What's a ski town without some live music and dancing? This year, holiday visitors to the Sun Valley area will be hard pressed to find live music unless they stay in Hailey or Bellevue. And even in the remaining live music venues, music will be limited to local bands.
Live music in the Wood River Valley peaks in the summer when venues are plentiful and bands can dominate large, outdoor stages. Indoor live music was available in limited locations in the Wood River Valley. But with the loss of Whiskey Jacques' in Ketchum due to an as-yet-unexplained fire, and the close of The Mint in Hailey, attending live shows by touring bands is nearly impossible.
Whiskey's and the nexStage tried to team up and create a temporary live music setting at the nexStage to accommodate touring bands booked before the fire. Workers went into action but liquor licensing discrepancies forced nexStage to cancel the shows.
"I think it's a tragedy for all the young people who will come this winter," said nexStage Managing Director Kathy Wygle. "For locals, we can live through it, but the winter guests really look forward to it, and we have so little as it is."
Whiskey Jacques' owner Karin Martin was not available to comment, but plans for a New Year's Eve party at the nexStage have been discussed with the hopes of having something for young people to do.
"We know there is a void with Whiskey's closed, and we are trying to do the best we can with what we've got to fill that void," said Sawtooth Club and the Roosevelt owner Tom Nickel. "While Whiskey's is closed we will offer DJs, and we have a DJ every Saturday night, but we are a nice, casual upscale restaurant, and we have lots of customers who enjoy coming in for a nice dinner and bottle of wine. We definitely won't be starting the DJ until dinner is well over probably around 10:15 or 10:30 p.m."
Nickel said as things pick up this winter, he will definitely add more evenings with DJs and perhaps live music.
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"The downtown scene is a little challenging right now, but I'm completely optimistic about the future," Nickel said. "At the Roosevelt, we are looking to do a little bit of live music, like acoustic duos. We can still do that without hurting the fine dining atmosphere."
Local bands are also fretting about the lack of stage space in the valley.
"We are a six-piece situation," said Damphools member Trey Hartman. "We need room to play."
There are options: Fresshies in Hailey and the Hailey Hotel are two. But Hartman said the band needs a bar crowd and it's tough to find the space and the crowd.
"Hailey and Ketchum are too far apart and no one wants to drive, and that's tough for us." Hartman said. "We are now limited, and the guys in the band want to keep playing."
In the north valley, Sun Valley has the Boiler Room, which several weeks ago featured the well known valley cover band the Cosmic Beans. But transportation to Sun Valley still remains challenging.
"We can't go through a ski season without a place for people to kick up their heels," Nickel said.
Pete Prekeges, owner of Grumpy's in Ketchum and the Silver Dollar in Bellevue, was busy last week serving customers fries, burgers and sodas. In between orders, he expressed frustration about the state of the Wood River Valley's stages.
"Last week after the announcement of The Mint closing, my business was visibly up, but I only have 1,800 square feet at the Silver Dollar," he said. "Without Whiskey's, where does the 6-8 p.m. crowd go and where do people watch Sunday football? If we don't get Whiskey's back with its energy, live music and dancing, we will die as a ski town."
Photo by David N. Seelig
