Article published October 31, 2009
Downtown cafe serves bluegrass
Steve Crouse wasn't exactly sold on the idea of having a couple of guys play bluegrass music in his little restaurant in downtown Toledo.
But when Ben Langlois, a regular customer at the Glass City Caf at the corner of Jackson and 11th, persisted, Crouse finally relented.
"It's worked out real well for us," admits Crouse, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Debbie. "Most of the customers just love it. They think it's a fun place to be."
On the last Saturday of the month, Langlois and his pals Cole Latimer and Alan Leizerman head to the little caf. They call themselves the Blowing Grains - not to be confused with the Glowing Brains, which is what they call themselves when they play punk rock gigs.
At the caf this morning, Langlois will break out his bass, Leizerman his acoustic guitar, and Latimer will bring along a fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. They'll start jamming to traditional American bluegrass about 10:30 a.m. and go to 1 p.m.
"I went to a similar thing in Louisville. I thought it was a great idea. There was a line out the door," Langlois says. "In the center of the restaurant, you had these bluegrass pickers. Waiting to get seated wasn't so terrible."Since starting the jam session several months ago, the Crouses have completely bought into the idea. They promote the day as the Bluegrass Breakfast and offer a full line of southern breakfast dishes, including biscuits and sausage gravy, grits, country home fries, barbecue pulled pork, and some muffins, sweet potato pie, or pecan tarts for dessert.
So far, so good for the partnership between the Glass City Caf and the Blowing Grains. There's no line snaking around the corner - yet - but lots of people have been stopping in for a bite to eat and a little music.
"It's not something you hear too often around town - a traditional group doing American tunes, some old gospel tunes reworked to sound cool and fresh," Langlois says. "We've been getting nothing but good vibes from the place.
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The country music industry has not been immune from the nation's economic problems. In 2007, country CD sales fell about 30 percent. Last year, it was close to 15 percent. But finally, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Total country album sales are up almost 5 percent this year - or 922,000 copies ahead of last year's pace. That compares to all-genre sales, which have slid 11.75 percent or 9.9 million albums.
Also, USA Today recently ranked Kenny Chesney's as the No. 1 tour in the country, topping Elton John and Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, and Paul McCartney. For the seventh year in a row, Chesney has sold more than 1 million tickets.
However, for the first time in recent memory, he will not have a major tour next year, choosing instead to play select shows throughout the summer. He's going to be busy in the studio working on an album.
Fans will be able to catch him on Nov. 11 on the 43rd annual CMA Awards on ABC. The reigning Entertainer of the Year, he will be performing a duet with Matthews.
Brian Dugger's column on country music runs the last Saturday of every month.
Contact him at bdugger@theblade.com.
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