Eric Clapton. Buddy Guy. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Keb' Mo.' Pinetop Perkins. Eric Johnson. Derek Trucks. Koko Taylor. The Turtles. G.E. Smith. David Childers. The Belmont Playboys.
Aside from being musicians, what do all of the people above have in common? They've all played one of the oldest blues clubs in the country -- and it's located just outside of Uptown Charlotte.
Opened in 1973, The Double Door Inn is the second oldest blues club that's owned by a sole proprietor. Owner Nick Karres originally opened the Charlottetowne Avenue location as a bar, but was quickly drawn into the music world. He started having local acts play in what is now the game room for 50 cents, before having a stage built up front.
Signs of the "old days" still adorn the house-turned-music-venue -- an old fireplace hearth carves out a bump on the floor near the stage -- but it has been remodeled over the years, as well. The bathrooms were moved. The game room and bar were connected. Decorations have come and gone.
"Charlotte was a different scene back then," Karres says. "We had a jukebox. It was just a bar for people to hang out. As other bars started to open, we realized the fickle nature where everyone wants to pet the new cat. So, we had to decide if we wanted to do a food thing or music. The music crept in. We decided that if we could give quality music, people would hopefully support us."
The People
Karres has continually brought in music on a nightly basis. And they didn't give up on food. (Lunch is still served on weekdays.) But one of the biggest things holding the place together is the people.
Regulars stop by for lunch during the week, carpentry work has been done by friends, Karres doesn't hesitate to unclog a stopped-up drain and most employees consider the place a second home. Bartender Mike Martin, who also works in real estate, has been there for 32 years.
"This job has afforded me a lot of luxuries," says Martin, 54, who hung out in the club before being employed there. "I went back to school at UNCC and got a degree in history and then went to graduate school. It affords you luxuries with the schedule. This is almost leaving one part of your house and going to another. Instead of going to listen to your stereo, you have a live band playing for you."
While the club has always been a consistent location for the blues, times have changed and the genres have expanded recently. While blues greats have stopped touring as consistently and blues fans have grown older and stayed home more, the Double Door has welcomed in more local artists, as well as jazz, jam bands, reggae, rock, folk, etc.
While some may not be happy with the changeover from a strict blues venue, Karres sees it as something that had to happen to stay open. "If country music loses 5 percent of their acts to age or not touring, they're still strong," he says. "If blues loses 5 percent, it takes it below the line where it needs to be. Clubs like this are disappearing because of urban renewal, not having enough business or losing their lease."
That last item is one thing Karres hasn't had to worry about. He purchased the building and parking lot back in the '70s and opened the Double Door with his brother, Matt. While there were times he didn't take much of a paycheck, Karres says building a world-renowned reputation has made it all worth it. He also notes the support of his family over the years.
"When this place first opened, it was very much the place to go," Micah Davidson, marketing director and talent buyer for the club, says. "It's still an incredible place to go, but the majority of the younger generation still doesn't know about it. It was our parents' bar or music venue. I'm trying to make it more of a straight-across-the-board music venue. I want people, when they're looking for live music, at least know what's going on at the Double Door and check it out."
Davidson, 30, was hired nearly one year ago to help take some of the weight off Karres' shoulders. Until recently, Karres was doing all of the booking, since he knew the business side of the club and had a firm grasp on what acts they could or couldn't afford to bring in. "I needed a young guy like him that's all about the music," Karres, 59, says of Davidson, a bassist who has lived in Charlotte for 10 years. "My problem was that I'm not a musician and that I wear all the hats. The electronic age also came, and more and more is being done on computers. I found myself outdated, and I'll admit it."
Davidson has revitalized the music base for the club, updated the venue's Web site and brought along more promotional avenues for the bands that perform. He's also started a new, weekly e-mail newsletter dubbed The Dirty Floor Rag.
The Regulars
Walk into the Double Door on any given day and it's apparent that there are far more regular customers in the house than there are regular performing acts. While some bands may play the venue a handful of times in a year, there are some patrons who have been coming to the club a lot more often than that.
Roy Williams, 66, can be seen every Monday, keeping an ear on The Monday Night All-Stars. The All-Stars have been playing on Mondays for the last 13 years, but Williams has been attending concerts at the Double Door almost since day one. "I'm sometimes here two or three times a week," Williams says, noting that the biggest change was when they started to serve liquor. "I've seen a lot play -- Pinetop Perkins, Kenny Neal. I was here when Stevie Ray was in here, but not his first time. I'll come check out who's here -- if I like the band I stay. If I don't like it I'll go."
The Monday Night All-Stars (see sidebar) continually draws one of the most consistent crowds to the club -- even though the band doesn't hit the stage until close to 11 p.m. "I don't know what it is, but people come late here," MNAS percussionist Jim Brock says. "It's one of the only places in the city where they put the music first. There's one TV, and it's very small and out of the way. The stage is really comfortable -- I don't know if it's because it's like a second home to me."
Another regular performer is Bill Hanna, who has organized a jazz jam on most Thursday nights for the last three-and-a-half years. Hanna, who taught in junior high and high schools for 30 years and still teaches five days a week at CPCC, has a quartet that often allows people to sit in or sing with them. "I like the fact that we can do our own thing here," Hanna says. "You've got a great sound system. It's got atmosphere. It's not a fancy place. There's a mystique."
The addition of jazz has been a welcome change for Hanna who, before the jam started, hadn't played the Double Door in his 48 years of performing around town. "I've taught students who still come up to sit in with me," he says with a smile. "It brings a tear to my eye to see how far they've come. Playing jazz is a marvelous thing. It keeps you young, and I'm older than dirt!"
The Walls
Walking into the club, it's impossible not to notice all of the items hanging on the walls. There's a horseshoe over the door, a trombone over the bar, a cymbal up front and pictures of many of the faces that have graced the stage.
"We don't even remember where half the stuff came from," Martin says. "There's a trombone that I won in a poker game. Most of the good stuff was taken home by someone. I'm trying to get some more neon signs here. The beer people used to bring you all kinds of stuff, but they don't anymore."
Most photos on the walls are signed, thanking the venue for a great night of music or, like Buddy Guy wrote -- a simple "Best Wishes." Davidson likens it to a museum -- artifacts of all kinds cover the walls, in addition to the signed walls of the upstairs green room, a tradition that started in the mid-1980s.
"Every band that comes through here has signed the walls of our green room," Davidson says. "It doesn't matter who you are ... we want you to sign our walls. Anthony Hamilton came by to do a photo shoot for his third album. He's never played here, but he signed the wall. If people want to stop by and check out the wall, we'll show them around to see who's written on the walls. At some point, I'd like to create a virtual wall on the Web site where people can sign the wall virtually."
Karres says he wishes he would have protected the signature of blues guitarist Luther Allison a little better, as it is now being encroached upon by various people's names and bands. Of course, new names are being added every night.
The legends
If you ask most people around town about the Double Door, chances are they'll claim to have been there the night Clapton showed up to play with The Legendary Blues Band back in 1982. "The joke is -- if everybody that said they were here the night that Clapton played, the place would have collapsed," Martin says. "There weren't that many people in here. People were calling their friends on the pay phone. To this day, any time Clapton is in town, we sell out. It's been 26 years. Clapton was a fan of the guys that were playing. He came to see them and play."
Stevie Ray Vaughn played at the club three times. The first time, six people were in attendance, including Martin. "It was snowing out," Martin says. "There was nobody here and the other bartender and I sat here and watched." Vaughn returned two more times, playing for crowds of 30 and 90 people for pay of about $300. The next time he was in town, he performed at a larger venue and was paid approximately $5,000.
Derek Trucks performed there when he was 11 and has been back a few times since. Dirk Nowitzki and Mark Cuban attended a concert there. Tom Jones checked out The Monday Night All-Stars. Luther Allison played for nearly four hours the first time he played there. The Spongetones had people lined up around the block. People have been married there. It was rumored that Mick Jagger was going to show up one night -- he didn't. And, in all 35 years, only four bands have been no-shows.
There's no doubt that some who go to the Double Door just hope to see someone famous. "I was outside one night and a limo pulled up and people all rushed around it," Martin says. "It was just a few guys that had been out partying all night who got out laughing."
As for the name, Karres originally had a saloon theme planned for the bar based on a bar called the Double Eagle that he saw in a Western movie. His mother, pointing out that the building had two doors suggested "Double Door." The saloon plan never materialized.
No plans are in place yet for the 35th Anniversary this year -- the date is Dec. 22 -- but Karres is sure they'll do something. A book, 35 Years of the Blues: The Double Door Inn, by Debby Wallace and Daniel Coston, is being published about the venue and will be released on or before the anniversary.
"If I had known, I would have originally opened sooner or in January, because Dec. 22 sucks," Karres says. "Nobody is on the road then because of holidays."
Everyone involved hopes that the Double Door has at least another 35 years in it. "I'm amazed that the building has held up," Brock says. "I just hope it doesn't become a bookstore for CPCC."
Davidson feels the new influx of a variety of music will help ensure the longevity. "We've got surly bartenders, smoke-filled rooms and incredible music," he says. "I want it to be a place where bands want to play here and say they've played on this stage."
If you ask Karres for one highlight after all these years, his answer will change on a regular basis. Instead, he offers something more general. "Having the legends come in and being able to present it to Charlotte," he says. "That's the biggest thing for me -- to think I was instrumental in providing this."