Stories indexed with the term ‘Old Town Tavern’

Milestone: A Pitcher Worth 1,000 Words

The monthly milestone column here at The Ann Arbor Chronicle provides a regular, systematic way to express our appreciation to readers and advertisers for their financial support. That support was strong enough to sustain the publication through its fifth year in operation. Thank you.

Pitcher passed at the Old Town Tavern on Jan. 1, 2014 for the annual Townes Van Zandt memorial show performed by Chris Buhalis – on the anniversary of Van Zandt s death, now 17 years ago. (Photo by the writer).

Pitcher passed at the Old Town Tavern on Jan. 1, 2014 for the annual Townes Van Zandt memorial show performed by Chris Buhalis – on the anniversary of Van Zandt’s death, now 17 years ago. (Photo by the writer.)

As we flip the calendar to a new year, the regular milestone column is also a chance to remind readers: To sustain itself, the business really does rely in part on “voluntary subscription” dollars.

The Chronicle’s continued ability to document local government and civic affairs depends on you and it depends on you now – not on someone else at some other time. So I’m asking you to think right now about using the online system or the old-fashioned check-in-an-envelope method to make a financial contribution to The Chronicle: Subscribe!

As a reminder, in case we don’t write a column about this in some given month, I’ve added a recurring monthly item to our event listings for the second day of every month: Time to Contribute Financially to The Ann Arbor Chronicle.

It’s worth pointing out that The Chronicle’s event listings are pretty extensive, and currently include somewhere around 15,000 local events. That’s made possible through the work of Jon Udell as part of his Elm City Project. Granted, 15,000 events might sound a bit overwhelming, but we have begun categorizing them into smaller mini-calendars that some readers might find easier to parse.

One of the regular events you’ll find listed in The Chronicle’s event calendar is live music every Sunday night at the Old Town Tavern. Customary at the Old Town, after the band has played its set, is for someone to carry around a pitcher to collect up money for the musicians. It’s somewhat like a secular version of passing the collection plate at a worship service in the Christian tradition.

When someone is holding the pitcher out in front of you, that’s the time you are called upon to act – not later.

So I’d like you to think of this month’s column as the Internet-equivalent of passing the pitcher for The Chronicle. Below the fold, I’m going to beat briefly (I promise) on this same drum. So if you’ve made a recent contribution, you should feel free to imagine that the pitcher has moved on to the next table. [Full Story]

Liberty & Ashley

Old Town Tavern wound up this year’s Sunday night live music series with an all-star combination: Matt Jones was offering sweet vocals accompanied by his own finger-picked guitar, backed by Misty Lynn, with Serge van der Voo (Orpheum Bell) on the upright bass and Colette Alexander absolutely whaling on the cello. [photo] Finish out the year and start the next one with Matt Jones and Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful at Mittenfest at Woodruff’s at 36 E. Cross St. in Ypsilanti. Jones plays on Dec. 28, 2013 at 10:15 p.m. with Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful slotted in for 11 p.m on Dec. 29.

Liberty & Ashley

Some of the dignified portraits at the Old Town are sporting Halloween masks, thanks to Liz. [photo]

Liberty & Ashley

Poster for Ross Huff trio at Old Town on Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. [photo] Thought I knew that name from somewhere, and I was right: here and here.

Bill Bynum’s BreakFest Preview at Old Town

On Sunday, Jim and Connie Johnston drove from Hanover, just south of Jackson, Mich., to Ann Arbor.

Bill Bynum and Co. Sunday Night Old Town

Bill Bynum & Co. Sunday night at the Old Town Tavern. Left to right: Mary Seelhorst on fiddle, Chuck Anderson on bass, Dave Keeney on guitar, Bill Bynum on guitar and vocals. (Photos by the writer.)

They’d come specifically to hear Bill Bynum & Co. play the Old Town Tavern – a neighborhood bar offering free live music every Sunday night. Yes, the Johnstons are fans – they buy a CD every time they see Bill play, says Jim, so they’ll have one to give away to another friend as an introduction to Bynum’s songs.

What kind of songs are those? Bynum announced his Old Town set by saying, “Howdy, folks, we’re here to play some hillbilly music!” And that’s what they did for two 45-minute sets, with a break in between.

The Chronicle didn’t have to drive nearly an hour to get to the Old Town like the Johnstons did – the Old Town is right down the street from us.

But we were there to see Bynum, too, because we wanted to check out one of the acts playing BreakFest 2010 at The Ark on Feb. 26. That’s when Bynum will be joined by Bonnie Rideout, Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. and Duck Baker in a benefit concert at The Ark for The Breakfast at St. Andrew’s, a nonprofit that provides a hot breakfast every day of the year to anyone who shows up at the doorstep of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on North Division. [Full Story]

Dining out: Seven Stops for SOS

Datestamp of our adventure, which started aboard the 446 AATA bus on Route 4. No smoking, no hot dogs, or other buses (?) allowed on board.

As we reported last week, SOS Community Services was to embark on a fundraising effort on Nov. 21-22: Dine Out to Help the Homeless. Seven different area bars and restaurants participated. On Saturday, we visited them all.

Transportation to Ypsilanti and back was provided by the AATA bus system. We observed a lot along the way to make some donations for the cause, including a guy we pegged as a graduate student in some liberal arts field who … [Full Story]

Buhalis at the Old Town

By

Chris Buhalis played the Old Town Tavern‘s regular show this past Sunday night, and I caught the second half of his set, which started at 8 p.m. I arrived during the break just as a crowd of little kids, maybe eight or nine strong, burst into the Old Town handing out cards announcing Bruce Springsteen’s Change Rocks concert on the EMU campus, Monday, Oct. 6. (Gates to Oestrike Baseball Stadium open at 3 p.m. with the show, which is free to all students and residents, scheduled to start at 4 p.m.) [Full Story]

HD’s Watch Watch: College Dems, VP Debate

By

asdfasdf

A wounded scooter, after being hit by a van outside of the Old Town. Not to worry – the owner of the scooter wasn't on the scene when it was hit.

Let’s say you’re out walking and you see a scooter parked on the street get creamed by a van. And then, let’s say the van drives off. What would you do? To be clear, it’s not your scooter. And the scooter’s actually parked illegally. And it’s raining – not cats and dogs … but you’ve got your dog on a leash along for the walk. What would you do?

Or let’s say walking at 8:30 p.m. in downtown Ann Arbor, a young (and in your estimation, scruffy-looking, down-on-their-luck) couple who are seeking shelter from the rain under the Clover Leaf awning asks you, “Do you have a cell phone?” What would you do? [Full Story]