Mike Grimes (left) and Dave Brown at The Basement
On a recent afternoon at The Basement, Mike Grimes is reflecting on his 21 years as co-owner of the club located downstairs at 1604 Eighth Ave. S. “All we wanted to do was fucking sling beers and do rock ’n’ roll, and that’s what we did,” Grimes says. “That’s what we’re still doing.”
Grimes and his longtime business partner Dave Brown will celebrate more than two decades of rocking, rolling and sliding beverages across the bar with a special pair of free 21st anniversary shows at the club Thursday and Friday. Daniel Tashian, Aaron Raitiere, Weekend Jimmy and the Easy Party, Flight Attendant, The Clutters, Madi Diaz, Patrick Sweany, Jillette Johnson, Lillie Mae + Rische Love, Katie Pruitt and the Bobby Bare Jr.-led Pixies tribute band Is She Weird? are among the artists who will perform.
When asked the significance of celebrating the club’s 21st anniversary, Grimes jokes, “Our little baby Basement’s old enough to drink.” He then goes on to explain it’s actually because they didn’t celebrate their 20th anniversary. “We were just in the weeds doing stuff and never got around to it.”
Before Grimes took over The Basement, it was operated by Steve West, one of the owners of the building who was also the former owner of storied downtown venue 328 Performance Hall. West opened The Basement in summer 2001, but booked music only a couple of nights a week.
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That changed when Grimes took ownership in February 2005, less than a year after moving Grimey’s New & Preloved Music — the acclaimed independent record store he co-owns with Doyle Davis — to the building’s street-level space in spring 2004. (The record store moved to East Nashville in 2018, but the music venue remains in place.) When he first broached the idea to Davis of moving Grimey’s to West’s building, Davis suspected he had an ulterior motive.
“I told him where it was, and he goes, ‘Oh, you want to go over to that space because The Basement’s underneath it, and you want to jump back into booking music,’” Grimes recalls. “And I couldn’t say I wasn’t interested in doing that.”
Grimes had previously co-owned Slow Bar, the influential East Nashville nightclub that closed in September 2003, and he still had an itch to run a club. Here and there during the remainder of 2004, he booked shows at The Basement. Then early in 2005, he approached West about taking over the club.
“He said, ‘I’m not sure if I want to do it as a 50-50 partner, but I could just rent it to you if you want,’” Grimes recalls. “And I’m like, ‘OK,’ because it was already ready to go.”
Grimes brought in Geoff Donovan as his partner, and they invested in a better PA system for the club. Donovan oversaw the bar while Grimes handled the bookings. Their first show was on Feb. 5, 2005. The night began with a showcase for singer, songwriter, pianist and producer Charlie Peacock and ended with a performance by indie-rock outfit Manchester Orchestra.
“In retrospect, we kind of hit that one out of the park,” Grimes says.
Brown, who had previously worked at East Side music-scene hub Radio Cafe, started as a bartender at The Basement in October 2005 and soon became bar manager. “Immediately I knew that The Basement was where my heart was, and that it was such an amazingly special place,” he says.
When Donovan decided he wanted to get out of the business in 2010, Brown bought his share and became Grimes’ partner.
“We became a very good team,” says Grimes. “I ran sound and booked shows, he booked some shows, ran the bar and kept the numbers in order, and we became more profitable.”
After the team opened The Basement East on the other side of the Cumberland River in 2015, the Eighth Avenue club became affectionately known as “The OG Basement.”
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The pair has hosted some unforgettable and important shows at the club over the past 21 years. One they both mention is Metallica’s show at The Basement on June 12, 2008, which Grimes calls the club’s “highest profile” show. The group performed for select fan club members, label personnel and music press.
“Metallica wanted to do an underplay while they were in town for their Bonnaroo performance,” he says. “They also wanted to mend some fences with people they had pissed off regarding the Napster thing.”
Asked to run down other memorable shows, Brown and Grimes reference performances by legendary artists such as Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Robyn Hitchcock, Guy Clark, Tony Joe White, Lyle Lovett, John Doe and Jandek. They also list an array of shows by legends in the making, like Cage the Elephant, Brendan Benson, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Lumineers, Justin Townes Earle, Yola, Sturgill Simpson, Molly Tuttle, Tyler Childers, Lucy Dacus and The Weird Sisters.
“To me, the beauty of The Basement from day one was that it’s street level-rock ’n’ roll,” Brown says. “It’s where young kids come to get their start, get their footing and get their sea legs onstage. And you just can’t duplicate or replicate that young, fiery passion of kids making music and getting their start. That was what attracted me to The Basement in the first place. I am a believer in the power of music. I think it changes people, and to see those kids onstage playing their heart out and having the time of their life — that’s what makes it worthwhile for me.”
