New local blues club presents live music options

Melissa Sewell

The appeal of an expensive hotel in the middle of the night is too much for some people to resist. Since childhood, we’ve been trained that hotel lobbies were a place for quiet manners and reservation. With the advent of the in-hotel bar, this training is easily ignored for at least a couple of hours.

Uncle Bo’s T-Town Bar, located in the basement of the 6th Street Ramada Inn takes advantage of the heavily insulated walls to host live music while hotel patrons sleep unknowingly in other parts of the hotel.

The bar itself smells faintly of popcorn and women’s perfume. The walls are painted burgundy, and tall wooden stools are unsteady on an otherwise tasteful stone floor. The tables are placed around a small stage where patrons can take in local acts like Back Porch Blues and Johnny I and the Receders for a modest 3 or 4 dollars. Uncle Bo’s is also able to monthly secure national acts, usually blues, for a less modest cover charge.

Bartenders and servers are all female, and dressed in white trailer tee’s that advertise Jagermeister. The majority of these servers are in their twenties, and seem undisturbed that their midriffs are showing. Overall, they are enthusiastic, possibly about the music, since the middle-aged crowd drinks slowly and offers little more amusement than their stiff-limbed attempts on the dance floor. While waiting for drink orders, one of the bartenders practices flair.

A collection of neon beer signs smatter the walls, but the bar is otherwise appropriately dim, with ample seating on even a Saturday night.

On Sundays, Uncle Bo’s hosts a Desperate Housewives’ viewing, while small business owners peddle jewelry and perfumes to the customers.

Uncle Bo’s T-Town Grill is open from 4p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Taking a break or two from the music is recommended. It isn’t every day we get to explore a quiet hotel. And who can resist those dares to jump fully clothed into the swimming pool?