Nectar’s, the legendary club in Burlington, VT, that has been the proving ground for local-turned-national artists like Phish and Grace Potter, is turning 40 this year. In celebration, the people behind the scenes—the current owners, along with the promotion company Nectar’s Presents—have put on various event celebrating the legacy of the venue, including Project ’75, an ongoing celebration of the music from the year in which Nectar’s opened, with local artists playing full albums like the Grateful Dead’s Blues For Allah, among other events. There was also a focus on remembering the history of the Burlington music scene, with a reuniting of the Sneakers Jazz Band—who members of Phish used to travel to Winooski outside Burlington to go see—and the bestowing of the one-and-only Nectar’s Lifetime Achievement Award to local legend Seth Yacovone.
The building began its life as a savings and loan and later became a two-story restaurant/lounge called the Hi-Hat. In 1975 Nectar Rorris purchased it and supplied the current name. Well-known to locals, Nectar’s gained national recognition through Phish’s song “Cavern,” and the band’s 1992 album A Picture of Nectar (that’s Rorris’ face on the citrus fruit). Rorris sold Nectar’s in 2003 and while there have been some renovations over the years, the spirit of the place remains true to Rorris’ ardent dedication to the local music scene and its participants. As Brian Mital, vice president for business development at Nectar’s Presents, puts it, “It seems like everyone has their own Nectar’s story.” We caught up with Mital, along with part owner and talent buyer for Nectar’s Alex Budney, to find out their story and what the venue means to them and to the Burlington community at large.
What went into the planning of the 40th anniversary—how did you guys want to shape the year?
Alex Budney: I think we started a list of things that were relevant in 1975 but also things that stuck out in our minds over the years, bands that played here or used to play here. Once word spread out to the community that we were doing it, people came out of the woodwork saying we had to include this band or that band or this person, and people were giving us stories and stuff. But it was also just a bunch of us putting our heads together and stuff that we probably thought would be really appropriate for the series.
For both of you, what was your first encounter with Nectar, your first show or experience?
AB: I was 16 years old and I came up to Burlington with my older brother to see [Jon] Fishman’s Pork Tornado at Club Toast. I come over to Nectar’s for dinner, and then one of us went to the show and got into the show somehow. At 16—I think it was an 18 plus show—somehow I got in, I don’t know. I do recall trying to find Fishman’s phone number in the phone book and calling and leaving a message to see if he needed help loading. I went to Nectar’s that night and I went to Nectar’s for breakfast in the morning and then after that, about four or five years later, my college band—we were at Green Mountain College in central Vermont—got a residency opening for a side project of Todd Stoops’ at the time. This was probably 2000 or 2001—I know I wasn’t 21 yet.
Brian Mital: My connection probably was being in college in the early to mid-90s and knowing the band Phish and hearing that’s where they got their start, and obviously the album Picture of Nectar. But then when I moved here, it was obviously—as everybody feels—a place you have to go check out. Then I ran the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival for a decade, and my first inroad with working with Nectar’s was with the then-owner, Damon Brink. They were a very supportive business in Burlington—and we still are—for the festival. That’s how I started working closely with the Nectar’s brand.
As you planned this year’s events—and as you continue to run the venue—What sort of responsibility do you feel to the history of Nectar’s and to the countless artists and fans who have passed through its doors?
AB: Well, the obvious one would be to honor a lot of those musicians and artists. But to me—even before I started working here, I was very conscious of Nectar’s history and the fact that no matter who’s owning it at what time, doing the work, this place is really a living, breathing space. There’s so much history here, so much that goes on in this place, that it’s difficult to honor everybody. On a day-to-day basis, I think we make a conscious effort to remind ourselves about that giving opportunity like Nectar did. He gave opportunities to local musicians no matter what their style was; no matter who they were, he opened his doors and his stage to them and let them hone their craft here. And I think what he did, for Phish and countless others, is something that we need to be conscious of on a regular basis. It is a breeding ground for artists to hone their craft. To start to play on a real stage, and that type of thing. And that’s how we can do our best to help artists as they have in the past, as Nectar always did.
Speaking of that, is there a sort of push and pull between being true to history and keeping things in the present? How do you stay relevant in today’s world while still keeping the spirit of Nectar’s alive?
AB: I really think that that initial large renovation was a defining moment of the next era of Nectar’s. Until that renovation, which I think was 2004, there was no cover, seven days a week. There was a sound system, but when we came in it was an eight channel board nailed to the wall. You stick a key in it and it turns all the amps on, you run your own sound. The speakers were blown—it was a do-it-yourself venue. There was no cover, so it made sense—you couldn’t pay for the big sounds and the sound technicians and all that. The bands used their own sound. When we moved the stage, expanded it, raised it up a little bit, we installed a top-notch sound system for the time, which has changed a little bit for the better since then. But at that time we moved the stage, we put in a new sound system, we slowly introduced a cover—maybe on the weekends—three dollars, five dollars. But still kept it free during the week. So we tend to toe the line between what it used to be—it was essentially a dive bar where bands could come in and play and run their own sound—and the ability to be a music venue and host national and international recording acts with professional productions. We strive to find that balance. We still want to be true to what Nectar’s always was. Since that sale from Nectar years ago, there have been countless music venues that have opened up in town. But because of what Nectar’s used to be, I think that we still are the premier place downtown for people to go and expect good music.
Photo by Zak Keller via Nectar’s Facebook page
What kind of relationship does Nectar have with the venue right now—does he have any words for you guys as you take the reins when he gave it up?
AB: “Good luck” [laughs]. No, I don’t know any specific words that he had, I was hired two months after the sale so I can’t quote anything from him, but Nectar shows himself, he comes in quite a bit, probably about once a month. And we’ve had some other local coverage about the 40th, where he was highly involved and he came in and spoke about it. He comes in every once in a while. Obviously we’re very close friends with Nectar.
What makes the Burlington music scene so unique and vibrant and able to produce something like Nectar’s that has national attention and has spawned a band like Phish; what makes Burlington so special?
BM: I think it’s the artists. It’s the collection of artists. I moved here in 2001, and I was amazed. I mean, I came from Boston. I was working at House of Blues at the time, and I had two national jazz clubs within ten miles of my home. Coming up here with the jazz that I could go and walk in and sit down and listen to for free in this town is just amazing. The collection of artists—and obviously it ebbs and flows—but the collection of artists that I’ve known for the twelve, thirteen years that I’ve been here is just incredible. And it also it’s Burlington’s culture of accepting—the importance the Burlington culture puts on the arts in general and music and their ability to take chances and go with artists that they trust—“Hey, I’ve got a new project, and you should come hear it.” And whether they walk away liking it or not, they took that chance and came out and supported it, and I think that those are all great things whether it be audience or artists in this town.
AB: I would add a couple things about why music is so unique here. One big one, I think, is just where we’re at, the quality of life. You grow up in Vermont, it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s wonderful, and it lends itself to people finding a home here. Also, Burlington is a college town. There’s a lot of people that come in and out of this town for a certain amount of time each year. And I think that its reputation—whether it’s because of Phish, whether it’s because of the multiple venues that are in town, whether it’s Nectar’s or because of Higher Ground. Someone always knows someone from Burlington, and they usually can speak highly of it and of the live music in this town. Every Friday or Saturday night you can go to multiple small venues and not pay a cent and see some really quality music or you can go to a different place and pay top dollar and see top-notch acts. There’s always touring acts coming through here on their way to Canada or to Maine. The music programs in the local colleges are strong—UVM, Johnson State College. Between the quality of life, the colleges, the multiple events that we have, it’s just a really appealing place for such a small city to be a musician, to be an artist. Just to hone your craft and to get your name out there. I think that’s what makes it truly unique.
Do past artists that have gone on to success—like Phish or Grace Potter—ever come back and do smaller shows?
AB: Yes, and it is one of the things that we voice. A lot of the times we have a natural progression—we want our bands to play here and then to outgrow us and to move up the streets and play Higher Ground, play a different venue, get some coast to coast tours. But a lot of times, yeah, they come back. Those guys from Phish—I don’t know if Trey has been in here since, but the other guys have come in and played multiple times. Page has played with a lot of acts, as well as Fishman and Mike Gordon. They used to come in and just sit in with the bands. I’ve got countless stories from when I started working here where Page would come in on nights when there would be nobody here and he would just sit and watch the bands and listen. And some of the more recent one—like Twiddle, those guys have pretty much outgrown this space. They sold out the big room at Higher Ground a bunch of times. They’re like family to us. They come back and play here on their side projects, they did a residence here, and they recorded a live album here, and then they came back and did the release here.
Grace Potter, she did an album release. When she first played here she did a residency—every Wednesday—and by the third one there was a line down the street. A couple of years later, when she’d clearly outgrew the space, she decided to do a pre-album release here. If you bought her album at the record store on the same block, around the corner, you got into her show for free that night at Club Metronome. So that’s what we hope for, that artists will come back, and more often than not they do. It’s just an awesome kind of family vibe that we like to keep and we can only hope that some of the artists come back and tip their hat to us.
What’s your favorite memory—do you have a favorite show, or anything that really stands out that you think about when you think about Nectar’s?
AB: One of the ones that I always like to talk about is Porter Batiste Stoltz were scheduled to play at Club Metronome, and because of Page’s history with Russell Batiste in Vida Blue, I phoned the band in and said, “Hey, maybe we should get Page down here.” And they said, “Yeah, yeah, try to get ahold of him.” So I hit up a friend who knew Page and he agreed to do it, you know, if we got a keyboard, so I scrambled around and found a Rhodes and a Yamaha—no real expectations, you know. It’s hard to have expectations with someone like that. And sure enough, Page came, he played a couple of songs in the first set and then he played the entire second set and the encore. It was an absolutely amazing, magical night and then, lo and behold, George Porter Jr himself multi-tracked the entire night. He set up his own rig and did it. They ended up putting out some of that show on their album Moodoo. And then, as you know, they toured with Page. I like to think that it may have had something to do with that night, but even without all of that after, night was just—it was a hot and sweaty mess in there, the music was loud, the vibe was just unbelievable. One of the more magical nights in the building.
BM: We had a band, an African artist by the name of K’naan in here, and he was playing to large audiences all over the world and then he’s here playing for two hundred people. That’s what makes me cry because now, you know, he’s probably one of the biggest names in reggae—and you’ll notice that reggae is very close to my heart. One of the biggest names in reggae in the world, and he came here and played to two hundred and twenty people. And just the fact that, to be able to put monitors in front of these artists that, again, are playing to tens of thousands of people around the globe. Those stand out in my mind. And also, we do a Mardi Gras celebration every year here, and one year, during the day, Blues and Lasers played. It was the Grace Potter offshoot with Scott Tournet, Benny Yurco, Matt Burr and John Rogone, and it was just this wall of late seventies blues rock. Just an incredible, incredible show, and you get out and it’s literally four in the afternoon and it’s bright light out. But they just transported you. It was incredible.
