Sat 12/28 @ 7PM
It’s looking like Mike’s Barn, the private rustic music venue (pictured above) out by Elyria started by Mike Yates in 1994, may really be history.
It wasn’t able to operate this past summer due to legal use issues, although Yates did put on one show in another facility. That was a disappointment to those who appreciated its informal jam sessions and acoustic programming featuring a variety of jazz, blues and folk artists.
It now appears Yates is casting his eye eastward — to the decidedly non-rustic, urban environs of Detroit-Shoreway.
He’s found an old warehouse on West 65th called the Breakwater Building — a concrete, bare-bones type of facility he’s looking to upgrade, although he boasts it’s got a few things the barn didn’t: indoor plumbing and heat. He says it was once owned by a gangster who died of a heart attack in the building’s loading dock under where Yates will position the stage.
He’s taking it out for a spin with a “Holidaze” show featuring three outstanding northeast Ohio acts: two versatile Americana groups, Rachel Brown & the Beatnik Playboys and the Womack Family Band, and blues/jazz belter Becky Boyd and her band Natural Facts. They encompass Mike’s Barns past and hopefully its future: Brown and the Womack Band are both from Lorain County where the old facility was situation, while Boyd lives on Cleveland’s west side.
Like the barn shows, this one’s BYOB and whatever else you’d like to consume. There’ll be chairs or you can bring your own, and he’s taking table reservations as well to raise money to continue putting on shows.
Admission is a $20 donation. You can make reservations in advance here.
One Response to “Mike’s Barn Brings Its Act to Detroit-Shoreway Warehouse Space”
Sean Watterson
calling it a donation still doesn’t get around the city’s admissions tax