Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Same bar, new Dan

By Sarah Poulton

YOUNGSTOWN ­ — Plaza Cafe, The Bad Apple and Barleys are all names synonymous with 21 W. Federal St.

So when the bar changed ownership over the summer, why didn’t new owner Dan Sweeney change the name?

“It’s not broke, so I’m not going to fix it,” Sweeney said. “Why change the name? I think I have a good name for a pub.”

Sweeney bought Barleys, effective July 1, from Dan Crump and Holly Jordan. He used to eat lunch at Barleys while working as a process specialist at Huntington Bank, downtown, and has also booked shows there through his company, Skie Promotions.

“I’ve always wanted my own venue,” Sweeney said. “It started as a conversation: ‘Hey, when are you going to let me buy this place?’ And over the course of a year and a half, one thing led to another.”

Former owner Dan Crump said for him, the decision to sell was easy. He said Sweeney came up with a good offer, but more important to Crump, was the person who made the offer.

“You, in my opinion, love the music,” he said to Sweeney. “It had to be someone who came in with the right passion. I wouldn’t have sold it to just anyone.”

Sweeney said Crump was right: “This bar has such character,” Sweeney said. “A lot of bars around here are too ‘nice.’ You can’t staple a flier into the wall. This is a musician’s bar.”

Crump stayed on at Barleys until Aug. 23 as a consultant for Sweeney. He said by doing so, he hoped to make the transition as smooth as possible.

“This is too big a business to throw someone in and be like, ‘Good luck,’” Crump said.

Sweeney admitted that the bar business is tough. He’s been putting in a lot of hard hours, but describes them as good hours, he said.

“We’ll get more efficient,” he said. “Everything’s falling into place.”

When it comes to making changes, Sweeney said he’s done very little to the menu and beer selection. He said he’s currently closed for lunch, but the evening specials remain the same, for now.

On Thursdays, he decided to open at 8 p.m. instead of 4, and does not have a complete menu. He said he’s been toying with the idea of having karaoke or guitar hero tournaments on Thursdays.

“Thursday is the ‘Let’s see what happens, experimental night,’ ” Sweeney said.

Guitar Hero tournaments used to be held at The Cellar in Struthers, but the event has been canceled.

Wednesday’s Flip Night— the bartender flips a coin to determine if your drink is a quarter or full price— has changed slightly. Instead of having a D.J., Sweeney will be using Rajma’s new project, currently unnamed, which will be covering popular dance and party songs.

Sweeney said he is “all about the music” so he will continue to feature live acts on Friday and Saturday nights. He said he’d like to book bigger acts, or sponsor a metal review, featuring a signed band.

“It’s all about the music for me,” Sweeney said. “I wanted a music venue, and this is a perfect fit.”

As for Skie Promotions, Sweeney plans to use Barleys as the primary venue for his shows. He says he’ll continue to book and promote at least one show per month, in addition to his acoustic Storyteller series.

Before Sweeney bought Barleys, Jim DeCapua of Youngstown Local Music had been booking acts. DeCapua stepped down from that role because he wants to dedicate more time to his band, Jones for Revival, and try to make YLM a legitimate business, instead of , he said.

“When Dan Crump owned the bar, he wasn’t as in-touch with the music scene as Dan Sweeney,” DeCapua said. “He didn’t have the time and didn’t know the bands. Dan Sweeney took over and I told him straight up, ‘You don’t need me.’ I felt the honorable thing to do would be to step down,” DeCapua said.

Even though his days of booking have become scarce, DeCapua won’t be a stranger to Barleys.

He said through YLM, he will continue to present shows at Barleys once a month, and hopes to focus on booking smaller, national acts and promoting out-of-town bands.

DeCapua will also continue to run the open mic on Tuesday nights. He said the open mic is important because it gives up-and -coming musicians a chance to practice and be heard.

“That’s how I started, back when it was Plaza Cafe,” DeCapua said. “Now, I like to think of myself as a resource.”

Selling Barleys won’t be the end of the road for Crump either. He said he hopes to buy a “distressed” bar, or restaurant, and bring it back to life. Crump, who is involved in YLM with DeCapua, also hopes to get involved with more projects.

“YLM, to me, was always my release from the everyday bar scene,” Crump said. “The production side is where I like to be.”