By Mary Michael Teel
It is a Thursday night at The Palms, a popular Lexington restaurant and bar. Tables have been pushed aside to make room for performers who are sitting side-by-side as they strum their guitars.
This is the Thursday Night Sessions, a weekly live music event held from 7:30 to 10 p.m. since this past July.
Set up as a “writer in the round,” the sessions include three singer-songwriters taking turns performing acoustic versions of original and cover songs. They also occasionally accompany each other instrumentally and vocally, along with adding comments in between songs.
The format of the sessions brings about a new opportunity for local musicians. The performers usually do not know each other and are hearing each other’s songs for the first time. During the sessions, they learn how to play along and harmonize with each other, an important skill, according to Graham Spice, an audio engineer for the music department at Washington and Lee University.
For example, SaraJane McDonald, a high school student from Rockbridge County, has performed multiple times at the sessions. She typically plays with a full band, so the solo acoustic setup is a challenge to see if she can stand on her own, said Spice.
Spice worked with Jeff Ramsey, the owner of The Palms, to develop the sessions. A Lexington native, Spice grew up with no live music nearby.
“There’s so much talent here in Rockbridge County that I wanted to figure out a way to bring those people together,” said Spice.
Ramsey bought The Palms two years ago. He also owns two other restaurants in Virginia — Byers Street Bistro in Staunton and Jimmy Madison’s in Harrisonburg. Both restaurants feature live music regularly.
Spice had performed at Byers Street Bistro in the past. When he heard that Ramsey purchased The Palms, he immediately contacted him about bringing in live music to this restaurant.
Ramsey was interested in having live music at The Palms, but wanted to get everything in order with the restaurant first, said Spice. This past May, he contacted Spice and they began to plan the sessions.
Ramsey’s goal for The Palms was to make it a more family-friendly atmosphere, as opposed to the bar scene that previously dominated, said Spice. Spice pitched the idea of a “writer in the round,” a popular practice in the Nashville music scene. He worked as an audio engineer and performer in Nashville before returning to Lexington several years ago.
The Palms is not the only restaurant offering live music in Lexington. On Wednesday mornings, bluegrass jam sessions are held at Blue Sky Bakery. The location changed last winter after the Lexington Coffee Shop decided it did not want to pay the music-licensing fee. Haywood’s Piano Bar has a variety of live music nightly, including Jazz Night on Sundays, when Spice performs.
Spice’s ideas for improving the music scene in Lexington do not end with the Thursday Night Sessions. He hopes to someday create what he calls the “Rockbridge Music Guild,” to bring people together to find ways to improve the live music scene in Lexington.
The ultimate goal of the guild would be to bring a music venue to Lexington. Spice said that the main problem in the Rockbridge music scene is the lack of a space specifically for live music.
Until then, Spice hopes that the Thursday Night Sessions will continue to grow. As of now, he says that there are typically 75-100 people who come out each week. He wants to see more people coming regularly, along with more people coming out in general. Eventually, Spice also wants The Palms to be known as “a music place” and for the sessions to allow artists the opportunity to form a fan base.