John and Amy Billings
John Billings is a busy man. Since moving to Nashville from Virginia in 1995, Billings has worked as a touring bass player with national acts including Donna Summer, Wynonna Judd and Cactus Moser, as well as various incarnations and combinations of the surviving ’60s pop superstars The Monkees. You also might have seen him filling in on low end for local acts like Wednesday-night warriors The Wooten Brothers. Full disclosure: If you’ve been around for more than a decade, you might even have seen him playing in a cover band that I was also in, Conscious Pilot, in the Aughts. That’s how I’ve known John for years. And for a bunch of white dudes, we kicked ass on “Brick House.”
In between gigs, Billings also works as a music producer and photographer, so his dance card stays pretty full. But when he met his wife Amy in 2014, John felt the urge to settle down a little bit. Amy is also involved in the music business as a performer, talent buyer and entertainment booker, so it was logical that they pooled their talents and interests. “We knew we wanted to open some sort of venue,” recalls Amy. “And we love wine, so a wine bar just made sense.”
The couple’s new venture together, Wine Down, is a cozy little spot in the same little strip mall that houses Donelson’s first craft beer bar, Homegrown Taproom & Marketplace. At first, the Billingses were trepidatious about making the leap to wine-bar ownership. Amy grew up in Hendersonville, so she knows Old Nashville, but when they moved from East Nashville to Donelson four years ago (“Before it was hip,” notes John), they were worried they wouldn’t find any musicians in the neighborhood.
“I went to Waffle House to meet with The Monkees’ guitar player, who also lived in Donelson,” recalls John. “During the course of that one meal I ran into two other musicians that I knew. I keep bumping into people I know that have moved here from all over town, so I knew the area could support us.”
Amy had food-and-beverage experience from working at the TGI Friday’s on Elliston Place back in the ’90s. “All the restaurant, music and entertainment people came to Friday’s,” she remembers. “Now I see people coming to Nashville from out of town to pop up bars with their names on them, but they’re not from here. I say it’s a bunch of tourists creating a tourist experience. We want to be the natives creating a native experience.”
John and Amy did most of the construction work themselves, converting the space into a comfortable hang. They removed the drop ceiling, extended the HVAC system into the bright dining area, and painted the walls a cool gray to match the stainless-steel tables, booths and high-tops that create an intimate ambiance. After doing a little work for Epiphone Guitars, John negotiated a deal with the Nashville-based company to provide nine instruments, which hang from the walls to add a little rock ’n’ roll vibe. They also serve a secret purpose.
“We didn’t number the tables,” John says. “I just describe where a customer is by whose model of guitar they’re sitting under, like ‘Dickie Betts needs two chardonnays,’ or ‘I need a pinot for Larry Carlton.’ ” The walls of Wine Down are also decorated with some of John’s photos from the road, along with the stories behind the pictures.
Storytelling is an important part of what the Billingses have planned for their customers. They’ve built a small stage in the corner of the dining room where they can host live musical performances, but even more interesting are the intimate discussions they have begun to offer under the title “Offroad Ramblings.” Billings was one of the first guests to share some of his tales from the road, along with a Q&A session. “We want to give unique experiences for fanboys to be able to meet the artists and hear their stories,” says Amy. They plan to offer meet-and-greet opportunities for touring artists who need a comfortable venue to meet with their fans.
Amy also has a connection with another interesting performing community — the world of pro wrestling. “One of our servers was a WCW ring girl, so we’re planning to invite some old and new wrestlers to appear as part of the Offroad Ramblings series,” she says. They’re currently looking for someone to moderate these discussions.
But above all the entertainment options, the Billingses want to emphasize that Wine Down is about wine, food and fellowship. “People don’t always want to go downtown for a night out anymore,” says Amy. “They’d rather get two glasses of wine for what you’d pay to park down there. Wine is the basis of all things cool.” Their wine list is primarily by-the-glass and priced affordably in the $9-$12 range. Wine Down usually offers about a dozen options, which rotate frequently.
“We hope you don’t recognize everything on the list,” says Amy. “We want you to try new things.” To that end, the couple seeks out unusual options from their distributors, with the understanding that some may come with limited availability. That’s fine with them, since they plan to reprint the menu often anyway. The food at Wine Down is designed to pair well with wine, with small plates of cheeses, hummus, bruschetta and an addictive homemade pimento cheese dip.
The Billingses are amiable hosts and clearly enjoy each other’s company. They held hands throughout our interview, still smelling of suntan lotion — they were fresh off a celebratory birthday trip to the lake. Their affection is contagious, and the main reason why they have decided to take on this venture is to spend more time with each other and their new friends.
“Unless there was a gig, there was never going anywhere in our house,” says John. “We really love each other, and it’s been fun. We’re planning to promote Saturday night date nights at Wine Down so that we can have one, too! We’re not looking for this to be a place where college kids go to get drunk. We wanted a place that we would want to hang out in.”
Amy sums it up nicely.
“We finally figured out a way to get paid for throwing a party.”
