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Northside Tavern: The Mostly True Account of the Golden Age of Atlanta’s Most Exquisite Blues Dive
Courtesy of Hal Jacobs
Monday December 19, 2022 06:30 PM EST
Cost: $15
Disclaimer: All prices are current as of the posting date and are subject to change.
Please check the venue or ticket sales site for the current pricing.
Please check the venue or ticket sales site for the current pricing.
CL RECOMMENDS
CL Critic Hal Horowitz Recommends: The iconic downtown Atlanta blues joint is not only proud of its scuzzy reputation, it revels in it. It’s been three decades since musician Mudcat and owner Ellyn Webb brought roots music to the Northside, located at 1058 Howell Mill Road, in 1992. Since then it has become the go-to for this city’s blues fans unconcerned with clean bathrooms, cigarette smoke infused interiors, or beer stained … well everything. Rather than distance themselves from this rather negative narrative, the owners of the Northside embrace it. So do the many musicians who consider it a second home and the throngs of regulars who flock to the small, seedy, space at the crossroads of Howell Mill and Brady Avenue. Not long ago the neighborhood the Northside inhabits was considered dicey, charitably speaking, but all that has changed as gentrification has rebuilt the area as the chi-chi “West Side,” and the bar’ is the last of the old school Atlanta establishments still-standing in the now upscale location. The Northside is what movie and television location scouts search for when in need of when filming an authentic, grungy, boozy background scene. The bar’s website attests to the shows and movies in which it has played minor parts. That list is likely to grow as other local watering holes succumb to the wrecking ball, a situation which threatens to turn some of Atlanta’s most historic bars into parking lots or “mixed use” facilities. The tavern is so archetypal, someone should make a film about it. That’s what local documentarian Hal Jacobs thought too, and he has done just that. After two years of work, conducting dozens of interviews with artists, employees and regulars, Northside Tavern: The Mostly True Account of the Golden Age of Atlanta’s Most Exquisite Blues Dive is finally complete. While clips and an early trailer are already available, director Jacobs (his wife and son are executive producers) elaborates on the genesis of this venture, which arrives after his helming two other Atlanta based docs. “I started seeing the Northside Tavern … as not just a gritty little blues dive bar in a gentrifying neighborhood of office and apartment towers, but as a cultural institution that’s endured for over 25 years as a blues incubator for a city with a rich blues heritage … and all of that because of the dedication and passion of its owner/manager, Ellyn Webb, who died in 2017.“Not coincidentally, my wife, friends and myself were devotees of the Northside in the late 1990s and early 2000s, during the peak of its ‘Golden Age’ (when) Sean Costello, King Johnson, Mudcat, Breeze Kings, Donnie Mac, Bill Sheffield, and many others (were regulars there).“So when I talked with the current owner, Tommy Webb (Ellen Webb’s brother), about doing the documentary, he was thrilled to hear that the story would take shape around Ellyn and her legacy — and that the film would premiere during the 50th anniversary year of his parents acquiring the little neighborhood tavern.”Jacobs goes on to explain. “The 90-minute film showcases the legacy of blues in Atlanta, from Blind Willie McTell, Curley Weaver, Buddy Moss, and Frank Edwards, to Albert White, Beverly Guitar Watkins, and Eddie Tigner, and the current generation of musicians on the national/international stage.” Northside Tavern: The Mostly True Account of the Golden Age of Atlanta’s Most Exquisite Blues Dive is now ready for its Atlanta unveiling. We assume there won’t be a red carpet at its premier Dec. 13 at the Plaza Theatre. Or, if there is one, it’ll be stained and tattered with a slight odor of vomit and Pine-Sol.-HH
From the venue:
Our new 90-minute documentary tells the story of the amazing local music scene created in a little tavern off busy Northside Drive in Atlanta. Filled with music clips and interviews with musicians and staff, the film highlights the cast of characters who found a home there under the watchful eye of owner/manager Ellyn Webb, making the Northside Tavern a melting pot for music lovers and a must-see destination for blues lovers from all over the world.