By Tina Tidmore
On Aug. 24, North Tavern will open its doors in Grayson Valley across the street from Ace Hardware. The Buck Wild Band will be performing there at 9:30 p.m. On Aug. 25, The Southern Boys will perform. For this weekend, the restaurant will not have a cover charge.
Partners Jeremy Douglas and Paul Burgess have turned what used to be a seafood restaurant into a restaurant with a stage and industrial décor and stones.
“I think there is a need for live music on this side of the metropolitan area,” Burgess, who lives in Pinson, said. That particular location has “the traffic and it’s a good place for it.”
Douglas brings years of experience from his family’s restaurant, the former Home Field restaurant in Fultondale
. Both Burgess and Douglas have business degrees.
“We want it to be a place for lunch during the week, relaxing after work and live entertainment at night,” Douglas said. “In order to survive in this economy, you have to have both sides.”
The menu will be American fare, particularly gourmet hamburgers.
“Our focus here is food first, music second,” Burgess said. “But both will be top-notch.”
The Buck Wild Band, which will perform on the night of opening day, has a mixture of music. Lead singer Richard Otinger said, “The first half of the song is Led Zeppelin, then go into Nellie, then Jason Aldine, then REO Speedwagon — all in one.”
“You might not like one song, but then it transitions into another,” Douglas said.
Saturday night, The Southern Boys will perform country and southern rock music. According to their website, this band has a new album, “Old Road, New Travels,” which was produced by Paul Hornsby. Hornsby also produced Charlie Daniels, Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker Band music.
Douglas said they hope to bring in a variety of styles of music, including some local talent.