Two of downtown Grand Rapids oldest buildings (1856 and 1885) now house The One Trick Pony. A building which was home to over 17 different businesses from Oliver Bleak's General Store and Dwight Upholstery and Tack Shop to the Local Instrument Repair and the West Michigan Travel Bureau. The proprietor Dan Verhill was saluted by the local music community on April 15th and the local paper did a nice feature on his contribution to local music. Below is my quote and the lyrics to a song I wrote for the occasion.
"Dan was among the first club owners to take a chance on artists with original music and actually encouraged their development by supporting them in CD purchases and underwriting shows both in his venue and around town."
We are all gathered here
This intimate atmosphere
To kudo the progress made
Saluting what's gone before
In this one time General Store
Where Oliver Bleak plied his trade
Where seamstress and tailor both
Butcher & dry cleaned clothes
Radio & Music repair
Tack shop and upholstery
These walls hold some history
Some 17 varied careers
Now it serves fine cuisine
And quite a music scene
Singers songwriters and bands
Musicians far and near
Find an oasis here
With a blues loving restaurateur(1) man
LA has its Wolfgang (2)
New Orleans its Emeril (3)
GR has its own culinary King of the Grill
One Trick Pony's Dan Verhil (4)
2007 ralstunes
"Dan was among the first club owners to take a chance on artists with original music and actually encouraged their development by supporting them in CD purchases and underwriting shows both in his venue and around town."
We are all gathered here
This intimate atmosphere
To kudo the progress made
Saluting what's gone before
In this one time General Store
Where Oliver Bleak plied his trade
Where seamstress and tailor both
Butcher & dry cleaned clothes
Radio & Music repair
Tack shop and upholstery
These walls hold some history
Some 17 varied careers
Now it serves fine cuisine
And quite a music scene
Singers songwriters and bands
Musicians far and near
Find an oasis here
With a blues loving restaurateur(1) man
LA has its Wolfgang (2)
New Orleans its Emeril (3)
GR has its own culinary King of the Grill
One Trick Pony's Dan Verhil (4)
2007 ralstunes
(1) The word restaurateur is sometimes spelled "restauranteur," but this is an error. The word for the proprietor of a restaurant is correctly spelled restaurateur.
Since the word restaurant is so much more common, its spelling tends to influence the spelling of restaurateur. The spelling restauranteur is fairly common, but it should be regarded as an error.
(2) Wolfgang Pucks an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and businessman based in Los Angeles. He owns a selection of restaurants, ranging from the upscale Spago, Cut, Chinois, and Postrio restaurants to the casual Wolfgang Puck Café and Wolfgang Puck Express chains.
(3) Emeril John Lagasse, is a French-Portuguese-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and writer. his Flagship restaurant, Emeril's, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1990. It was designated "Restaurant of the Year" in Esquire magazine of that year. Emeril is mainly known for his emphasis on Creole and Cajun cooking styles. Indeed, many of his restaurants as well as his corporate office, Emeril's Homebase, are located in New Orleans. Lagasse is the executive chef and proprietor of nine restaurants.
(4) Dan Verhil is best known for giving local acoustic music a home at One Trick Pony -- and for ushering a legendary Grand Rapids bar, The Cottage, into the 21st century -- oh yeah, he plays a pretty good blues harp.
