Fri 5/30 @ 7PM
The Wine Spot on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights opened just before Christmas in 2011 as a retail shop for craft beer and boutique wines. But from the beginning owner Adam Fleischer saw it as a cultural asset to the community as well. He struck an agreement with the Cleveland Institute of Art to have students provide rotating exhibits he dubbed “the Art Spot.”
Now it occasionally takes on the identity of “The Music Spot” as well.
Fleischer relates how, in January 2012, months before they got a full license so people could sit down at a table and hang out with a glass of wine, “It was a brutally cold day and I had no customers. Frank Cohen walked in and introduced himself. He told me about an organization he and his daughter Diana were starting to do chamber music in a more informal environment and get more young people.”
Franklin Cohen is principal clarinet in the Cleveland Orchestra and heads the clarinet department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The organization he was starting was ChamberFest Cleveland, which launched in June 2012.
“He was looking for a place in Cleveland Heights,” Fleischer continues. “He was going to do five shows and he wanted to do one here. He asked me if I would be open to it. I never imagined we’d do music but I said, let’s give it a shot. We sold out and the feedback was positive.”
So the Wine Spot began hosting occasional events, such as the CD release party for a classical pianist, another ChamberFest event in 2013, and one of the main stages at last October’s inaugural Heights Music Hop, taking place at various businesses on Lee Road.
“After the Heights Music Hop, people we saying we need more music on Lee Road on a regular basis,” says Fleischer. “We had the Wine Spot, we had the Art Spot. Why not do the Music Spot? I thought we could do that but I need partners. The most logical was ChamberFest Cleveland. So Franklin and I spoke, and I said would it be valuable to you to have year round events.”
He also spoke with Mike Kinsella of folk rockers Oldboy, who was working on booking some events for the nonprofit music advocacy group Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present and Future. He bought a P.A. and initially decided to focus on the last Friday of each month, hosting music from 7-9 to be family-friendly.
The series kicked off in February with a performance by Meridian (pictured), an acoustic duo featuring Max Stern of punk band Signals Midwest and his brother Jake. It was sponsored by CRPPF, which has traded off with ChamberFest in booking the music.
“We wanted it to be diverse,” says Fleischer. “It’s been pretty consistent [in drawing] 70-100 people.”
One month he says, Cohen brought his clarinet and “It turned into a big jam. People in the audience stood up and sang. Last month, a Greek band kept playing until 11 pm.”
This month, young newgrass trio Honeybucket will hold down the final Friday. Uno Lady and Jenna Fournier of NIGHTS will perform on Fri 6/27, with Attack Cat and Morgan Mecaskey on Fri 7/25. All the Friday shows are free.
The Music Spot will also again host a ChamberFest event on Wed 6/25 featuring eight musicians in a program of offbeat contemporary music and a post-performance chat with the musicians. Go to the ChamberFest website for ticket information.
Photo: Meridian at the Wine Spot by Anastasia Pantsios