The Little Grill Collective. Photo by Heather Hunter-Nickels
“It’s like The Village in New York, and the 1960’s.”- Sigi Chabrier
“It’s bohemian and beloved.”- Chris Howdyshell
It is the Little Grill, a cooperative restaurant, worker run, that lives on the other side of the tracks. It is a small laid back restaurant with an open kitchen and a stage in the corner. Huge paintings and various collected items line the walls and mantles. It has been around for about 70 years.
On Thursday nights the mood is lively, the lights are dim, and each musician, who crawls out of his cave to perform, brings with him his own style.
The musicians aren’t the only attraction on Thursday nights though. The host, Chris Howdyshell, is a humorous man who cracks the right jokes at the right time. Sometimes when the musicians thin out, he plucks some strings and howls a song or two, but most of the time he keeps the music rolling and throws a few of his own jokes in every once and a while. He is the heart of Thursday nights.
“This is the place where I could come and see what the college kids were doing, smoke some cigs and get away. I was just a kid. Now [The Little Grill] is a second home to me,” Chris Howdyshell, co-owner and host of Thursday Night Open Mic, said. “Someone once told me ‘find out what makes you happy, and do it’, that’s what I do.”
Howdyshell started out as a kid who would perform at The Little Grill. Later he began working there, and before he knew it he had been asked to host open mic night on Thursdays. “Been doing it ever since,” Howdyshell said.
Junior Daiki Ishikawa and freshman Alex Hunter-Nickels perform at the Little Grill on open mic night. Photo by Heather Hunter-Nickels.
The Little Grill is as local as it can get. Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 9 is bingo night with prizes. Friday nights a band plays live music, and Thursday nights is open mic. The Grill’s long history is rooted in Harrisonburg. It has had many different owners. According to www.littlegrillcollective.com, “In the early 1980’s, the Grill became hipified…” since then it has been a place of food and music. In 2002 it became “a worker owned corporation.” That is where it stands now in 2010.
“We used to come here 13-14 years ago for community meals,” Sigi Chabrier said. He and his wife Wanda Chabrier sit in a dimly lit booth along the wall. Three feet away there is another table that runs into the center of the room.
“It is peaceful here, intimate. Everyone is so…” Wanda starts. “…close, and it’s like you can reach the music,” finishes Sigi.
Two big speakers hanging from the ceiling might explain how Sigi feels about reaching the music, being so close and all, but there is more to what he said. He and Wanda said ‘everyone is so close’. The Little Grill is a regular hang out spot for them. Sigi and Wanda both personally know Howdyshell and others in the small room. The Little Grill is a place for people to get together in real life verses a chat page on the web.
The Little Grill has a way of making an impression on her visitors. From her homey feel to the faded yellow walls and red windowsills.
“It is an excellent place to start out as a musician and even to come back to, it’s welcoming,” said former HHS student Grant Thomas, 21. “I used to play here regularly in high school, but now that [college] is out, I come here just to play.”
In a pastel blue t-shirt that compliments his dark complexion, Thomas relaxes on the small stage in the corner of the room, all eyes are on him. He plays Rock with You (Michael Jackson) and Imagine (John Lennon) on his guitar.
The night has just begun and the host takes over the microphone to introduce the next musician. A woman with a guitar, “Hi I’m Rachel from Elkton,” she said.
A Little Grill regular plays his guitar and sings during open mic night. Photo by Heather-Hunter Nickels.
Sigi and Wanda sit in the back eating their favorite dishes: an avocado melt, a nacho supreme, and all natural Blue Sky Creamy Root Bear. “Good food,” Sigi said, “and added attraction.”
The night pushes on. Howdyshell holds a controlled debate over whose fault the oil spill in the gulf is. One man argues the companies fault for the regulations they didn’t enforce. Howdyshells points to a man and says, “Tom, rebuttal.” Tom argues that the fault lies on every consumer thatuses oil. Howdyshell keeps the debate civil and ends it peacefully, a good skill for a host to have.
Several more musicians play their music. Others who appeared to watch chat among themselves and enjoy the music. Each musician gets proper attention and applauds.
Howdyshell calls up two regular teenage musicians from HHS, sophomore Alex Hunter- Nickels and junior Daiki Ishikawa. “Beauty Marks, you don’t have to remind me any more [of your band name] because you left a mark in my soul.”
The boys play some blues and they play them with passion. Then they play a few other songs and rejoin the audience.
The night, which started around 8:30pm, ends around 10pm. Howdyshell wraps things up and people trickle out. Some of the tipsy stay to chat as the owners close up the store, but they eventually have to leave.
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