Ward Gollings Speaks! (Music at Cowboy Monkey)
JH: So, I had heard rumblings that CM was going to discontinue jazz, but I had no idea this was a symptom of a larger issue that would involve removing the stage and presumably eliminating live music altogether. What's the official line?
WG: For a wide variety of reasons... the restaurant and entertainment aspects of CM both seemed to hamper each's ability to fully succeed. With that in mind, it became time to focus on one moreso than the other. the business model simply wasn't working. Any profit from the 4-5 warm months of the year was simply being sucked dry during each and every late-fall/winter. Could that situation be reversed while still including live bands? perhaps. But with Highdive's stage just up the street.....
To my knowledge, there is NO current plan to remove the stage. That is a rumor. But CM is NOT booking any bands after the 2007 calendar year. That is true. this is an across-the-board measure, not just jazz bands.
DJs will be booked elsewhere too. a good amount of band booking slack will be picked up by Highdive, and there will be one-off jazz shows for sure. To exactly what degree jazz plays a role at HD remains to be seen however. I'm certainly open to ideas :)
The Monkey will revamp, expand and better its current food menu in an effort to build a much more consistent, longer-term clientele base. As an example, Farren's has seemed to do something similar very successfully (eliminate live music and focus solely on their food business).
While it is sad to see the bands end at CM (again LOL), i personally am excited for new challenges at HD, and with the prospect of it being open 6-7 nights a week once again.
JH: Are you involved with possible plans elsewhere in the bar network to do live music (and, specifically, jazz music)?
WG: Harold Allston from Great Impasta and I have spoken briefy on a couple occasions about doing a weekly Friday jazz thing in his upstairs area/bar/banquet room.
JH: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Any other comments on the change?
WG: While it is sad to see the bands end at CM (again LOL), i personally am excited for new challenges at HD, and with the prospect of it being open 6-7 nights a week once again. With some creative thinking, and some ongoing tweaking, i believe we can make it a cozier and slightly more intimate room at the appropriate times. Let's take a possible negative and turn it into a definite positive.
Thanks to Ward for taking the time to talk to us.
-- JH
WG: For a wide variety of reasons... the restaurant and entertainment aspects of CM both seemed to hamper each's ability to fully succeed. With that in mind, it became time to focus on one moreso than the other. the business model simply wasn't working. Any profit from the 4-5 warm months of the year was simply being sucked dry during each and every late-fall/winter. Could that situation be reversed while still including live bands? perhaps. But with Highdive's stage just up the street.....
To my knowledge, there is NO current plan to remove the stage. That is a rumor. But CM is NOT booking any bands after the 2007 calendar year. That is true. this is an across-the-board measure, not just jazz bands.
DJs will be booked elsewhere too. a good amount of band booking slack will be picked up by Highdive, and there will be one-off jazz shows for sure. To exactly what degree jazz plays a role at HD remains to be seen however. I'm certainly open to ideas :)
The Monkey will revamp, expand and better its current food menu in an effort to build a much more consistent, longer-term clientele base. As an example, Farren's has seemed to do something similar very successfully (eliminate live music and focus solely on their food business).
While it is sad to see the bands end at CM (again LOL), i personally am excited for new challenges at HD, and with the prospect of it being open 6-7 nights a week once again.
JH: Are you involved with possible plans elsewhere in the bar network to do live music (and, specifically, jazz music)?
WG: Harold Allston from Great Impasta and I have spoken briefy on a couple occasions about doing a weekly Friday jazz thing in his upstairs area/bar/banquet room.
JH: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Any other comments on the change?
WG: While it is sad to see the bands end at CM (again LOL), i personally am excited for new challenges at HD, and with the prospect of it being open 6-7 nights a week once again. With some creative thinking, and some ongoing tweaking, i believe we can make it a cozier and slightly more intimate room at the appropriate times. Let's take a possible negative and turn it into a definite positive.
Thanks to Ward for taking the time to talk to us.
-- JH
posted by Jeff Helgesen at
1:48 PM
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