catalog the music scene, you know you're in so many different facets.

You're one of the leading faces and voices in local music.

You hear about Abilene, you hear about Skylark, you hear about hi fi.

Does it does it feel sort of like a collective hit, or does it feel, I mean, how does that feel?

It does.

It feels it it hit a little bit hard when I heard about Abilene.

Danny and I totally understand, you know, everybody has to retire at some point, and this is not true.

But go ahead.

You know what?

Some people don't, but, it it's been kind of a hard year.

It's been a hard summer for Rochester because not only have we lost, or have been hearing about a few venues that will be closing, we also the fire at luck.

So they've been closed all summer and they're still not open again.

And there's not a lot of venues in Rochester to.

So to lose even just one is a huge blow to the scene and to lose three.

And not that Lux isn't coming back, but it feels like, you know, we're down three at this point.

It's it's been difficult for your, lowly, musician, if you will, to try struggling artists.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah.

And so let's just get and get a quick picture with these guys.

And I know Hannah's got a lot to talk about with with Danny and Mark.

And we'll take feedback from listeners throughout the program as we always do.

It's 844295 talk toll free (844) 295-8255.

Already have some emails to share if you want to send more as you think about over the years, the music scene and your own experiences, whether it's Abilene, if you've been a customer of Hi-Fi Skylark, whatever the case may be, you can email the program connections@wxxi.org.

If you're watching on the WXXI news YouTube channel, you can join the chat there.

So, Danny, November 21st is is it for Abilene?

Right.

That's it under my direction.

But what does that mean?

I mean, could Abilene continue?

Oh, certainly.

I mean, if someone steps up to the plate and wants to continue doing what we do, a deal could be made and a few people have reached out.

So we've been showing it this week and, hopefully it will continue.

Do you want to break any news right now?

No, not not yet.

Although like I say, there are people who are looking at doing what we have been doing and expanding empowerment.

There's a whole second floor that we've done shows over the years, from Cindy Kessler to Rory Black to others.

Haven't done it as much lately as we should have.

And it's, a whole room that could be used.

And so we talk to people this week with a lot of ideas, and hopefully it'll continue.

You're hopeful that they're really okay.

And Mark Katie same kind of thing.

It's so it's been 40 years for you and I know you'd like to see the business continue, right?

Yeah.

I feel like it absolutely will continue.

I'm.

I just turned 65.

You know, not to give anything away on air, but, Danny's got a few years on, and, I don't have to stay up as late as he does.

Although I think a lot of the fun in life happens at night, but, Yeah.

So, I'm we've just started kind of reaching out and looking, talking to some people.

And I probably will more than likely will more than likely will stay on for a period of time to do a transition for the people that we're talking to so far, seem to want me to do that.

And it would kind of make sense.

It's it's pretty, it's pretty common in a business like me.

Like mine to to for the owner to stay a for part time for a transition type of thing.

It was the key exchange 40 years ago when you opened, right?

Yeah.

I was in the city for about ten years and then Henrietta for about 20.

Yeah, out here in Brighton, which is a been a fantastic place.

How much did I have to pay for a CD in 1986?

Well, if you adjust for inflation, I mean, well, was roughly 15 bucks.

No, I'm not asking you to adjust for inflation.

I don't want to go the raw dollars.

Okay?

So I think when we opened, they were, I was charging 1298 for a new CD.

So.

And did you have, like those remember those long cases?

I love that, I mean, it was it was great, but not for the environment.

Yeah.

The packaging was kind of yeah, it was excessive if they did that because people they, they were, they changed their LP bins over to CD display.

So you kind of needed those things for the CD storage.

Yeah.

So yeah.

So, Hannah, are you someone who in recent years have gotten on the vinyl, the vinyl train even.

I've been on the vinyl train since the day I was born.

You started the vinyl train?

Choo choo here?

Yeah.

No.

My dad is a huge collector.

My, both my parents were.

And I remember since I was literally a baby, I wasn't allowed to touch the vinyl.

They were all alphabetized.

If I took something out, which I wasn't allowed to do, I would have to sneak it back in to its exact spot because it was organized so well.

At this point, I've inherited all of that vinyl.

My dad is still with us, but he gave me the vinyl and, thanks, dad.

And now it's completely on alphabetized, so I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm a huge vinyl collector.

I've, I don't know, hundreds and hundreds maybe.

Close.

I don't know, I don't want to say thousands, but it seems like because they're literally everywhere in my house.

And I think that the comeback that vinyl has had, I think has been great.

I love listening to it.

I think it's got a great sound, and as like a collector, it's a nice thing to hold.

I'm here for it.

Well, so the reason I ask is I want to talk a little bit about where Hi-Fi is going, and then we're going to drill into what what this decision that Danny's made for Abilene, that is, you know, caused a lot of mouths to drop wide open because Abilene is such a fixture.

When I think about my my so my early days of listening to music, my parents had an eight track player out on the porch and they had a had a record player, and I, we were not nearly as, anal about it as your family was about the vinyl, but, I mean, I remember listening to John Denver's live, I loved, Thank God I'm a Country Boy.

There's a live version of I had an eight track, life.

And I love that stuff.

I go way back with that stuff, but over time, of course, cassette, CDs.

And there's kind of this ebb and flow of history.

But the recent vinyl has made a comeback in my mind.

Having bought vinyl myself in recent years is when I go look for a vinyl.

I'm not just grabbing it for the for the listening pleasure, although I am.

There is something about it that stirs memories.

It stirs conversation.

When you've got people over and you want to talk about what you're putting on next, you're not just grabbing your phone and or letting it randomly skip.

You have to be very intentional about it and often will spark conversation, and it just feels more like a tangible connection to art and music, as opposed to just letting something digital happen.

What about what about you?

I think the same.

I mean, it kind of seems like a piece of art that you have in your home, right?

You pick it up and you're like, oh, this is like a painting.

Or a lot of times it is because somebody designed the artwork for the cover and it's nice and big, so you can see it, you can display it, and it is it is more of a conversational piece.

It's it's part of the environment that you're in.

It's part of the hangout that you're having is opening the vinyl and pulling it out.

I was just doing that the other day, and I had some friends over, and I had some vinyls that weren't even open yet, and I was like, you know what?

I'm doing it.

I'm ripping off the the shrink wrap.

We're opening these right now.

We're going to play them, experience it together for the first time that they're being played.

There is something tactile about it, and it's so much more social than just playing something on your phone and walking away.

Well, the Washington Post writes, quote, grab your disk, man's out of storage.

CDs are back, baby.

And Mark Cady, is that true?

It's in its infancy.

Unlike the come back you for the comeback.

So unlike the vinyl comeback, which has been happening for good dozen years now, and, I think, you know, you do have to pay attention that a little bit because, yes, CD sales were up 16% or something, over the year, and vinyl was up a couple of percent.

But vinyl has been going up for they have a higher base year and CDs have been kind of been know, you know, going down for 12 years.

So why now for CDs?

What are people.

Well, I mean, well, for one thing, CDs are kind of cool.

And there's, there's a reason we, we kind of gravitated towards them in the first place.

They have their charms.

But honestly, I think a lot of it is economics.

You know, it used to be that CDs were the premium priced product more than records were, and it certainly flipped, you know, appeaser 40%, essentially oil.

And we, in case you haven't heard, oil, not as cheap as it was in the 80s, but, know I've heard a few things.

Yeah, yeah.

So, and this is a pretty complex process to make a record, too.

Whereas with the CDs, they've got it down so they can produce them very, very cheaply.

So, a lot of what I'm seeing are younger people that think vinyl is cool, but, when they can buy three CDs for, you know, or two for price of one record, it becomes more compelling.

That's an interesting idea.

I also love the idea.

Idea that whether you're picking up a vinyl or CD, you're picking up an album and the whole of the album, sometimes it was a story.

It was very there was a lot of work I have two brothers who really worked hard at being a music.

I mean, you've done it.

It's a like the debate is, are you sure this song should lead the album?

And how do we and I feel like we've lost that a little bit, or almost entirely with the way music is put out now.

How do you see it, like with the the tactile ness of it or like the concept albums?

I mean, people are still doing it.

Yeah.

You know, and on your show recently you put, who's the dude from from The Killers, Brandon Flowers, right?

Oh, yeah.

Boy, he's got a new album.

Amazing.

Yeah, I love it.

And I first heard it on the route.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Evan.

Tiger's blood.

Great song.

Great song.

Made me want to pick up and take a look at the whole album.

I just don't think that younger generations understand what it was like when you had to have a physical thing and you could read a book on it.

Yeah.

You know, and it just feels different now.

I think, the, the gap between millennials and Gen Z is like that era of time.

People were getting really used to being able to stream directly onto their phone.

It was new, you know what I mean?

Like streaming services where you could listen to anything at any given time was fairly new.

Now that it's not new anymore, there are a bunch of people, millennials, Gen Z, and a younger generations that, want that experience back of going to the store, buying something, having something, picking it up, playing it.

One issue I have with a resurgence of CDs is that the rest of the world is going to need to, like, figure out how to get back into it because they're taking CD players out of computers.

Out of cars.

Yeah.

Like, how are we going to if CDs are coming back and if people are producing them, how are we playing them?

Yeah, that's that's true.

I mean, you know, and I think that was kind of one of the death knell, for CDs is they took the players out of cars and you virtually can't get one anymore.

And yeah, out of the PCs and everything else.

But, you know, there's still, there's still a lot of CD players gather and dust in the world is is there was turntables.

I mean, a lot of the, turntables that I fix at the Hi-Fi lounge are things that dad had stashed away back, when the CDs became big and they put it in the closet, and it's still there, and they pull it out, and I get him working.

So, so some of that, some of that's going to exist for CDs as well.

But a lot of people like to listen to CDs in their cars.

And, and a lot of people that come into my store are not happy that they can't do that.

Yeah.

Well, let me read a couple of emails.

Judy writes to say on YouTube, I watched someone making comments about the first time listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the moon.

He did not understand that it's a concept album and commented, songs too long.

And who are these people?

This CD booklet sometimes provide lyrics info about the band members, artwork, etc.

Spotify and subscription services may not.

I don't know what they give you.

I won't, I won't ever get music on subscription because I don't want my music in the cloud, whatever that is.

I want to look at it, I want to feel it and sing along because the lyrics are there for me.

That is from Judy.

And let me read another email that came in, before the show.

On the subject of what Danny has decided to do, longtime journalist and music fan Gary Craig sent us to this.

He says Abilene is more than a bar.

It is a community.

That's because of Danny.

He created a welcoming environment with, of course, great music for eclectic tastes.

We love going there, as do our daughter and her friends.

Speaking of music, Danny provides a reliable and warm location for local acts while drawing quality music from across the country.

Musicians, you can tell, love the place.

That's why artists like Rhett Miller of old 90 Seven's or Carolyn Wonderland, the first female lead guitarist for the legendary John Male Blues Band, kept coming back.

He's a hell of a guy.

Well, at the DNC, I did a major piece on Daniel Ponder to run in one of our biggest additions.

We realized very late in the game that we did not have a good location for photos and an interview.

I reached out to Danny and he kindly opened Abilene for us.

His work ethic cannot be overstated, and that's why, as much as it will hurt if Abilene closes, I'm glad he's doing this for himself.

I find myself growing tired during the show, simply watching everything Danny does.

We all in this community owe him a big thanks.

It's very sweet.

It's gay Craig.

It's very sweet.

Yeah.

This is, So this is a this is your life portion of the show.

Danny.

So, Hannah, we were talking for the program, and I kind of want to step aside and hear you talk to Danny about the the challenge that comes with being a venue like this.

Because for the fans, we just we know it is like, oh, that's like one of the great places to see it.

That's one of the intimate places.

Where else would you go.

But to actually be a performer there to actually be the man running it, this is not an easy industry.

Absolutely not.

And I know that it has its challenges.

And I really wanted to talk to you about that, Danny, because I personally have never owned a venue myself.

But I've been running my own company.

Mocks on booking and booking shows, and I've been playing out with bands for years in the Rochester scene.

And, every venue does something a little bit different.

Some people, do a pay to play, some people take a percentage at the door, some people don't.

Some people pay sound off the door.

I'm wondering what what's the perfect model here?

You know, I know that it's different for everyone, and I appreciate that.

I rarely talk to local bands about what the pay, rate or schedule is.

They sort of.

Trust me.

And they get a percentage of the door and generally a high percentage of the door.

I pay the sound person.

But I think that we've been known for fairness and equity, and bands want to play there.

We have an audience of people that is very appreciative of the music and of the space itself.

So do you think that there's something that other venues could do with that sort of a model or, or shoot for that would be more successful for everyone involved?

Because it is it's it's difficult to, you know, like I said, I've been on a couple I've had a bunch of different shows on in this sort of a thing where in some instances I've been the promoter and I'm trying to make money doing that, which is so much work and very, very underpaid.

But also the bands, you know, they don't want to put the time in if they can't.

Yeah, make some money at a, at a show.

And, and of course, the venue wouldn't be here if they weren't making money.

I'll say this much.

I know that when we opened 18 years ago and we're doing music a few nights a week, we never charge the cover.

I'm not really sure what I was thinking about, but we didn't charge a cover.

We were busy always.

I mean, in those days, people stayed out till 2 a.m.. This is long before Covid and almost two decades ago, no cover charge.

And it was busy.

Really busy.

And bands loved it.

There was no stage yet, and yet we had Lakeside Lake Street dive play there in the corner and JD McPherson.

This is all pre stage era.

And then one day I went, you know like everyone was sort of getting paid or paying our bills.

But there is nothing left over.

Yeah.

And now we charge for every show.

And I think part of it goes you know, to pay the bills, but it's also out of respect for the artist and what it is you're presenting.

We charge for every show that we've, you know, for the last 15 years, whether it's $5 for a local band or $40, you know, at for Dan Potter this weekend, it's important that people get paid and the product in the music that's being presented, I think is of a high enough quality 95% of the time that I feel very fairly about charging what we do.

Yeah.

I mean, you get you get some great bands there, you have some amazing shows and, you welcomed the community in so well.

And, and we all love playing there.

Truly, truly.

Do you think that there's a difference between when you started as far as like attendance and where we are now?

And do you think maybe the pandemic had something to do with that?

I have a strong feeling that, the scene itself is bigger than it ever has been.

I mean, when we started, there was no three heads, there was no iron smoke.

There was none of that Fairport scene at all.

There were no winery, other wineries.

But there were, a limited amount of wineries and ciders and breweries doing music.

The Little Theater cafe wasn't in existence yet.

I think that as a fan of music and I look forward to this, you could go out every night of the week with many options.

You could go out on a Tuesday night.

Well, not at the little Theater Cafe, but six other nights a week, and there are two or 3 or 5 great options within a 30 mile area.

That didn't exist, I don't think 15, 18 years ago.

So it's I think the scene itself is thriving.

I really do.

Well, I'm really hoping that it continues to thrive and that people continue to do what you do at Abilene.

It's it's an amazing venue and I think everyone that I've talked to, musician wise is excited for, whatever the next chapter is and happy for you to thank you.

There will be a next chapter.

I mean, there's Marcus not just alluded to it, but jokes about it.

I'm I'll be 71 in a couple months and I'd like to hear other music.

I'd like to travel, I'd like to do some other things.

And I'd also like to present shows in some other venues on a more regular basis.

And we have used the Temple Theater, which I think is a great facility around the corner from Abilene.

I like to do some things, some more things at the JK heart.

Theater.

The little one is a beautiful room, so keep your eyes open.

Well, maybe related to this idea of, all these different, great options that are in this community now, Peter says, via email, folks who haven't lived in other areas may not realize how wonderful and rare the vibrant music scene is for Rochester's size.

My thanks to all of your guests for sustaining and enriching that tradition for as long as they have.

And amen to that.

I mean, I, you know, as you and Hannah are kind of talking about, what it is like running this kind of a scene and then seeing it grow over the last two decades, doing the writing that I've done about the Finger Lakes wine scene.

There's been this debate and along that same kind of timeline that says what kind of growth is sustainable?

And what I want to think is your closure or your changing hands to new ownership.

Same with Mark Hope.

Maybe same.

You know, with Skylark.

I'm not I'm not sure.

They sent a note to Casey.

The owner said they made it to 15 years.

He wants to end on a high note.

He is not interested in selling the business, but he hopes that another bar will move into that space.

So, yeah, maybe there isn't too much disruption, but maybe there is.

And like any kind of a midsize, not major market scene, you have to figure out how many different businesses within a genre can be sustained.

What does that look like right now?

Well, to me, I think that things are in good shape.

And that's sort of Americana, alt country, folk, blues, jazz world that I live in.

We're in.

I think it's in really good shape.

Buffalo has the sportsman's Tavern, which is a wonderful facility.

Syracuse has a room called the 443 Social Club.

There's similar sized rooms, sports rooms being a little bit bigger, but we share acts.

And so, you and Joel can play Sportsman's in Abilene and, big Sandy can play Buffalo and Rochester.

And there is a circuit.

It's tough for some national acts that skip Rochester, but on the level that I met, I think we're in good shape.

How do you see in Mark in 40 years?

Just the business community for music.

How has how much has it changed in 40 years?

Well, you know, it's been surprisingly strong in this town.

I mean, I've seen a bunch come and go start ups, but, you know, the record stores here we've been at.

I don't have to tell you.

There's some good ones and some some substantial ones that have been here as long or longer than I have.

You know, the Bob shop, the Record Archive, you know, the these these places are their first class record stores and, and practice's always been a particularly good town for, for music stores.

And, you know, it it takes a while.

I think, you know, there's different ways to run a business, but I do think it takes an owner operator that has a feel for it to some extent.

But, but, you know, I, our record store day in April was the best record store day I have had so far on the vinyl renaissance.

Now is it's it's it seems to be the solid.

Is it, is it ever was.

And now we got this little CD thing happening, so, you know, I, you know, I'm actually a little bit surprised, frankly, because with music being free now, in air quotes, I guess, it's people is Hannah was talking on.

There's still very solid reasons why people want to do it.

The old fashioned way.

Mark, I have a quick question for you.

So one thing that you do at Hi-Fi lounges, you do repairs.

Yeah, that's a big part of it.

Exactly.

And, repairing things that, and I can't think of any other place in town that would do that.

Are you thinking that when, when you pass this business on to someone that they'll be able to continue that because it it is a service that's necessary.

I'm sure that it's not the most fruitful or like, maybe not as busy as your sales, side of things.

Or maybe it is, but where do you see the, like, repair world of this going?

Well, yeah.

The repair part of the business is really one of my favorite parts, because we're resurrecting a lot of, units that, you know, some of them are really almost family heirlooms at this point.

You know, there was, we had a lot of, engineers in Rochester in the 60s and 70s because of Kodak and Xerox, and they bought some nice equipment.

They were guys that, you know, could afford it, and they they appreciated it.

And that nice equipment, a lot of it is still can still be, brought up to spec and is increased in value.

Really.

It's it's, it's there's a good collector's market for it.

So, but to answer your question, more specifically, I think whoever takes this business will, well, I first of all, I have technicians that, help me with this stuff.

I don't fix it all by myself.

I do a bunch of the turntable work, but I've got guys and, you know, if you're nice to them, they'll stick around.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I would.

I would suspect that part of the business.

It is important.

And will it will remain okay.

Good.

That's great news.

I really wanted to ask you that because as somebody that has multiple turntables and multiple, like, vintage Hi-Fi pieces, I'm like, where am I going to bring my things to get fixed?

Because I know at some point everything breaks a little bit.

Yeah, yeah.

And the beautiful thing is, a lot of this stuff that's 40, 50 years old, we can still fix, you know, sometimes we can't get the parts, but usually we can.

And, you know, the Bluetooth speaker, you you buy it, a big box store today.

In five years, you'll be absolutely throwing in the garbage.

And, well, we're we're saving a lot of stuff.

That's still really good equipment.

Well, I mean, I think about what you talk about with Hi-Fi.

How how outstanding this community is to have Hi-Fi bop shop record archive, and I don't I don't like thinking about Rochester this way, but sometimes this is how my brain works.

Sometimes I think Abilene, I think Hi-Fi.

Sometimes I think of a coffee shop, but I think if you just pick this up and drop this in New York City, it would do great.

Yeah.

Which is not like the healthiest.

Like we're Rochester, we're not trying to be anything at Rochester.

But the reason I bring that up is I think sometimes Rochester, things get a little insular, not realizing, like we have sometimes world class national class venues, culture, you know, just diverse offerings.

And I'm not trying to oversell it.

I'm not trying to do any PR for anything.

I just bring this up because, I mean, look, you're in the scene in multiple ways.

You performed in you've been in different cities seeing what this looks like here.

Rochester really does have something pretty special on the music scene.

That's why part of the reason we're having this program, this ours, I mean, I selfishly, I don't want to lose that.

I'm not saying we're going to lose it.

But change is hard sometimes.

It is.

And I think the what is fueling the Rochester music scene is community.

You know, most of us could go to other cities, try to be successful there.

But Rochester has something special where we work together.

We're collaborating with each other.

We're playing in each other's bands.

We're texting each other, making sure, hey, do you have a show this week?

Because I'm playing at Abilene and we're and I'm trying to set up a show, but I don't want to conflict with you or, hey, do you want to sit in like I did the Dolly Parton tribute show at Abilene, which was so amazing.

Thank you.

Danny.

But, like, doing something that we're had a bunch of guest singers bringing people on, and they do the cash bash as well.

Rochester has community, and I think that that's what sets us apart from these bigger cities.

Even if you, you know, people dream of going to Nashville, being successful there, whether they're starting their business or they're just trying to start their music career, which it could work, but there's so many people trying to do the same thing, and it's super competitive.

And I think there's so much of a great, there's so many local musicians who could be national musicians.

I mean, there are people who have graduated from the Penfield district or the Pittsford district or Gates or the City of Rochester's program.

And they're so good.

And they're players from Michaela's band to your band to others who just astound me.

And they're not leaving.

They're not going anywhere.

Their families are here.

And that's, you know, the vibrant part of it.

It's it's great.

Also, I should mention I'm a huge supporter of what goes on in downtown Rochester.

You hear bad things at times, and the perception at times is tough.

But boy, I'll tell you, within a real small walking area, you can go to great restaurants.

You can go to a great movie theater, a great cafe, performing arts venues, bookstores, a bunch of cafes, a bunch of coffee shops all within a walking area.

And I just, I think it's flourishing and I think it's vibrant and I think it's a pretty cool site.

Well, after we take this only break of the hour, I've got phone calls, emails to share as we talk about change in the Rochester community with the music scene, all those we're hearing this hour that change may be temporary.

There may be, you know, certainly when Danny Deutsch is not there everyday Abilene will be different, but maybe there is a future in that space.

Danny says there certainly should be.

So they're working on that.

Same with what Mark Kaidy has done for 40 years at Hi-Fi and the CD exchange.

I mean, even if he's not there all the time, give the guy a break.

He deserves a little bit of a break, but the goal is to keep it going there.

But there's certainly change of foot in the community.

And that's why we're talking not only to these guys, but co-hosting the program this hour is Hannah Maier from The Route, and we'll come right back with more of your feedback on the other side.

Coming up in our second hour, a week of books wraps up with Funny Stuff How Comedy Shaped American History.

It's an exploration of why certain comedic moments or sketches or performers have broken through in the American consciousness.

Often they show us a mirror, tell us something about ourselves as human beings and as Americans.

We'll talk about funny stuff next.

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This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson, before the end of this year, Skylark lounge is going to close.

Abilene is closing by the week before Thanksgiving, although they're looking for, new faces to fill the space and to keep that space going.

And Hi-Fi lounge, ten years in Rochester, last 30 in Brighton.

That will that eventually will get new ownership but hopefully be the same kind of thing.

So we're talking about the changes that are afoot in local music and Michael in Webster wants to jump into the conversation.

Hey, Michael, go ahead.

Hi.

Hi.

Thanks for taking my call.

At the Abilene location, for decades was the Tara Piano Lounge.

And that is such a hole in the Rochester community that there isn't a piano bar anymore.

I can't imagine that, a resurgence of that kind of a venue wouldn't be popular with all of the local talent and community choruses, community theater groups and musicals.

They would be lining up at the door.

I appreciate that, Michael.

We had a Tara's reunion two weeks ago that was tremendously well attended right there.

Oh, great.

It was big fun, wasn't it?

I mean, yeah, I'm very appreciative of the history of the building.

And, the over 20 years at Tara's was there, yeah.

I if someone would like to step up and do that again, that'd be great.

It was a great time.

The reunions we've had have been wonderful, and the history of Tara's is pretty astounding.

Also.

So thank you, Michael.

Thank you.

Yeah, for adding that that bit of history as well there.

What do you remember your first show at Abilene?

No.

You don't remember?

Okay.

What what what will you remember first five years from now when you've been out of this for five years?

And you think back to I remember I think obviously the music, but the friendships I've made there, I mean, there are people there, the, the friends that I've made, the community that's been so supportive.

During Covid, when we were all shut down, there were days that I would go to the bar and we were closed, and I had to open a mailbox and there were cards with checks in them made out to Abilene.

Like, we want you to continue.

Yeah.

I mean, it gives me goosebumps because I've gone to bars for years.

I've been drinking in bars longer than my parents would have loved to hear.

But I've never written a check to a bar.

I've never.

I've tipped well, I've over tipped.

But that period of time was just so heartwarming.

You know, the think of how much you have to how important what you do has to be to someone for them to just write a check to a bar.

Right.

Hang in there.

Yeah.

It means the world to me.

It's wild.

Yeah.

So selling henna for you?

I mean, what's going to be the first Abilene memory in the post Danny era when you think back to it?

Well, for two years, we've done the Dolly Parton tribute show.

And I'm going to be honest, Danny, I was planning to do that at Abilene until I couldn't stand up on stage any longer.

So I'm hoping I'm hopeful for whoever takes over to continue the amazing muse music legacy.

And because there aren't really a lot of honky tonk bars, not that abilene's like a straight country bar, but leaning a little bit more towards that sort of genre.

And and people are happy to hear that kind of music.

I have been told previously from other venues that we were two country, and I think that upstate New York, that can be it can be hit or miss.

People love the country music or they straight up hate it.

So.

But Abilene fits somewhere right in the middle where they're playing country bands, with like, folk opener or even like a rock and roll band and all different genres.

And what you've cultivated there has just been so beautiful and welcoming.

Thank you.

I mean, I've had the luxury, I must say, and not every club can do this.

I mean, I don't have kids to send to college or things, and the the margins might be really tight, but I've had the luxury to book music I want to hear and 98% of the time it's music that I really like very much with local, national, regional or international.

It's stuff I like, so that's a pretty special position to be in.

So we'll find a home for Dolly Parton next year.

I'll find another venue, I guess.

Who knows, maybe in the same space, maybe the same space.

Okay, that would be great.

Greg wants to know if cassette tapes are going to make a comeback.

All right.

Mark.

Well, you know, it's funny you should ask because to some extent that they, they have an, with all of these genre comes back comebacks, you know, apparently none of these, none of these formats actually die.

They sort of go dormant and they come to life like a butterfly, but, kiss.

There is a little bit of a cassette revival, but it's it's it's pretty.

Nikki.

And, some of the older cassettes, can be worth some substantial money.

But not the one that your uncle Bob bought at the truck stop, but, you know, certain, you know, obscure heavy metal bands.

If you have a cassette and if it's still sealed, you'd be surprised what some of them can sell for.

And, so I think it's going to be kind of a sub niche, but, cassettes, it's not nothing.

Yeah.

Cassettes have actually made a comeback with bands because it's a cheap way to put your music out.

I've done it with one of my bands where we had a cassette, duplicator.

So we would get one printed, and then we would buy the kid sets, which was so cheap to just buy the tapes and then just duplicate them ourselves.

It was a really easy way to get the music out for very cheap.

If you weren't a kid during the cassette era of having to tape songs off the radio when your favorite song was coming and hoping the DJ didn't talk over yes, too much of your favorite song.

Kids will not know what that was like.

Like you might just have weeks before you hear your favorite song again.

Yeah, it's funny that you say that even because I used to do that as a little kid.

I had a little cassette that I held and the song would play, and then, I would record it.

And then right when the DJ was going to come on, I would switch to me as the DJ was so ironic because now that's what I do for work.

It's great.

Such a good story.

Oh my gosh, do you still have any, copies of that?

You know, I have no idea.

Yes, maybe.

Yes you do, I hope I do.

I'd love to.

Finally.

Oh, no.

See, I hope I used to have it was called a karaoke machine in my basement.

That's just what it was sold as.

But I used to do with a friend of mine.

We had a fake radio station because I grew up in Cleveland, where the at the end of the radio, that was 107.9, and it was called The End because it was the end of the dial.

So we did 87.1 the beginning.

That was we thought that was very clever.

And and we would do like five, a five song countdown.

And then we would talk to like fake guests.

And I was like amazing 12 years old.

See, look at us on some.

And what after I listen for like five minutes, I'm like, no one will ever hear this.

I'm going to bury this.

I'm going to shoot this thing in the space.

People would probably pay money to hear, no, thank you very much.

No cassette tapes coming back.

Well, that surprise you, Danny?

I think there's some power pop bands and some bands that do put out cassettes.

I don't think if people haven't lived it, they've had to rewind the cassette.

Yeah.

The.

Yeah.

Or it's, you know, stuck in your cassette deck in the car and it's like, oh my God.

So I think CD player CDs are coming back.

So it's easy for bands or more affordable for bands to, get them printed.

I'm looking for an older car now with a CD player.

I, you know, I, I mean, nobody's going to sell a car with a combination CD, tape, an eight track player.

That'd be awesome.

Again, I think that's, one of the reasons that CDs are getting more popular with younger people is they're the ones that are buying the older cars.

Is that the cars?

Yeah, that's true in they have CD players in them.

So that helps.

Yeah.

Wow.

Well it was a little piece of insight inside there.

Jim and Rochester's been waiting to jump in.

Hey, Jim.

Go ahead.

Hi.

I, I noticed the gentleman that owns there, I believe is kind of ready to retire and all that.

I've gone there off and on over the years.

It's a great venue.

Like the especially out back to you.

If there's not a band, it's just a lot of space.

It's really cool.

Works.

What's a club?

They, you know, they they're not going to be open anytime soon.

They're shooting for Halloween, but that's not happening.

The overflow from walks goes to vertex now.

So like any night, you know, Thursday through Saturday night after 11:00, you're going to be waiting in line for a while.

Everybody is right around the corner from vertex.

I don't know how.

So if I know you want to, do you want to do it anymore?

Because I understand people want to retire.

I'm like, how to actually, And I just don't draw that kind of crowd.

And I think you get a lot of people, but it's almost like a it's not a hidden gem.

People know where it is, but a lot of people here are transplants and we really don't know.

But I think it would be a great place to take some of that overflow from looks.

It's the same kind of style.

Do you know you got the way the space is all, you know, we got out back and all that stuff.

And also before I hang up, I mean, this can make somebody rich.

Why doesn't anybody invent a portable.

Can you play with Bluetooth?

Bam.

Then you can listen to it all the time in your car.

There you go, Jim.

Okay, that's Jim, I am, maybe, I mean, maybe that's maybe that's the next big money maker.

And, Danny, you want to you got your your post Abilene job lined up here.

It sounds like, directing people from vertex over to Abilene.

Vertex holds a great, spot in my heart.

I mean, Patty is a friend of mine who owns vertex, and I think I knew her or met her when she was 18 or something, working the door to idols and I respect what they do very much.

So if someone wanted open Abilene and do more in concert with vertex, that'd be great.

I think they do a great job of what they do.

There's been many times where I've gone to normally you go to Abilene, first you go to Abilene, you see the show, and then after then you go to vertex, because vertex is the late night dance party, sort of a situation.

But many times I've done that.

Two great venues.

I'll say this much.

I don't go to vertex often because I'm stuck at Abilene, and by the time it's done, I'm ready for sleep.

But the few times that I've been there, I generally stand out like quite the dork because I'm wearing, like, a shirt like this snap black.

Like, who's the old guy stupidly dancing in the corner?

I want to see you.

Didn't do you.

Does.

Good.

This is from, Mike who emails to say Danny Deutsch in Abilene are like Rick Blaine and Rick's cafe American in Casablanca.

Legendary.

Many thanks for Danny supporting the local music scene and bringing exceptional music to Rochester for the past 18 years.

Yeah, thank you very, very much.

That's from Mike.

Allen writes to say, just wanted to put in a mention for our little Clifton Springs twice a month concert series.

Scott Regan called us the best listening room in the greater Rochester area.

Library meeting room with zero atmosphere, folding chairs, donation basket at the door, all collections to the feature performers, two Wednesdays a month feature and open mic.

In business for 19 years, the folk scene survives.

Allen says that tunes by the tracks a great series, very great tunes by the tracks and Clifton Springs.

There's so much great stuff going on, Wendy says.

My child built a huge vocabulary due to books on CD from the public library.

But the new car?

No CD player.

That's exactly how they actually we were talking about.

But she also says, when I was first out of college, Red Creek brought huge star musicians from Africa.

Nobody has picked up that baton.

That's from Wendy in the city.

Well, I've had a woman, Cairo Irby played our place maybe in 2010 from Mali.

And it was the one of the top ten shows we've ever presented.

And then.

And I'm not sure the dates exactly.

But then war broke out.

Mali in that band broke up and there were troubles.

But we've done bands from Mali, we've done Jamaican bands, we've done bands from New Orleans.

And so we're open and there's a few more openings until we're close.

You still have some openings.

It's a couple of dates of, you know, band from Senegal or something.

Send them our way.

Okay.

Wendy, thank you for the email there.

Let me grab this.

I think this is Paul Nunes on the phone.

Hey, Paul.

How's it going, sir?

Oh, very good, very good.

Hello everyone there.

Paul.

Hi, Paul.

And everyone in that room.

One thing, they make CD players that are Bluetooth capable.

Oh, no.

That was ran a dream for my granddaughter.

And she tortures her mother by playing her own CDs from the backseat on the radio, through the car radio.

So it's like that culture is alive and well.

So, so you think that continues?

But I got to say thank you, Danny, for everything.

You have been instrumental in the launch of my daughter's career, who is like a teenager.

She's still in high school.

And you saw her in the play and gave her gave her her, young legs, get stable on the stage and, you know, she's been quite successful, as you know, when you're playing Bonnaroo and, all kinds of festivals.

And she now lives in Austin, where she continues to, to play and, and, and look for her music.

And you've been so kind to me, my bands and I thank you.

And I have so many to say that some people say that you're the best man and your future is bright.

Thank you very much.

You know, we talked about this last night.

Probably, those couple performances with Julian Owens were just super memorable.

And I think she's a great artist.

And you as well as her dad.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for that.

But, again, I don't need to linger and take up your time.

Just, just wanted to say thank you very much for everything, Danny.

Thanks, Paul.

And let the music.

Let the music roll.

Thank you.

Paul.

Paul is somebody who I think to Hannah Maier's point earlier about.

And Danny said has said largely all of our guests are kind of talking about the way this community is not just solely competitive and cutthroat, that they're Paul, somebody who shows up at a lot of different places, not only, with the music that he has created himself, but supporting other people.

And there are countless people who you could probably point to around the city and around this region who do that.

Hannah.

Mary, there is something really beautiful about that.

There is, you know, and I feel super grateful that I have the job that I do where I can bring local bands on, I can bring venue owners on.

We can talk about what's going on in their venues with their lives, that their albums are coming out.

And like, all I want to do is do more of that because I want every single Rochester band to be successful.

I want everyone to feel like they've made it.

This is it, you know that they've created something amazing because I want to steal that, and I want others to feel that too.

You know, not every city has already got hired.

And I and, such a fostering and a place for bands and musicians of all stripes, I mean, this is a real cherished thing that was on here and, appreciative of what are you are does I'm appreciative what the little does our audience is just the kindest, most wonderful audience at Abilene.

Caring and very good.

And I've been blessed for 18 years with the best staff ever.

I mean, we haven't had as much turnover.

There's been, you know, it's a short list, but every person that's worked there cares.

And it's been great.

So.

Well, it's been an awesome hour.

I'll read a couple more comments here.

Our engineer Rob.

Rob sends a note.

Just saying, Danny is not only the best bar owner, he always has the artist in mind.

He's the nicest person in the biz who makes it look so easy.

His presence makes the place fun, safe and happy.

It was an honor to work with him, have a beer with him and becoming friends with him.

Cheers to Danny.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I thank you, Rob.

That's.

I mean, that's exactly right.

And a listener on YouTube said, my niece is 24.

She visits goodwill and thrift stores to buy CDs.

Now, I went with her and bought seven great CDs for a couple bucks each.

So, I mean, I do think it's interesting generationally you are seeing I if I'm buying a CD in your place, I'm probably in my 20s.

Is that right?

You think?

Well, certainly we're seeing more 20 years old all of a sudden than we had been previously.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So interesting to see how that market changes.

You know, as we get ready to wrap here, both these guys we could have talked to five years ago at the tail end of a pandemic that was really hard, that kept a separated the businesses were closed.

You heard Danny talk a little bit about what people were were doing at the time, to kind of keep Abilene going and, you know, trying to get away from the polarization that makes you pick an extreme side that either the pandemic was overblown and a hoax and was, you know, was a government controlled plot or the worst thing ever.

It was terrible.

Probably there are lessons to learn, probably were we were closed, in general too often or more than we should have been.

And people need to be together.

But I understand why people may had to make hard decisions.

You think this community's recovered largely as someone who performs on that circuit?

Are you comfortable five, six years later that, you know, we're kind of past that.

It feels like it it feels like we're past it.

I don't think about it really anymore, so that's great.

And things have been coming around and people are going out.

More people are supporting the artists more.

They are jumping from show to show, which, like you were saying earlier in the hour, Danny, there are a lot of shows going on.

And I think what has shown me that we're through it is people going to multiple shows a night.

I agree.

I also think, though, that it one of the changes that will be long lasting is that things start much earlier the night sort of ends that I'm loving.

Oh yeah, it's kind of nice.

I mean, used to be you'd have to wait up.

I remember many times playing last at the Bug jar, playing at one in the morning, just sitting there waiting for my set to come along and listen.

I was more than happy to do it, but it has.

I like that moved earlier I like that, yeah.

Is it's a great observation.

All right.

Hey, Mark Kaidy, as we close, your Hi Fi Lounge is going to.

You're looking for a new owner, but you're going to close when we're not, closing, per se, in the near future.

No dates, have no dates.

I'm looking for a buyer, and I'll probably hang out until.

Until I get one.

And if anybody, wants to know more details about that, you can, go to my, friend is now broker.

She, the site is Berta b e r t o Yuko.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

By the way, Danny Deutsch, keep us updated.

November 21st is the last day.

Friendsgiving.

It's a benefit we've done for 6 or 7 years.

We raise funds in good, clean, new clothing for the homeless.

There'll be 5 or 6 bands, so we're going to end on a good note.

Abilene is going to be packed between now and November 24th.

Thank you sir.

Thank you Hannah Maier.

Always great working with you, Evan.

Thanks for having me.

One of the best here is the host of the route, and we've got, more Connections coming up in just a minute.

Stay with us.

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