. ’s o in V of y r to is h l a An or BY RHETT BRINKLEY AND LINDSEY MILLAR
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t’s easy to imagine the story of Vino’s ending before it ever got going: “Three finance guys with no restaurant experience start a pizza place in a dilapidated punk rock playhouse in a neglected part of town” does not sound like a winning recipe for success. But three decades later, Vino’s Brew Pub not only persists, it’s widely considered a Little Rock institution — one of the few true mixing places in town, where you’ll find people of all classes and backgrounds communing over a slice and a pint and live music. Vino’s New York-style pizza and calzones belong in any conversation about the best in town. Filling up a growler of Firehouse Pale Ale or Pinnacle IPA on a Sunday remains a Little Rock tradition (thanks to years of lobbying by Vino’s founder and owner Henry Lee). And you can’t tell the story of Little Rock’s modern music scene — and bands it launched into the national spotlight, including Trusty, Living Sacrifice and Evanescence — without telling the story of Vino’s. That’s what we attempted to do in what follows, an oral history featuring dozens of the people and patrons who helped shape the landmark at Seventh and Chester. Henry Lee: (Vino’s co-founder, owner): I grew up in Morgan City, Louisiana. When I got out of college, I was working out in the oil fields, building offshore oil rigs. I did that for eight years or so. Then I moved to Florida to sell unregulated securities. We were basically funding the savings and loan crisis back then. Most of my customers
were in Little Rock because Little Rock had the highest number of investment firms off of Wall Street at the time, so I came to work here. Alan Vennes (Vino’s co-founder): I’m from Atlanta and was in a band called The Roys. We were signed to Stiff Records and toured with U2 and R.E.M. and Black Uhuru and Steel Pulse and all sorts of other folks from that era. I moved to Little Rock Jan. 1, 1981. I was going, “Goddamn, this place is so depressed. What have I done?” But I said, “I bet there’s some good punk rock.” Sure enough, Trusty. Paul Bowling (Trusty, Il Libertina): Before the DMZ [a short-lived punk venue in what became Vino’s] and Vino’s there was no scene at all. It was completely vacant. All the bands that were in town were all cover bands. James Brady (former employee, Trusty): Me and Bobby met Alan because we started going to see his band Ebo and the Tomcats. Bobby Matthews (Trusty) They were a cover band, but they were doing cool old rockabilly stuff like Charlie Feathers and obscure stuff. Andy Conrad (former employee, Numbskulz, 5-0): Alan made sense when it came to the punk thing because he was this rockabilly dude with a full pompadour. Henry Lee: [Alan] was probably my biggest client. He and
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