In the winter of 1971, Chris Cotter and I took over, from Peggy Scherer and Anne Weinkam, the apartment at 225 Orchard Street in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood. Over-the-Rhine was one of the most interesting neighborhoods you could find in America. It was a mostly poor, urban Appalachian area, with remnants of German and Italian-Americans, and a scattering of other ethnic groups. In 1971, there weren't many Blacks in Over-the-Rhine; they were, for the most part, in the West End and on the fringes of OTR. There was a small group of Vista workers; some Mennonite workers from Bluffton College; some peace activists (I guess Chris and I fit into that category); and some young people who were artists or craftsmen. Some people fit none of these categories!
About one quarter mile from our Orchard Street home, near 13th and Main Streets, was a Bluegrass bar called "Aunt Maudie's Country Garden." I am sure that you could not find better Bluegrass music anywhere. We had the best, and there was no cover charge. The beer was served in mason jars and was cheep and plentiful. Life was good!
On the weekends, a band called the "Stony Mountain Boys" played music at the bar--they were stuffed in the back of the long, narrow bar, behind the pool table, just to the right of the men's toilet, on a small, slightly elevated stage. I once asked Junior McIntyre how much he was paid per night. If I remember correctly, he told me $7 bucks a night. Now that couldn't be possible. But whatever they were paid, it wasn't much, and it did not match their incredible talent. [More coming soon]
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I remember Aunt Maudy's. Draft beer in mason jars. Best bluegrass in the area. The original regulars wouldn't recognize the gentrification explosion that has taken place in Over The Rhine. I was a struggling law student, yet I could always afford this spot.
Yep, I also remember going to Aunt Maudie's and drinking beers from a Mason jar while tapping toes to driving Bluegrass music on many Friday/Saturday nights while a UC student in the early 1970s. Most evenings the band was Vernon McIntyre's Stony Mountain Boys. But occasionally one of the major touring Bluegrass bands would play there and the place would be even more packed and have a cover. And I remember "Mr. Spoons" sometimes showing up and playing for tips and dancing among the tables during part of each set. A great way to unwind and have a fun break from engineering studies, even though the neighborhood was a bit sketchy back then. No doubt that area has since been totally gentrified as has most of OTR. And a few years ago at a small festival I got to spend an afternoon with Vernon and the Appalachian Grass reminiscing about those days and Aunt Maudie's.
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