We never told anyone at the bar what we were listening to. We just put it on and sat there, watching people's reactions and giving it the bar test. People bopped their heads, continued eating or drinking, and I knew at that point that the mixing, mastering and just about everything else worked. It sounded like a record. And where was this first public performance of my yet-to-be-released album? The Family Wash in East Nashville, of course, which celebrated its one-year anniversary this July. The Wash is just the kind of neighborhood place where you can do things like that. A place where everyone indeed knows your name and Jamie behind the bar knows what you drink. He also knows all about you and your family and what's going on in your life (he's got a brain like a steel trap). At the same time, you know about him and his family, and get to follow the growth of his adorable son with new pictures he'll show you every few weeks.

Since opened by Fred Grgich last year, partner Jamie Rubin and his team have transformed the former laundromat into the kind of pub that's immediately welcoming, emitting a familiar warmth like that experienced when dropping by a friend's place to share a cold beer, a warm meal and anecdotes on the day. It's no wonder it was voted Best neighborhood Bar in this year's Nashville Scene poll. It's not a "scene" or a "meat market." And it's become to many in Nashville, both musicians and non-musicians alike, our gathering place. It's what The White Horse or the Lion's Head in New York was to Dylan Thomas and Pete Hamill, respectively, or here in Nashville, what the Idlehour was and is to Music Row's country-songwriter set. For the musicians, Jamie will always find a place for you in the calendar, as long as you're cool with the "no cover-charge" rule, playing three sets, and getting paid out of the old hat that's past around each set. I don't know many that aren't. Where else can you see folks like Elizabeth Cook, Tim Carroll and the Neighborhood Band, Duane Jarvis, Cole Slivka, Amelia White, Kristi Rose, Tom House, Jamie's excellent own Circus Dog Serenade and more at no expense other than what you feel like tossing into an old Stetson? Add to that great conversation, unique beer and wine, and fabulous food from a kitchen so tiny there must be some magic involved (their celebrated vegetarian Shepherd's Pie is enchanting).

So here's to Jamie, Kami, Jen, Adrian and everyone at the Family Wash for giving us a place in East Nashville to call home. Congratulations on a year of doing it right, and to many more to come.


Joe Pagetta
Singer/Songwriter