More Photos On The Way.
Just waitin on the Pony Express ta git here.
© Nate Owens artwork.
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Roots Roosts:
The Little Red Hen
by Kim Ruehl
While
the hipsters and city folks pick their folk,
bluegrass and alt-country down on Ballard Avenue,
the real Western Washington cowboys and cowgirls are
sweating their hearts out on the dance floor at the
Little Red Hen. For 40 years, the Greenlake bar has
been sitting just off the main drag, around the
corner from Gregg’s Cycles, unassumingly quiet and
nondescript from the outside. When it opened all
those years ago, the LRH was just a restaurant and
bar. It took them 20 years to start welcoming local
country bands. But, since “around 18 to 20 years”
ago, they’ve maintained a steady schedule featuring
the best local country bands and artists—holding up
the long tradition of country music in Seattle as
the last remaining club dedicated entirely to the
genre.
Manager Ron
Shmerelson isn’t afraid to brag about the bar he
calls his second home. “We’ve got all the top local
country bands. We were voted top bar in town for
pick-ups. Picked best karaoke in the city in five
different [lists].” When asked where he believes
most of their clientele comes from, Shmerelson says
he believes they’re serving a community of country
music fans that stretches from Tacoma to Everett,
although people come in from far and wide. “I’ve
taken reservations from Denmark,” he says. “With the
website up, we get people from all over the world.”
Walk in the door, and you’re instantly transported
outside the city limits, or so it feels. Cowboy hats
are only outnumbered by cowboy boots. It’s a gritty,
down-home, rural feeling that separates the Little
Red Hen from every other bar in town that welcomes
Americana artists. While some of the house bands
pepper their sets with blues and southern rock jams,
most of the music that takes place here is
classic-style country music—the kind that makes you
want to grab a partner and own the floor. For all
the city folks who aren’t as familiar with the Texas
two-step and other styles, country dancing lessons
are free every Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night.
Six nights a week, stellar live bands rock the place
with old school country classics—Cash to Acuff,
Haggard to Hank, Sr., occasional originals—giving
the dancers an opportunity to put their new moves to
work.
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