P.J. at his new job, “I don't like it, I LOVE IT!”
The Lager House
1254 Michigan ave., Detroit
313-961-4668
www.lagerhousedetroit.com
www.myspace.com/lagerhouse
Corktown-2&1/2 blocks east of Tiger Stadium
When P.J. Ryder walked into The Lager House after purchasing
the place on October 24th of 2007, he realized that he didn’t even
know how to turn the lights on in the venerable old bar. After a quick
call to the previous owner got the lights on, its been full steam ahead
ever since.
The Lager House has seen its share of changes in its 93 year history.
Built in 1914 this Corktown institution has always been a bar. Originally
the building was two separate businesses: a bakery (now the music room)and
the bar. At some point in time the bakery was made into a restaurant and
an opening was created to connect it to the bar. Built in Detroit’s
oldest neighborhood, Corktown it has been a center of activity for the
Irish neighborhood, a union bar, a Teamster hang out, a politician’s
bar ( The music room is still called “The Jerome P. Cavanaugh Room”),a
restaurant, a bakery, a bookie joint and most recently a dive, garage
rock mecca which helped spawn groups like The White Stripes and the Von
Bondies.
By the time PJ purchased the place, the amount of “deferred maintenance” had reached a critical point. A complete new roof was needed, junk from the basement and the upstairs apartments filled a twenty yard dumpster, lots and lots of cleaning, patching and painting, and many upgrades later,
The Lager House’s vibe is back in tune. As much as PJ loved the music that had been playing at the venue, he knew that he wanted to bring a wider variety of music in. He wanted a place where music and musicians felt free to flourish. Where customers and performers could rub shoulders and swap stories at the bar that once hosted Irish celebrities such as Pat O’Brien and John F. Kennedy.
PJ Ryder used to be one of the owners and the namesake of PJ’s Used Records in Ann Arbor. He moved to Detroit in 1995 after meeting his wonderful photographer wife Donna “Turk” Terek. Having to create a job for himself, he made the switch from record store owner to realtor. For the next ten years he successfully navigated the minefield that is Detroit residential real estate, but in January of 2006 he’d had enough. With Turk’s encouragement, he started to look for a new job. He needed something that got him back to what he really loved, that is the music.
“My friend, singer/songwriter/guitarist, George Kelly and I thought that Detroit needed a place where all kinds of music could be heard. There really wasn’t a “roots music” venue anywhere in Detroit. We looked at possible locations in Hamtramck, other parts of Detroit and thought we had a couple of buildings lined up in Corktown. Just after that deal fell through we were told that The Lager House was up for sale. There were a million details to work out, but eventually everything was agreed upon and the deal got done. After purchasing the place, I realized that this was the best job that I could ever have.”
“For most of our bookings, specifically the rock acts, bands contact us through our myspace.com/lagerhouse page. Artists can also reach me directly at pjryderjr@mindspring.com. Robt. Jr. has been instrumental in hooking me up with some of the local and touring blues acts. So far we’ve featured Thornetta Davis, Luther “Badman” Keith, Harmonica Shah and Danny Kroha, Howard Glazer, RJ Spangler and Walt Symanski and The Howling Diablos. We’ve started a Wednesday night blues jam which is hosted Odell Blues Boy “D” and Art Burke and we have a Thursday night open mike acoustic jam to which all musicians are invited.”
“Right now we are getting ready to host our first national act with Kim Wilson and Doug Deming and the Jeweltones on February 16. I’m really hoping that the blues lovers in the Detroit area come out and support this show in a big way! It should be a great one. The venue is small, probably about 200 people max, and intimate. The sound, the sightlines, and the soundman, Craig “Craiger” Sias, are all great! Karen and Dana are our bartenders and run a top notch bar. Its going to a really good show and a really good time.”
Daily you can find PJ at The Lager House with his two dogs, CC Ryder and SO Terek, cleaning, taking deliveries, doing bookkeeping, making future plans and dealing with the day to day of running a bar. Nighttime usually finds him working the door, tending bar or just hanging and enjoying the music and musicians. “My wife’s a little bummed that I’m not home to make my famous gumbo and Uglesich’s barbequed shrimp dishes for her these days, but I tell her that we’ll just have to get the kitchen open again and I’ll cook for her there. Until then, we are just going to try to build one of the best music venues Detroit’s ever had!”
