The Lakeside Lounge : A Fond Farewell

"Flying down Avenue B, baby, you swore you ain't never coming back"

The Backsliders

When I moved back to NY/NJ following college, fresh on the heels of my awakening that music was *the* passion that resided in me, it was as if the Lakeside Lounge was there to greet my return. Opening in 1997, the Lakeside quickly became my favorite spot in all of New York City. In addition to having just about nightly free live music, the Lakeside was co-owned by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, one of the proverbial leaders of the music scene (alt.country, Americana, Uncle Tupelo+, No Depression, whatever) that was occupying my every breathing moment. I mean, Ambel worked with Oxford, Mississippi's Blue Mountain, The Bottle Rockets, and many other leaders of this "genre." And he made the Lakeside not just a home for folks like me, but punks, skaters, music snobs, drunks and really anyone who walked in. There wasn't an ounce of attitude at the Lakeside. And amazingly, it was also free of the manufactured hipster bravado that clogs similar joints nowadays.

When I finally moved to Brooklyn in 2000, the Lakeside remained our spot. When my friends and I planned for a show, we almost always met at the Lakeside not just pre-show, but post-show. 6pm meetings for a beer before Son Volt, Old 97's, Marah, Elliott Smith, Richard Buckner (seeing him tonight in San Francisco seems very fitting) or hundreds of others almost always ended with a 4am arm out on Avenue B in search of a cab ride home. We watched the jukebox like hawks. When the Bottle Rockets made it into the mix, we played the record over and over, with the Kinks added for good measure. There was the drunken night with Ryan Adams which is too blurry to correctly rehash. There was the even drunker nights with Blue Mountain, Marah and others that I'll likely rehash for decades to come. I was blown over by an unfamiliar artist named Ramsay Midwood. And so much more.

Over the years, I came to call Eric Ambel a friend. He used to instant message me during the day if a "surprise" show might be happening. One afternoon, while working in midtown, one of those messages arrived. "You should be at the Lakeside at 6pm," he wrote. "Why?" I asked. "You should just be there" was all he'd say. When I left work early and opened the venue door at 530 word had already spread that Steve Earle would be performing. With a "performance room" that holds no more than 50 or so, when Earle finally came onstage, I was sitting about four feet from him. Ambel once invited me over to listen to a recording he'd done a few nights prior with Ryan Adams. It turned out to be the last Ryan song that I truly loved. Not long after, he invited me sit in on a recording session with The Bottle Rockets. There I was just sitting amongst Brian Henneman and his band. Ambel had tossed me into the world that meant everything to me. I remember leaving that session and feeling the most gratitude I'd ever felt up to that point in my life. To me, folks like Henneman, the Bielankos, Cary Hudson, and the rest were making some of the most important music ever made. And Ambel invited me in for the ride.

Steve Earle @ The Lakeside

I could go on and on with stories, and someday I hope to take the time to do so. It really was that special. When I think of the years that I lived in New York City, The Lakeside Lounge represents that time. It had everything: great live music, cheap drinks, the greatest jukebox known to man, an owner who seemingly felt the same way we did and a charm that can't be copied. 

Thanks for the memories, Eric and co-owner "The Hound." You guys helped to not only make New York City a better town, but to make an anxious early-20s kid feel at home.