Frog’s Pad

Here, Beer Booze & Bars
July 8, 2009, No More West Coast Cool in The Valley

Unlikely but beloved music venue closes its doors

Just over four years ago I wrote a profile of Sessions Café in [here] entitled West Coast Cool In The Valley. I could just reprint that here and change a few words, and you’d all get an accurate picture of how sad I must be that my local is closing, but that would be lazy, even for me.

I am sad, or perhaps more melancholy, about Sessions’ shutdown, which will culminate with 2 days of shows on July 24th and 25th.

I feel happy/sad because, although I will sorely miss the place, I feel for the owners, as I know that running a restaurant of any kind is difficult, and doesn’t exactly make most people rich. You do it for the love. And, although I’m angry that Sobey’s is giving them the boot, in a way I’m relieved for Toni Simpson. She can finally get some rest! Simpson holds no grudge with Sobey’s, although she wishes they could have received more compensation for Sobey’s breaking their lease 1.5 years early.

“It will be nice to rest, but we were really hoping to keep it going for at least another 2 years,” says Simpson. Does she still shop there? “Sure,” she says, “and will continue to do so. I’m not really happy with them, but they could have treated us worse then they did.”

Although they were, and still are, open to someone else taking over the business and moving it, Simpson is looking to the future. She has been doing a lot of catering recently, and is planning to continue on with that.

Personally, I will miss the shows, and my regular lunches there, washed down with a fresh pint of Pump House SOB. I’ll miss taking my daughter to “Jim and Toni’s,” as she always calls it, although she often called Jim Toni. Sessions has always been a very kid friendly place, that was also somehow cool. That is a difficult balance to achieve, but hey, when your bar is in a Sobey’s mall, you have to be versatile.

It is doubtful that there is a hipper, trendier spot in a grocery store plaza in North America. When I look back on all the shows I saw there over the past 5 years, and all the ones I regrettably missed, it starts looking like a “who’s who” and “who will be” list of the region’s musicians, speckled with some of the rest of Canada’s best.

Here’s a sampling: Julie Doiron, Joel Plaskett (he did a series of solo acoustic shows with different headliners), Tom Wilson with Bob Lanois, Jill Barber, David Myles, Jim Bryson, accordion player Geoff Berner, Danny Michel, David Francey, Rose Cousins, Ruth Minnikin, Norma Macdonald, Catherine MacLellan, Al Tuck, Jenn Grant, Meghan Smith, Kevin Kane, Garnet Rodgers, Stephen Fearing, JP Cormier, Jay Semko, Nathan Wiley, Jeremy Fisher, Morgan Davis, Alfie Zappacosta, Ross Nielsen, Ryan Leblanc, Chris Cummings, Simply Saucer’s Edgar Breau, Clinton Charlton, and countless local acts. I’m sure I’m missing many.

Perhaps no other artist holds Sessions closer to their hearts than blues star Matt Andersen, who recorded his record Solo At Sessions live to a packed house. The record captures the excellent sound and intimacy of this local gem. While Toni Simpson finds it impossible to pick her favourite shows from over the years, there’s no doubt that Solo At Sessions was a proud moment.

Andersen has been a regular visitor to Sessions, playing at least a dozen shows over the years, and photos of him and other artists share the walls with local art, just as hand-painted tiles decorate the ceiling. Jim and Toni love Matt, and so do the fans that struggle to get tickets whenever New Brunswick’s top bluesman comes to town.

Simpson gives much of the credit for the bar’s success, and nomination for ECMA venue of the year, to local promoter Jeff Liberty, who moved to the Valley at around the same time Sessions’ popularity took off, not coincidentally. I asked Liberty how he feels about his Sessions relationship. “What attracted me about Sessions,” reflects Liberty, “was it reminded me of those intimate, cozy coffee houses where artist like Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot cut their teeth when they first emerged on the singer songwriter scene. Sessions was that place of beauty where an artist and their audience could feel the ultimate connection, and as a spectator you were as much a part of the show as the artist was. Everything we did was in the spirit of keeping real honest music alive and well in NB. Every show was special and I was happy to be a part of its magic.”

I took a lot of flack from Uptown musicians and fans for this comment I made in my 2005 article: “A solo acoustic singer would be as out of place at <now defunct> Studio 112 as a punk band would feel at Sessions.” They thought I was just an old guy, ignorant to their scene. That’s partly true, I suppose, but, in retrospect, I think I was right about Sessions. There is still nothing else quite like it in Greater Saint John. The Shadow Lawn in Rothesay will replace Sessions as my local, as they have taken to hosting occasional live music shows, have Picaroons on tap, and have opened the Side Door Café. I welcome them, and others that may come along and carry the torch for live music, good coffee and craft beer, but I’ll still miss my local.

If you want to catch the last hurrah at Sessions, drop in and buy a ticket for the July 24th/25th shows. Toni Simpson is still working on the line-up, but it looks like Friday will be the hot ticket, with an as yet unnamed musician expected to finish the evening. Some of the performers planned for the weekend include Clinton Charlton, Jason Myers, Kristen Jones, Paul Grady & Karen Palmer. Saturday will consist of music and an auction, where Sessions will sell off memorabilia, including the aforementioned ceiling tiles.

Tears will flow, no doubt, as West Coast cool ends its run in the Valley.

Cheers!

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier and writer in Rothesay, available for wine consulting and private tastings. He can be reached at 647 8466 (VINO) or visit him at frogspad.ca