Live Music is Taking Center Stage at Local Bars and Restaurants

While many spots rely on recorded playlists to help set the mood, live music is taking center stage at local bars and restaurants.

Venues with live music include Mount Vernon’s The Prime Rib (where a jazz trio or piano player perform American Songbook standards), Hampden’s The Duchess (with its rotating lineup of local bands), and Highlandtown’s Motte (frequent jazz nights).

At Atlas Restaurant Group, live music is featured at 28 of their 54 properties. In fact, the restaurant group’s music program is so extensive, there’s even a dedicated entertainment director who books more than two dozen bands across the company’s properties on a weekly basis.

“We all subscribe to that belief that a dining experience is, of course, about the food,” says entertainment director Barrett Johnson. “The food is the foundation. But it takes more than a foundation to build a house. Offering live music gives you a full sensory experience.”

“It’s a real testament to the music community because it’s so diverse. You never know if the guy who is ripping the guitar at Admiral’s Cup is also teaching high-school math.”

Johnson knows a thing or two about hitting the high notes. She majored in music at the University of Miami and is herself a professional vocalist.

The songstress, who occasionally performs at the properties in a pinch, has booked many an up-and-comer, including jazz-and-blues powerhouse Carly Harvey, who had a two-chair turn on NBC’s The Voice and performed at the restaurant group’s Monarque in Harbor East, and pianist Eli Staples, who played at former basketball star Michael Jordan’s wedding and tickled the ivories at their Order of the Ace, also in Harbor East.

In addition, there’s also a steady roster of “regular” folks who perform by night but hold day jobs to help make ends meet.

“We book a great mix of people who have day jobs, including doctors and lawyers and occasionally servers and bartenders from our own properties,” says Johnson. “It’s a real testament to the music community because it’s so diverse. You never know if the guy who is ripping the guitar at Admiral’s Cup is also teaching high-school math.”

“I lived in Nashville for a year and this is better.”

Johnson believes that Baltimore has an incredibly strong arts community—and she’s happy about being able to provide artists a platform for their talents.

“Baltimore has such a thriving arts community, especially the music community,” she says. “I lived in Nashville for a year and this is better. I am proud to be part of this community of musicians and so thankful to be able to literally invest in them.”