By Lisa Jordan     •     Metro Spirit, Augusta, Ga.     •     March 13, 2003

     “If James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, I think the Soul Bar is the godfather of modern downtown Augusta,” said John (Stoney) Cannon, speaking from behind the counter at his newly opened Lokal Loudness Words and Music store. His words echo the sentiments of many other downtown Augusta business owners who owe their success, at least in part, to being inspired by the Soul Bar’s success.

     In the aftermath of a fire at the bar that started in the early morning hours of March 5, Augusta’s ever-present love affair with the Soul Bar is manifesting itself in all sorts of ways. It’s in the hand-lettered sign reading “God Bless the Soul Bar” that had appeared outside the club’s darkened door by the following afternoon. It’s in the number of patrons that showed up in support of the club at the Imperial Theatre during last week’s First Friday celebration. And it’s in the bands that kept the Soul Bar tradition of live entertainment alive by lending their talents to the Soul Bar’s First Friday event at the Imperial.

     Though the cleanup efforts are just getting underway, Soul Bar owner Coco Rubio is confident that, with a little help from his friends, the bar will be back up and running in no time.

    “There’s just a lot of people, they feel connected to it and want to help,” he says. “I think everybody’s looking forward to going ahead and start putting it back together again.”

Revitalizing downtown

     Established in 1995 alongside a smattering of other businesses still going strong downtown, the Soul Bar has been credited as one of the premier venues to bring crowds looking for entertainment to a once-deserted Broad Street.

     “People were afraid to come downtown,” recalled Cannon. “Now, downtown feels like a downtown should.”

     When renting storefront space on Broad Street was dirt cheap and downtown was deserted, it was people like Rubio who poured time, money and a lot of heart into the area.

     “I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Rubios were one of the first families to really take a chance on starting a business downtown before it was hip to come downtown,” Cannon said.

     Eric Kinlaw, a seven-year employee of the Soul Bar who now owns music spot and tapas bar The Bee’s Knees, also recognizes the Soul Bar’s contribution to revitalizing downtown.

     “It’s really the beginning of the whole revitalization of downtown,” he said. “It wasn’t the first thing, but it was the first big thing. It really motivated people. I guess maybe it inspired people to say, ‘I can do this,’ or ‘I should do this.’ It really brought people together.”

     Being involved in a successful nightclub venture also served to show Kinlaw the ropes of owning his own nightspot.

     “I worked there for seven years. I worked there a month after it opened,” Kinlaw said. “It definitely taught me a lot. It taught me a whole lot. I got inspiration from traveling, mostly, and seeing other places, but the Soul Bar taught me how to do things.”

     Kinlaw is just one of a whole crop of local business owners who have taken advantage of downtown opportunities in the wake of the Soul Bar’s success.

     “It has a lot to do with people that are right around Coco’s age,” Cannon said. “They rented the buildings when they were cheap. Raygun, the Soul Bar, Nacho Mama’s, the Pizza Joint. I think the Soul Bar was the catalyst.”

The heart and soul of the bar

     Anyone who’s ever set foot in the Soul Bar would probably venture to guess that the long, narrow space Rubio carved into a music venue wasn’t originally intended as a concert space. Those first days, however, are long gone — the bar frequently hosts live music, of varying descriptions, on the weekends, and every Wednesday night is reserved for a live jazz session, which Kinlaw is still part of.

     “Originally, the Soul Bar wasn’t even going to do live music,” remembers Kinlaw. “Then it just kind of evolved into a music venue, probably the most diverse music venue in town.

     “I started doing jazz there. Coco asked me to put a band together and I got this little band together with a couple friends of mine, and that turned into a regular Wednesday night gig. My band Deathstar, I think was the first band that played there, also.”

     But beyond supporting local musicians, Rubio mixes it up by bringing regional and national acts to the Soul Bar, offering up one of Augusta’s more diverse musical palettes. Among the acts Rubio has been responsible for bringing to Augusta are Cat Power, 2 Skinnee J’s and Drivin’ ‘n’ Cryin’.

     “People love playing there,” said Kinlaw. “It was very intimate — it was like playing in your living room with your friends. I know a lot of bands really love that. They just loved the decor, they loved the intimacy of playing there, and they loved Coco. He was just so nice to the bands. He’d feed them; he’d put them up if he could.”

     Rubio’s involvement with downtown Augusta’s music scene doesn’t stop at the Soul Bar’s door — from being involved with bringing concerts to the Imperial Theatre to helping organize this year’s upcoming Garden City Music Festival, it seems you’ll find him anywhere you find music in Augusta.

     “There’s also a big love and respect to Coco and what he does for the community,” said Cannon. “He doesn’t seem to run out of things to be able to give to help downtown move forward.”

     “Coco does so much for this town,” Kinlaw said. “He just has ideas with everything. Every kind of music event, anything that’s artistic or cultural, Coco’s involved somehow.”

The love flows both ways

     It’s not just Augusta that shows admiration for Rubio and the Soul Bar. He’s carrying around a fair amount of love for Augusta, too.

     “When we first opened up and we had that old building, we had a bunch of friends help us gut it out and help paint and clean,” Rubio said. “It’s always kind of been like that for us at the Soul Bar — it’s not just about me or a few people. It’s really a community kind of bar.”

     The front page of the bar’s Web site, www.soulbar.com, currently features a thank-you note from Rubio for the support he’s received from the community thus far. It also billed last Friday’s event as a place “to get together and give thanks to you.”

     Last Friday’s event, loosely planned, was free, though donations were being accepted to help re-open the bar as soon as possible.

     Cannon said, “For the people who might not know Coco, his character was shown (during First Friday). It wasn’t so much to raise money for the Soul Bar as it was a big party. He didn’t make it a sad event.”

What’s next for the Soul Bar

     Though the damage from the blaze, which warped the actual bar, melted the famed disco ball and burned a hole in the bar’s floor, wasn’t as bad as it could have been, there’s still a lot of work ahead in the next few weeks to restore the Soul Bar to its former glory.

     “It was just mainly smoke damage and heat damage,” Rubio said. “We’re going to have to take everything off the walls. We’re going to have to pressure wash everything and repaint everything and throw away what we need to throw away, see what we can keep, clean up and keep. Pretty much start all over.”

     The Soul Bar’s distinctive bar will have to be rebuilt. “The plexiglass that we had on top melted,” Rubio said. “It was like a little pile of plexiglass over here. It was weird.”

     Rubio also said the smoke and heat damage were random — memorabilia that was destroyed sat right next to pieces that emerged unharmed.

     “If I know Coco, Coco did not put everything in the Soul Bar,” said Cannon. “The stuff on the walls, so many people added to these walls.”

     In the coming weeks, Rubio expects that Augusta’s support for the bar won’t waver, and they’ll have some of the old collection — and a little bit of new gear — back on the walls.

     “We’re going to start working on it as soon as we can,” Rubio said. “We’ll probably recruit some people to help us at least get some of the things down and out of the bar.” After that, he says, they’ll call in professionals to pressure wash and paint the interior of the building.

     Until the restoration is complete, the Soul Bar will be closed. Rubio is planning to keep updates on the Web site. But for now, it seems supporters of downtown are breathing a collective sigh of relief.

     “Thank God it didn’t burn all the way down,” Cannon said. “Downtown without the Soul Bar just isn’t downtown Augusta.”

services      •      clips      •      resume      •      contact

The soul of Augusta