Always Lake City Pub
We may not always post about it, but just about every Saturday you can find us at Lake City Pub soaking in the live music. And about once a month we even make it to open mic Wednesdays; led by non other than the Lew Schmngy duo! But, on this particular Wednesday, LCP had a special guest performance scheduled.
Frontman of his band, The Black Lillies, Cruz Contreras has recently started playing solo, and a trip to the west coast from his home in Tennessee led to him playing at Lake City Pub! To make what was sure to be a great night even better, Billy Stoops and Leanne Trevalyan opened the night with a few songs!
Lake City Pub always feels like home to us. The food is always fantastic, and you will typically see a patty melt and the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers on our table alongside a bottle of wine. If I (Denice), am particularly hungry, I will tend to order either the house salad (complete with goat cheese and candied walnuts!) or the chicken wings. We have never ordered something we didn’t like! Unfortunately, they had been out of a Malbec variety for a bit, and Amanda, the bartender, was excited to let us know that they had one back in! It had a fantastic spicy and leather-esque taste. One of our favorite malbec varieties so far!
Billy and Leanne were fantastic. There is something magical to listening to them perform together. Entrancing almost! You can’t sit through an evening of their music without wanting more.
All too soon, their part was over, and Cruz took to the stage. We were curious what sound he would bring, and were immediately blown away! His music ranged from country to folksy. He spoke of his inspiration and roots in polka music from his home town. He moved between the guitar and keyboard with ease, and even shared an amazing 80s original instrumental on the keyboard that felt straight out of a Miami Vice opener. In between songs he shared stories of his childhood, how he got his start in music, and his own family as an adult. Taking questions from those of us listening and laughing in the jokes together, this type of intimate interaction, getting to know the artist as well as their music, is part of the reason why we love local shows compared to large concerts.
We were able to enjoy several dances together to the great music! Including a unique, amazing chance to listen to Leanne play alongside Cruz. Check out our Lake City Pub Playlist on YouTube for the rest of our dance videos from the evening!
As always, it was a fantastic evening, enjoying not only a few fantastic musicians, but also some of our favorite people who came to enjoy the show and who work at Lake City Pub! We love these evenings.