How would Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Hootie and his Blowfish or members of AC/DC choose to spend an evening in Charlotte? Probably the same way residents have for years — listening to the likes of Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Dixon, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and innumerable other notables at blues sanctuary The Double Door Inn, established 30 years ago in 1973.
Nestled in CPCC’s increasingly imposing shadow, the decidedly unimposing Door and proprietor Nick Karres celebrate 30 years of operation December 22 from the same 77-year-old Elizabeth-area house on Independence Boulevard. Since the days when Belk’s and Ivey’s anchored downtown and neighborhoods like Elizabeth and Dilworth were hippie/artist havens, Karres and staff have been keeping the Queen City’s mojo working. Local talent bookers say the Door is the oldest live music venue in North Carolina and probably the second oldest blues club in the US, which our research shows is likely accurate. (See sidebar.)
Over the years, the club has attracted a fascinating mix of people, so regulars aren’t surprised when people like Bill Maher, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., comedian Rich Hall, or a variety of visiting pro athletes, from Kenny “The Snake” Stabler to Dave Cowens, show up unexpectedly.
In April, Darius Rucker and the other Blowfish came to see producer/bassist Don Dixon (who produced REM), with Hootie’s Jim “Soni” Sonefeld on drums, and performed a few tunes while there. Peter Tork of the Monkees and his band Shoe Suede Blues also played there this past spring. Even Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead, has done several shows at the Door — on bass for Anson Funderburgh.
But imagine lounging at the Double Door one Monday night, listening to Les Moore’s Monday Nite All-Star Band, scanning the small room, and seeing Tom Jones in the audience. He visited in 1998 while in town for a concert and stayed all night. “He seemed to be a great guy,” says Moore, “and very human. He was so gracious to all the people, men and women, coming up to him. He’d turn their compliments around, saying, “I can’t believe you know who I am. Aren’t you too young to know?” Guess that’s why the ladies love him.
The number of famous names who’ve played the Door through the decades is too big to estimate, but it includes Sam and Dave, Leon Russell, Matt “Guitar” Murphy (a Blues Brother), The Turtles, Koko Taylor, Gatemouth Brown and J.J. Cale. And then there’s the night in 1982 when Eric Clapton walked into a record company after-party and sat in with the Legendary Blues Band (Muddy Waters’ last band before his death — featuring guitarist Bob Margolin and harmonica player Jerry Portnoy).
Still, some of the most interesting performers at the Door have been lesser-knowns. North Carolina’s Link Wray, born in 1929, has recently been rediscovered as a pioneer of the electric guitar. Wray’s biggest commercial hit, “Rumble,” from 1958, was a dissonant, menacing instrumental, banned by some deejays in bigger cities because they feared it would incite teen violence! Wray was 68 years old when he performed at the Double Door, and nonetheless, “played his butt off,” says Karres.
One of the Double Door staff’s most often mentioned performances was an incredible night in 1995 when bluesman Luther Allison played, just two years before his death from lung cancer.
He had returned to the US after many years in Europe and, Karres says, he played like he’d come back with a score to settle. Nighttime bartender Mike Martin remembers, “Usually with a big-name older gentleman, the band plays about 20 minutes and then the headliner plays only around 40 minutes. Allison’s band played about two notes before we heard Luther coming down the steps playing guitar. By the time he hit the stage, the whole place had risen as one, watching this man play nonstop from 10:15 to 1:45. The crowd walked out in a daze.” Another nighttime bartender, George Mandrapilias, concurs — and talks about getting his ponytail stuck in Allison’s guitar during picture-taking.
“The Double Door is a high point of my tour,” says Austin, Texas, guitarist/Silvertone artist Chris Duarte. “It’s one of the top spots to play in America. When I think of the Double Door, I think of ambience. If only those walls could talk — there’s an epic novel of musical history soaked into all that wood.”
As walls go, they’re pretty expressive, containing press shots of many of those who’ve come to play. And the history is incarnate through employees, many of whom have been there since the beginning. Daytime manager Basil V. Coston — 27 years; bartender Mandrapilias — 27 years; bartender Martin — 26 years; entertainment buyer Missy McCall — 24 years; and doorman Todd Smith — 19 years. Doorman Tracy Abernathy’s been there 10 years, daytime bartender Tracie Phillips — seven years, and Ben Joplin has handled cleaning there for five years. And do they have stories.
Karres recalls the late Stevie Ray Vaughn testing his guitar, playing “Little Wing” alone in a corner of the stage. McCall remembers Vaughn playing the jukebox, “hanging out, sitting on his chair backwards. A great guy — very down to earth.” It was snowing two nights Vaughn played the Door and the staff warmed up to several hours of his Texas heat virtually all to themselves. “You could hear him playing all the way down Independence Blvd.,” McCall says.
One of McCall’s favorite moments? Having drinks with Eric Clapton and Jerry Portnoy, McCall’s friend, when the British guitar god came through town on a blues tour.
Karres cites blues queen Koko Taylor as the most professional entertainer to ever perform at the Double Door. “When you paid, you paid Koko in private, no one else. She was very professional in the way she conducted her money, her band and her show.”
He remembers Taylor “coming out of the band room and down the stairs in little marching steps, getting herself psyched for performances, mentally preparing herself.” Mandrapilias remembers enjoying a small bottle of something with her (back when he drank) and getting a bear hug he wasn’t sure he’d get out of.
Karres was awed when the late legendary producer, songwriter and bassist Willie Dixon (who wrote songs recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and the Doors) left his phone book behind after a performance. “I couldn’t believe I was holding Willie Dixon’s big, fat phone book,” he says, “with tons of pages in it.” And no, Karres answers, he didn’t make a copy before returning it.
At one point in the 80s, guitarist Tinsley Ellis went wireless. He’d go outside with the crowd following him playing guitar all around the parking lot and then would lie down, continuing to play, on the median of Independence Boulevard.
“I was young and new then — trying anyway I could to get attention,” say Ellis from the studio. “I first played the Double Door in October 1979 — 24 years ago. (Ellis estimates he’s probably done 240 shows there.) Nick has not only been great to work with, he’s also advised me in my career, like when I’ve changed record companies or agents. It’s been my longest, strongest relationship with a venue by at least 10 years — nothing else is even close. Usually, the clubs wind up gone.”
The nightclub business is brutal and the Door’s been through some sketchy periods. “There have been many times when if I hadn’t done this or that, we would have gone under,” Karres says. Recent economic downturns have heightened the challenges and the club is going through another period of lean times, the owner says, “beginning the spring before 9/11, which then cast another shadow. We’re the first type of expense people cut for extra income.”
Talent booker Rick Booth says the downturn is not just in blues clubs, all music clubs are affected. “No one is thriving. Nationwide, probably worldwide, hundreds of clubs have failed since 9/11. Business is down for the whole industry — records aren’t selling, the kids are downloading their music. And when they’re not selling, companies don’t advertise, causing less space for papers to write stories covering music events. People aren’t going to clubs so clubs don’t advertise as much and so on.” Booth thinks the industry as a whole is pricing itself out of its market. “People can’t pay hundreds of dollars for concert tickets. And nightclub covers used to be $3-5, now they have to be $10.”
The price of many top blues acts, like Koko Taylor and Buddy Guy, increased out of reach for bars in 1994 when their agency American Famous Talent merged into Monterey Peninsula. Blues clubs also face an aging audience base as boomers get older and the discretionary-income-yielding 25-30 year-olds aren’t opting for the blues as much.
The blues landscape itself has also changed as “some musicians have died, some no longer travel,” Karres says, although there are “hundreds of blues acts now compared to about a dozen 25 years ago.” Ironically, in down times clubs are hard pressed to take chances and try new bands out. “Many are great bands and usually we have to turn them down. Right now, people are hesitant to spend money on a band they don’t know.” This is the worst part of his job, he says. “Turning them down gets old.”
Karres says the primary factor keeping him afloat is owning the Door venue. “Urban revival kills a lot of clubs, they always wind up losing their lease.” Being conservative regarding his personal lifestyle has also helped, he says — not driving the fancy car or upgrading to a bigger home. Good karma’s probably involved as well in his longevity; by all accounts Karres is a unique positive presence in an often nasty business.”The loyalty and community that Nick has created is completely unheard of in this business,” says Piedmont Talent Booker Hugh Southard. “I’ve managed clubs and know that in this industry you don’t get employees to last five years — much less 25. Musicians like playing for Nick because he’s honest and he does things right. The PA’s good, he has great soundmen (Les Moore for eight years and Mark Bumgardner for one), bands love him and are loyal to him. They respect his love for music.”
Karres, who graduated from Myers Park High in 1967 and UNC-Chapel Hill in 1971, married his wife Betty 27 years ago; they have two children, Kelly, 25, and James, nicknamed “Cole,” 16.
Karres is described by employees as a father, mentor and advisor — generous to a fault. “He’s like your father, your best friend and your priest,” Coston says, “he’s always there if you need an ear.”
Karres hired Smith when he was 18 and a CPCC student. Smith says, “He’s taught me many lessons in life and I would do anything for him.” Phillips says, “Nick’s only fault may be that he’s too kind-hearted. He’s a good role model, holds his temper and lets you know you’re appreciated.”
McCall has called Karres “Daddy Nick” for years and he’s hated it for years, she says. “My dad died when I was 10 years old and I’ve always seen Nick as a father figure — and psychologist. And he approves my dates — I haven’t had any for awhile.” Her cat, born outside the Double Door, is named Nicholas James Karres.
Joplin even credits Karres for saving his life. “If it weren’t for Nick I wouldn’t be here. I was sick and swollen up about two years ago and trying to act like nothing was wrong. Nick took me to the hospital and I had some big liver problems. He’s a super good guy.”
This paternal element in Karres has apparently come to full fruition in his business. Employees all allude to or mention the word “family” while being interviewed. “Going to work is like going from one part of my house to another,” says Martin, “except one room has live music.”
According to McCall, “We’re a family, alright, a dysfunctional family yes, but family.” The familiarity is apparent at closing, watching the well-oiled crew interaction — comfortable banter and gibing while making fast work of their chores.
Like any family, they have their quibbles and nitpicks, personalities that combust when combined and the unrelenting everyday sameness of each other that can make any one of us at some time get a glimpse of why people go postal. They all say Karres stays above it, though he did say he sometimes finds himself coming out with things like, “Now children. . .”
The bartenders work in a narrow strip behind the beautiful wooden bar. For three decades nighttime bartenders Martin and Mandrapilias have negotiated around each other, surely tiptoeing and pirouetting at times, in that tiny space. “I’ve been with George longer than I’ve been with my wife,” says Martin, who by day is a realtor. “We’ve had our moments of course — harsh words almost to blows, but we’re basically kindred spirits. We feel like whatever you do, do it well. And we like to have fun doing it.” Mandrapilias says, “We’ve been here so many years, we’ve been through it all — tears and laughter, both to the extreme.”
Had the real estate market not tanked in the early 70s (interest rates sky-high and loans hard to get), the Double Door might never have been. After college Karres worked as a realtor and one of his listings was the Double Door property, then a lamp shop. Eventually, Karres and brother Matt (partner until 1986), decided to buy it themselves and create a live music venue. “There were virtually no other live music clubs in town in 1973,” Karres says. “There was the Carafe on Tremont and South, and the Yellow Rose opened just a few months before we did. We just naively dove right into it.”
Naive maybe, but with excellent timing. Since opening, the Double Door’s been a consistent place for eclectic, relaxed entertainment in an authentic atmosphere (hence the celebrities). The Carafe and Yellow Rose were gone in five years and there were many years in the 70s and 80s when the Door was sometimes packed shoulder to shoulder even on weeknights. The Double Door got its blues focus around 1976, when they hired the Nighthawks, whose former guitarist Jim Thackery hooked Karres up with a network of good blues acts. The Door was also the first to introduce the Queen City to reggae, zydeco and Americana.
Now the 90s and 00s have come and there it remains, arguably the most unadulterated thing standing after 30 years in our shiny-and-new-obsessed city. Sure as Carolina Blue and Dixie Dew, the Double Door Inn (with those same two faces behind that same bar), has been a rare Charlotte constant for customers returning from time, travels or traumas throughout the years.
The club is as Charlotte as red clay. All employees were bred here, most born here as well. They went to our fair city’s high schools and many to Charlotte colleges and universities. The environment and atmosphere created by staff and patrons is a cultural study of Charlotteans. The Door is a place to experience the feel of earlier, more slow-paced days when Charlotte was “just a big town,” as Mandrapilias says. You get that “hi y’all” comfort zone like at your neighborhood diner and some of the warmth of visiting Grandma’s never-changing house — except the sound system’s much better.
Karres has paid it forward in ambassadorship by mentoring musicians and nurturing local bands, including among many others Les Moore, Jim Brock and Lenny and Michael Federal. The club owner has donated stage, soundmen and staff to help musicians, like when Lenny Federal was beaten and robbed of his equipment. The Federal brothers are local musicians “I’d like to have seen “make it’,” Karres says.
Since 1993 the Double Door has housed the Charlotte Blues Society, promoting blues through concerts, forums and workshops. CBS also hosts an annual blues talent competition at the Door in August; the winner competes in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Last year’s Charlotte winner, Delta Moon, went on to win in Memphis. The 2003 Charlotte victor is the Robin Rogers Blues Band, which plays the Door every Tuesday night. They’ll compete in Memphis in February.
Amateur soloists to four-piece bands can find a stage full of equipment and a professional venue to hone their musical skills at Les Moore and Friends Open Stage Night, which the Door has sponsored for about eight years. “I’ve only heard one band that I thought didn’t belong up there,” says Martin.
“I’m particularly proud of the “house’ performers,” Karres says. “All of our house bands are people who just love making music.” Moore has been an important force at the Door, creating all-stars and open stage concepts, of which Karres is very proud. “Traveling business people plan their trips to get into Charlotte on Mondays to see Les and his group. I’m proud to have something to offer them, I hope I’ve raised the bar somewhat in Charlotte.”
The anniversary weekend features Jim Thackery and the Drivers Friday and Saturday night Dec. 19-20. Monday, Les Moore’s Monday Nite All-Stars perform with special opening guests Black Market Radio. For information call 704-376-1446.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2003.
