14 minute read
Show me the way to go home
The Water’n Hole in Waynesville will soon celebrate 15 years in operation as the final frontier of the beloved ‘dive bar’ in our region. (photos: Garret K. Woodward)
WNC’s last real ‘dive bar’ turns 15
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER
It’s a label that some avoid at any and all costs. But, for Becky Robinson, it’s a sincere and genuine term of endearment that she wears like a badge of honor: “dive bar.”
“We do wear it as a badge of honor. And I think it’s the comfortability factory,” Robinson said. “I feel that you can come in here and you can be comfortable. You can come in and have a good time. Everybody is welcome. You don’t have to pretend to be somebody else in here — you can just be yourself.”
Owner of the Water’n Hole Bar & Grill on North Main Street in Waynesville, Robinson has been at the helm since it opened in 2006. With its 15th anniversary just a couple of weeks away, the establishment remains a beacon of curiosity and compassion, not to mention a bastion of gut-busting meals and the coldest suds in the region.
“What I’m most proud of is our acceptance of others,” Robinson said. “Not just me, but my entire staff — we’re not judgmental. We always want to be a place where you can go and feel safe, and to have the time of your life.”
In a modern era of uncertainty, with seemingly all things familiar disappearing from sight, places like the Water’n Hole are few and far-between. With rising property values and shifting cultural trends, the neighborhood bar in America is something either felt in memory or seen in dusty photographs, perhaps only viewed on late-night TV reruns and in old films.
But, the Water’n Hole remains, just as things steadfast and beloved tend to do. It’s the type of place where you can be completely new to town, walk in not knowing a single soul, only to leave with a whole slew of new friends, hopes and aspirations (something not lost on this “damn Yankee” journalist, who experienced this first-hand upon arrival here in 2012).
This past Sunday afternoon, Robinson grabbed a seat at a picnic table in front of the building (which is attached to a gas station) and took a moment to reflect on a decade and a half in operation, especially now in the midst of a pandemic when small businesses are finding themselves in severely dire straits.
“During the first month of the shutdown, we lost about 90 percent of our normal business. But, we knew we had to figure something out,” Robinson solemnly stated. “We added the outdoor table seating, started being open seven days a week, and now offer Sunday brunch — we’re trying anything and everything we can to stay afloat. And, thankfully, our loyal regulars choose to spend their money here and continue to support us.”
Fifteen years ago, Robinson was a 26-yearold seeking her purpose. Initially, she arrived
Want to go?
The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville is open seven days a week. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. A full brunch menu is now available from noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays (mimosas served all day). For more information, call 828.456.4750. known as Pastimes (before that, a sports store called The Rookie).
“The owner of Pastimes was looking to sell, so I put together every dollar and cent that I had or could borrow and bought the property. I was so young, but this is where I wanted to be,” Robinson marveled in recollection. “I called it the Water’n Hole because it reminds me of that cross-country trip and the adventures I had traveling around out there, stopping in to these random dive bars and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life — the name on the front of this building is part of my journey.”
Aside from its core philosophies, the business is well-regarded for its countless fundraising events for a wide array of local organizations. It’s also become a hub for social activism, this voice of reason that aims to bridge the divide and find understanding between human beings from all walks of life.
“We’re a community bar, and being part of the community means giving back. And it’s this community upon which we’ve built within these walls, too” Robinson said. “We’ve created a place where you can go to anybody. You can find help with your plumbing as easily as you can find a shoulder to lean on. This isn’t just a bar — it’s a second home for many people.”
Getting up from the picnic table, Robinson heads back into the Water’n Hole. Back behind the counter. Back to her customers. And back to her daily duty of open arms to any and all who may wander in for the first time or the thousandth. Pour the drink. Plate the food. Entertain the conversation. Feed the people, physically and emotionally.
“This place means as much to the customers as it does to me. And I’m proud of being here for 15 years, though it really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. I mean, I’m getting older and the days are getting longer,” Robinson chuckled. “But, I love this bar. I love doing what I do and it makes me happy. I always said if it didn’t make me happy, then I would stop doing it — I love it more now than ever before.”
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Ode to Vermont live music, ode to School Street jams
Ididn’t grow up, nor have I ever lived, in the state of Vermont. That, and I’m not a musician, not professionally or in any sort of a talented way in my free time. And yet, I was recently asked by a member of the Vermont musical community to contribute to an uplifting video collage for 2021 and the message of hope for the uncertain future of live music and performers.
I was asked because of how much of the core of who I am, as a journalist and a music freak, was shaped by the music, onstage and off, spilling out of the city of Burlington, Vermont, and the surrounding areas. Raised just across Lake Champlain from Burlington, I emerged from the small Canadian Border town of Rouses Point, New York (then later Plattsburgh, New York).
Somewhere around the age of 10 (mid1990s), my mother took me to my first real deal concert (that I was cognizant of). It was the fiery Cajun act BeauSoleil at the majestic Flynn Theater in downtown Burlington. Being in the presence of live music — the spectacle of the musicians and audience as one energy and movement — immediately captivated my heart, soul, and imagination.
By the time I entered middle school, all I wanted to do was listen to music, talk about music and, most importantly, see music live. In eighth grade, I begged my parents to bring me to concerts across the lake in Burlington.
This was the late 1990s, with mainstream radio still saturated with grunge, punk and alternative rock, which led to seeing acts like f Green Day, Third Eye Blind and Smash Mouth at Memorial Auditorium in The Queen City before the millennium arrived.
Now in high school (and with a driver’s license), I would disappear every weekend into Burlington with my riffraff cronies (which included my lifelong friend Tom Pearo, now an acclaimed Vermont musician in his own right), either catching shows at Higher Ground or Nectar’s, buskers on Church Street or simply listening to whoever was plucking some strings in nearby Battery Park.
In those moments of curious wonder and teenage shenanigans, there usually was a crappy joint being passed around in the park or along the shoreline of Lake Champlain, the conversation always hovering around new albums from iconic Vermont groups like Phish, Strangefolk or Seth Yacovone Band.
The weekend before we all started our junior year, I was 16 and borrowed my parents’ minivan to head to my first music festival: Strangefolk’s annual “Garden of Eden” gathering at the Addison County Field Days in New Haven, Vermont.
There they were, right in front of us: Strangefolk. Seeing one of my all-time favorite bands live was an epiphany of sorts, to actually witness and partake in the songs radiating at you in real time became a feeling that I’ve continued to chase with a reckless abandon to this very day.
College rolled around and I found myself attending Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Every Christmas and spring break, I’d come home to Plattsburgh, only to turn right around and bolt down the road for Burlington, hoping to catch whatever concert was on the schedule for those few days back in the North Country.
If there was no gig at Club Metronome, Red Square or The Monkey House, we’d all pig-pile into Tom’s School Street apartment and stay up until dawn: this roomful of musicians and music freaks, sipping beers, jamming out, listening to vinyl records, laughter and sincere melodic friendship.
And it was during the spring break of my junior year when I had to find a summer internship for my communications degree. Initially, the dream was to become an MTV VJ and take over Carson Daly’s job on “Total Request Live.”
But, in the midst of trying to find an internship, I crossed paths with Mike McKinley at a show while home on break. The publisher of the (now-defunct) State of Mind Music Magazine in Burlington, he saw something in me and offered me an internship right on the spot.
That first day on the job for State of Mind, I ended up hanging out in a café in downtown Burlington, enjoying a beverage with Mike Gordon, the renowned bassist of Phish. Sitting there and talking with one of my musical heroes shifted the entire trajectory of my life: I wanted to be a music journalist. My fate was forever (and happily) sealed.
The internship led to numerous interviews, show recaps and album reviews of Vermont bands, including an up-and-coming act named Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, whose storied live performances became known ‘round the world.
That foundation in the Burlington and greater Vermont music scene was the platform by which I built my career, one article at a time. Due to financial struggles and such, State of Mind eventually faded into the
Tom Pearo. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
rearview mirror, leaving me to look elsewhere for writing opportunities.
Cue my job at The Smoky Mountain News and current life in Western North Carolina, which is now approaching its ninth year. And even though I’m over a thousand miles away from Burlington, so many of those incredible Vermont musicians have found their way to Waynesville, either crashing on my floor or taking the stage around the corner from my humble abode. Thus, here we are in the early stages of 2021. Last year demolished the music industry, with barely any live shows occurring anywhere on this planet: the silencing of the universal language, the ultimate connecting factor between human beings. A surreal state of affairs for us music freaks and musicians. January 20-26, 2021
This new calendar on the kitchen wall is currently empty. But, this time around, it’s empty with possibilities to eventually fill those boxes with performance dates on each page. And I can’t wait. See you in the front row, my friends.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
Haywood art studio tour
Singer-songwriter Anna Victoria will perform from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin.
The performance is free and open to the public. As well, the Lobster Dog food truck will be onsite from noon to 6 p.m. To learn more about Anna Victoria, go to www.facebook.com/annavictoriamusic.
For more information and a complete schedule of events at the brewery, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
The Haywood County Arts Council invites all Haywood County studio artists to participate in the annual Haywood County Studio Tour scheduled for June 26-27, 2021.
The Haywood County Studio Tour is a two-day, self-guided, free event in which Haywood County artists open their studios to the public.
To participate, the studio must be in Haywood County. Artists may choose to open their Haywood County studio or to join with another studio host. The HCAC will act as a liaison between artists needing a host site and studios that have space for additional artists.
The artist/studio application and policies
WCU teams with Blue Ridge Pride Center
A collaboration between Western Carolina University, the University of North Carolina Asheville and the Blue Ridge Pride Center will gather oral histories, archival materials and photos for an ongoing LGBTQ+ community research project.
The Blue Ridge Pride Center is a nonprofit founded in 2008 and estimates the region is home to some 35,000 people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Amanda Wray, project founder for the Pride Center, is an associate professor at UNCA, teaching women’s studies, gender and sexuality studies, and writing and rhetoric courses. Her academic work and her civic efforts concentrate on equity and anti-racist rhetoric, oral history research and community engagement within higher education.
“This project is a great example of cross-institutional collaboration, showing for participation may be found on the Haywood County Arts Council website or picked up from HCAC Gallery & Gifts at 86 North Main Street in Waynesville. Email completed forms to artist@haywoodarts.org or mail to P.O. Box 306, Waynesville, NC 28786.
The deadline for the completed studio tour application is Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. The Haywood County Studio Tour Exhibit Opening Reception is on Friday, June 4, 2021, if feasible. The HCAC will follow the NC Governor’s mandates regarding COVID.
For more information about HCAC programs and events, visit the Haywood County
Anna Victoria.
Lazy Hiker welcomes folk singer
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday.
Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host
Anna Victoria 3 p.m. Jan. 24 and Mt. Gypsy
Music Jan. 30. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host “Live
Karaoke” with Joel Plays Drums Jan. 23 and Mt. Gypsy Music Jan. 29. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • The Haywood County Arts Council’s
“Winter Member’s Show” will be held Feb. 5-27 in the Gallery & Gifts showroom at the HCAC in downtown Waynesville.
Original work for 24 local artisans. Free and open to the public. www.haywoodarts.org.
• The “New Year’s Market” will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 30 at the
Canton Armory at 71 Penland Street. Over 30 vendors and food ALSO: available onsite. Handmade crafts, wall art, native crafts, home decor, woodworking items, chakra healing, and much more.
• The Bethel Christian Academy will be hosting the “Papertown Spring Market” fundraiser on March 13. There will be booths for local vendors to set up and sell their products: boutique clothing, home decor, handmade items, jewelry, and more.
If you have any questions or would like to set up a booth, call 828.734.9733.
Arts Council website at www.haywoodarts.org. what can be achieved through coordination, a common goal and a shared spirit,” said Wray. “Our ambition is to sustain the project through grant funding, student learning and internship opportunities, and community volunteers. To date we have collected — and are in the process of digitizing — more than 60 oral history interviews and nearly 20 boxes of physical materials.”
Funded by a WCU provost grant in the spring semester 2020, the Jackson County Collection will involve undergraduate and graduate students at both universities and various community stakeholders, including the YMCA and oral history narrators.
The resulting collection will be included in WCU’s Hunter Library special collections and in Blue Ridge Pride Center’s Virtual Pride Center. There also will be a local event in Sylva to celebrate the ongoing project in the summer or early fall.
For more information, contact Steiner at sksteiner@wcu.edu.
