A New Low: The Team Behind The Basement East Opens Lowbar

“Dave and I have hung our shingle on beer and rock ’n’ roll and good times,” says Mike Grimes of his longtime business partner Dave Brown. With the duo's latest project, opening this week, it seems there’s a new shingle in East Nashville, and it's hung on the same foundation.

On Friday, Oct. 11, the team is opening Lowbar at 917C Woodland St. The name, Brown says, is a reference to Slow Bar, their former Five Points bar (later home to 3 Crow Bar, and now Buds & Brews) that transformed both the East Nashville neighborhood and the Nashville live music scene between 2000 and 2003. But it’s also tongue-in-cheek, because Lowbar is on the lower level: a bar below The Basement East. (Brown and Grimes are co-owners in The Basement and The Basement East. Grimes also owns Grimey’s New & Pre-Loved Music.) “It’s a nod to our history and an exact description of what it is.”

Until now, the space that is opening as a 285-person bar had served exclusively as storage for the venue upstairs. The two had hoped to expand as a way to generate more revenue in space they already occupied. But doing so was not permitted until an applicable parking mandate in the East Nashville neighborhood was rescinded. Once they had the legal go-ahead, they started planning a spot intended to be for neighbors, as their projects historically have been.

Lowbar, which they’re cheekily billing as “East Nashville’s only locally owned underground hang,” will offer patrons of shows at The Basement East an option for drinking and eating on-site before the concert. They’ll then be able to move upstairs for the show without going back outside and waiting in the front line. After the show, they can head back downstairs for more revelry, including dancing, karaoke and occasional post-show hangouts with the musicians who have been performing upstairs. In addition, Lowbar will also be open as a neighborhood bar with good drinks, music and food-truck eats for those who are not planning to catch a show at The Basement East. There is also a 40-seat patio for sipping cocktails outside.

Lowbar will be open Sunday through Wednesday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Thursday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Patrons with tickets to shows at The Basement East will be able to move freely between the two spaces.

The folks behind Rosemary & Beauty Queen, including Jim O'Shea, Matthew Bell and Andrew Mischke, developed both Lowbar’s eclectic nostalgic aesthetics as well as its drink menu, the latter in tandem with venue manager Phil Simpson. While, yes, you can get a Jack-and-Coke on either level, the vibe is different at Lowbar. The menu includes a selection of elevated takes on the Paloma, three cocktails on draft, wines and more. New food truck JaQ Rabbit Slims will be stationed by the door for wings with homemade sauces daily from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. (Empanada purveyor Chivanada will no longer be in front of The Basement East.)

The vibe, Brown and Grimes say, is Saturday Night Fever meets Cheers. Walls are adorned with photos of Five Points over the years, offering a history of East Nashville. There’s faux stained glass, red lanterns and a neon sign. The 900-square-foot space has comfortable booths, pool tables, darts, room for dancing (a DJ will provide music for what Grimes calls “a good late-night dancing vibe”), a VIP room and karaoke. 

Brown and Grimes were convinced of the popularity of karaoke after an employee holiday party where staff did karaoke for four hours straight. Employees told them there were not enough places in town where “regular people” could dance and sing karaoke, so Lowbar plans shifted to meet demand.

Grimes acknowledges that there’s a lot of competition these days for bars, restaurants and music venues, so being able to welcome folks to Woodland Street for a few hours before their show at The Basement East will be welcome additional revenue. But more than that, he says, it will be fun: “We do know how to curate good times upstairs and downstairs.”