End of an era for Rochester’s premier honky-tonk

This post is one in a partnership between the Rochester Beacon and veteran reporter Gary Craig, featuring articles published on his Substack site.

During COVID the cards came.

Each day, it seemed, Abilene owner Danny Deutsch found more cards in the mail as the bar/music venue remained closed.

There were common themes—comments about how much Abilene Bar & Lounge meant; about the importance of the intimate two-story honky-tonk on Liberty Pole Way; about the love for the country-alt and roots music, along with other flavors, that Abilene brought to town; about Abilene’s overall vibe and the warmth and communal spirit inside its walls.

The cards warmed Deutsch’s heart.

He’d built what he’d imagined when he bought Abilene, as he named it, in 2007—a bar where people who did not know each other might rub elbows and chat and share stories and learn something about each other. A place where friendliness reigned.

And one with music.

There was something else about those COVID-era cards, something else that, to this day, still surprises Deutsch and slightly chokes him up.

Many of the cards contained checks, donations to help reopen Abilene’s doors after the pandemic and to bring the bar and the camaraderie and the cheer and, of course, the music back to Liberty Pole Way.

“There would be a card or a letter and a note saying, ‘Hang in there. We love this place,’” Deutsch recalls. “And there’d be a check for Abilene.”

Six years later, Deutsch is almost a month away from leaving the dream he built. He is comfortable with his decision to sell Abilene, at peace with his choice to let someone else take the reins.

That’s the hope: that someone buys Abilene and keeps it as is, or perhaps a semblance of what it is now. Prospective buyers have been coming through the door, sometimes two a day. On the October afternoon I visited, others were waiting as I left.

Some of those prospective buyers are less prospective than others, Deutsch says. They have a bit of a fantasy about owning a bar, and they briefly indulge that fantasy. Then a bit of reality sets in, and they recognize that this is not only a community jewel but also a job, a job that requires a lot of work and sweat and energy.

Deutsch has never been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, but he’s pretty sure he meets the criteria. Stillness is not something he’s good at. Folks who have been to Abilene know that he’s in constant motion, arranging chairs, checking in at the bar, welcoming people, ensuring the band and sound system are good to go.

Even when traveling to listen to music for pleasure, he can’t disconnect. He’s often texting with his staff to see how shows are going, to remind them what the performers are expecting in payments, to run through checklists of what might need to be done.

“I’m looking forward to going to a show out of town and not looking at my phone,” Deutsch says.

Since his retirement announcement, one he admitted was “bittersweet,” the well wishes and thanks and gratitude have flowed to Deutsch in abundance—in conversations, on social media, at Abilene.

It seemed only minutes after he’d posted on social media about his decision when he got a text from Hudson Valley-based singer-songwriter Al Olender asking for a chance to perform again at Abilene.

“She is a marvelous talent,” Deutsch says. “It gives me chills when she plays.”

Olender has become a bit of an Abilene regular, embraced by Deutsch and fans alike.

“Danny has celebrated me, championed me and Abilene was one of the last no-frills all-music venues we had,” she wrote in an email. “I’ll miss it very much. It felt like a touring musician’s musician kind of place.

“I always joke Danny is my biological father. But sometimes I just tell people it’s a fact, because he’s a great man I’m lucky to call my family.”

And, sure enough, Olender will be back to Abilene Nov. 18, the club’s final week.

Abilene, named after a Dave Alvin song that is a Deutsch favorite, evolved from a bar with occasional music into a music venue with a familiar bar.

Abilene has a rich history, one that appealed to Deutsch. Dating back to the 1850s, the building has been a residence, a boarding house, a Salvation Army Emergency Home for Destitute Women and Children, a gay club, and the first offices for AIDS Rochester.

Known as Tara Cocktail Lounge when a club, the building is still considered a landmark within Rochester’s gay community.

Once, in an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle, Deutsch described the location as “a tucked-away pocket of earth that’s close to everything.”

Dave Alvin, whose song is the namesake for Abilene, is one of the many nationally recognized performers who have made a stop at Abilene.

“Booking takes me hours and hours and hours,” Deutsch says. “It’s hard for me and I book with my heart. I have the luxury, I guess, of booking music that I like.

“Ninety-five percent of the stuff that I book here I want to see and I want to see again. That’s pretty good.”

And the acts kept returning, drawn by the comfortable if cramped stage and the emotional bear hug of a receptive audience.

“It kind of feels like it’s (Deutsch’s) living room and everybody is invited to come hang out,” says blues guitar virtuoso Carolyn Wonderland. “It’s a homey feel in this grand ole house.

“I felt like I was sneaking into a speakeasy,” says Wonderland, the first woman to be lead guitarist for the legendary John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

Abilene has also been a popular spot for known and lesser-known local performers, and Deutsch is a strong supporter of educational music programs.

“There are local performers that we are so blessed with, from the Danielle Ponders to the back-ups and journeymen,” Deutsch says.

Once Abilene reopened after the pandemic, the music and crowds returned. Deutsch had become accustomed to his weekend evenings sometimes ending at 2 a.m., and he decided to try to get home earlier.

The crowds, one he acknowledges tend to skew “older,” also liked earlier show starts and endings.

“When we came out of COVID, I told myself I want to pull in my driveway the same day I left my driveway,” Deutsch says. “There’s some days I’ll be at the red light and it’s 11:58 and I’ll say, ‘I’m getting there.’”

Deutsch is still planning to do several “Abilene On The Road” shows each year, just as he has done in the past, bringing performers to larger local venues. He can’t totally extricate himself from his love of booking.

But, overall, he is ready for retirement and surprised when people ask him how he’ll survive the transition.

“I’ll miss the regulars and those I met for the first time,” he says. “… I look forward to where my life will go beyond this.

“If you like your life most of the time and there is family you care about and friends you care about, you’ll figure it out.”

And music you care about.

“I am greatly looking forward to just going and hearing music.”

Etcetera

When nearing the end of writing this, I went back and looked at Jeff Spevak’s story on Abilene for WXXI and saw that we included some similar material, while there is other ground that Jeff touches on that I do not.

Here is that 2023 story, which noted Abilene’s 15th anniversary: “Abilene, the little corner saloon that could — and has for 15 years.”

Gary Craig is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. A retired Democrat and Chronicle reporter, he now writes on Substack.

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