The Handlebar: A Listening Room

17/10/2024

Will Hoge, one of our favorite, most popular performers at The Handlebar: A Listening Room, plays the incredibly cool venue, The 720 Room, upstairs from Smoking Butt Heads BBQ. (The food is amazing, it's on Southern Living's list!)
The show is tomorrow night! Get tickets now.

https://products.spothopperapp.com/checkout?spotId=125121&externalProductId=841902&_ga=2.160706613.981968839.1717802955-606048063.1713457522&_gl=1*8yulos*_ga*MjEyMjg2OTMyMi4xNzI5MTI1MjYw*_ga_VG24VK2VKT*MTcyOTEyNTI2MC4xLjEuMTcyOTEyNTQyMC4wLjAuMA..*_ga_1YDL8SL0RK*MTcyOTEyNTI2MC4xLjEuMTcyOTEyNTQyMC4wLjAuMA..

02/09/2024

Andy, I haven't posted because I don't know what to say. I can see you giving me side-eye as you walk past. I never know whether you are keeping a secret, reading my mind -- or if you think I'm keeping a secret or reading your mind. Or was it a game? Probably just a way to keep me guessing.

This is what you wrote for Kevin:

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, El Principito

Kevin, Don, Herb, Gene, Rob, you ... Andy ... (too many others from our Handlebar family) ... I know you're laughing in the stars. Swapping stories about bands, listening to music, remembering the good times - only the good times - with healthy bodies, without pain, without regret.

We're remembering only the good times, too. (Kathy)

23/06/2024

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of The Handlebar: A Listening Room's opening, we finally discovered the Wayback Machine (h/t Katherine Jeter!).

Warning: You will spend hours, days, weeks going down this music-history rabbit hole, perusing hundreds, if not a 1,000-plus shows -- at least as far back as 2000, when we moved to Stone Ave. (The site even has links to our MySpace page!)
Plus! We're in the planning stages of a very special Handlebar event. Stay tuned.

31/05/2024

Here's a story about Macon, Georgia -- a mind-blowing laboratory for how to make a music city (and one that definitely is NOT Nashville). One of the funnest magazine assignments, I ever got.

Take in the sights and sounds of Macon, Georgia with this guide that dives into the town's musical history.

18/04/2024

Thanks for the music, Dickey Betts.
That was one helluva show he played at The Handlebar: A Listening Room. What a thrill to be able to get a larger-than-life legend like him.
Now the "Ramblin' Man" has rambled on to his next gig. Rip it as you RIP.

Dickey Betts, the singer, songwriter and guitarist who played a crucial role in the Allman Brothers Band, has died at age 80.

07/04/2024

Thrilled for our National champions, South Carolina Women's Basketball!
Who teaches at University of South Carolina - University of South Carolina Upstate? That's right. I do!
So proud of our heroes!

25/03/2024

So honored to be invited to the Trueline GVL dinner with special guest Dick Vermeil, nicest guy to ever win a Super Bowl.
Thank you, Michael Grozier, for including me in the entire Trueline experience and The Handlebar: A Listening Room in the project!
And thanks to TALK Greenville for the photo in the lower right corner of the page here. Especially stunning.

Y'all, this whole Trueline venue venture is epic.
(If you want to invest in and/or become part of Trueline, DM me!)

04/12/2023

Huge news! Trueline -- set to be the South's best concert venue -- is coming soon to West Greenville and The Handlebar will be included in it!
Stay tuned ... to rock!

Some words relate equally to music and human connection. One of those is “electric.”Greenville’s upcoming Trueline music venue at 401 Rhett St. in downtown, promises to be just that.

08/03/2023

David Lindley. One of the best, most talented, kindest, funniest, most authentic artists to play The Handlebar-.
Gene Berger brought him to Greenville several times and the first time he played our room (before it even opened!). His shows unforgettable, his audiences rapt and worshipful, his talent sublime, his generosity and humor radiating from the stage.
RIP, O String Master. And thank you.
David Lindley. One of the best, most talented, kindest, funniest, most authentic artists to play The Handlebar-.
Gene Berger brought him to Greenville several times and the first time he played our room (before it even opened!). His shows unforgettable, his audiences rapt and worshipful, his talent sublime, his generosity and humor radiating from the stage.
RIP, O String Master. And thank you.

He worked with a wide range of luminaries, most notably Jackson Browne, and there was seemingly no stringed instrument he couldn’t play.

28/09/2022

Thank you, Fox Carolina News and Myra Ruiz for this amazing piece about The Handlebar and the Peace Center and Greenville's music scene!
https://www.foxcarolina.com/video/2022/09/28/peace-center-expansion-hopes-amp-up-city-live-music-scene/

12/04/2022

Vince Harris nails another great story with his outstanding piece about Marshall Chapman, WILL KIMBROUGH and Tommy Womack Music, along with Converse University students, for the concert event of the Spring this Saturday night.

Tix sales are brisk, so call or email the Box Office soon. (864)-596-9724 and [email protected].
And tune into WNCW on Friday to hear a blockbuster Guest DJ hour.

https://greenvillejournal.com/arts-culture/upstate-beat-converse-college-to-host-spartanburgs-own-marshall-chapman/?fbclid=IwAR0yKMrCa-T8__Go-v3ewckaJFvraM977r7vV6CZDp8f4CV4mbvSzn6VeqI

On Saturday, April 16, acclaimed singer, songwriter, author and raconteur Marshall Chapman, a Spartanburg native, will take the stage at Converse University’s Twichell Auditorium.

08/04/2022

'Bout time for live music, amiright?
With Marshall Chapman, WILL KIMBROUGH and Tommy Womack Music at Converse University.
April 16. Get you tickets now.

The Converse show also celebrates the next generation with students from the university’s Music Business & Technology program producing the entire event.

06/04/2022

The Converse show also celebrates the next generation with students from the university’s Music Business & Technology program producing the entire event.

28/02/2022

This is gonna be HUGE!
Tickets go on-sale tomorrow for Marshall Chapman, Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack at Converse University.
https://conversecollege.universitytickets.com/.../event...
Start calling the box office at 10 a.m.
Do not miss this one!
(864) 596-9724 or email [email protected]

11/12/2019

Greenville musicians still in college or needing credit hours -- sign up today for Intro to Music Business!

Certificate in Music Business and Technology Do you want to know what happens behind the scenes of a concert and how bands are booked? Would you like to turn your life as an artist into a satisfying and successful job in the music industry? Then a certificate in Music Business and Technology at Conv...

08/10/2019

Californian teen launches program to divert what would be otherwise wasted food to the hungry.

14/02/2019

Sold out? No huge surprise! But ... great news that more tickets are being released. Hurry and get those last few tickets now to catch a fast-rising star tomorrow. Just ask Reba!

Catch Erin Enderlin now before she catapults to an arena. Or on the Grammys. Or alongside some of the other artists she's already toured with, like Willie, Jamey Johnson or Drake White. Voted second only to Jason Isbell in Best of Nashville 2018's Singer-Songwriter category, CMT, where she's a new m...

08/09/2018

The Handlebar lost a former business partner last night. We offer prayers to his family and to those of our extended family who knew him.

01/08/2018

This is why we did what we did for 20 years. We love our friends and fans and bands who've gone on to stardom. Thank you, Vincent Harris, and Sugarland and the thousands who helped us along the way:

https://greenvillejournal.com/2018/08/01/sugarland/

Most of the time, it doesn’t really mean much to ask a band, especially one that’s sold as many albums as the country music duo Sugarland, how it feels to be coming back to the Upstate.

14/12/2017

GREAT story, Vincent Harris! Thank you!
This show is going to rock huge!
https://greenvillejournal.com/2017/12/14/rock-101a-tribute-show-late-tom-petty-doubling-final-exam-music-biz-class/

For the past few years, former Handlebar owner John Jeter has been teaching a course at Converse College in Spartanburg called introduction to music business. It’s designed for students who want to work behind the scenes in promoting, booking, and other aspects of the concert industry, and Jeter i...

22/10/2017

Calling all bands! Want to perform in a Tom Petty tribute that's also a hurricane-relief fundraiser that's also a Converse College production with Tipsy Music Pub on Dec. 15? (Artists have the opportunity earn money, too -- not just a freebie.)
Extremely limited number of slots available, and going fast.

13/05/2017

TONIGHT! Super-hip SHAED rocks the amphitheater at Converse College. Food trucks! Beer! Tickets selling fast. 7 p.m. show with three local bands! (And no rain!!)

Tix available here online (no service charge). Just $5 for students with ID, and $10 now for non-students (and $15 at the gate - so hurry!)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shaed-with-special-guest-anthem-rockin-converse-tickets-32822981421

Hot rising D.C. alt-pop-rock band SHAED rocks out Converse's Rainey Amphitheater. If you like Florence + the Machine, Sia, and Justin Timberlake, you'll love the colorful music of this genre-bending trio.And come to the March 31 Battle of the Bands to select the opening acts!

11/05/2017

Whoo-hoo! Tix on sale for SHAED for a beautiful Saturday night at Converse. Beer! Food trucks! Bring blankets!
(Great job, Sara Grace, on the story.)
http://www.goupstate.com/entertainment/20170511/shaed-uses-fantasy-novels-to-inspire-its-colorful-music

If the members of SHAED, aren’t on stage or wolfing down Mexican food, they’re probably swapping their favorite books — fantasy

07/05/2017

The Handlebar makes an appearance in a story about the reopening of Magnolia St. Pub in Spartanburg, while Converse College music business students work with the new owners to put on SHAED on May 13 on campus -- and help the new owners promote live music!
http://www.goupstate.com/news/20170506/hopes-revived-for-downtown-music-venue-in-spartanburg

For nearly 13 years, time has stood still inside Magnolia St. Pub, the landmark music venue in downtown Spartanburg. On the ground level of the three-

03/05/2017

Here's a band we'd book at The Handlebar. So we booked SHAED at Converse. Open to the public. Beer. Food trucks. Amphitheater. Magic.
http://www.converse.edu/student-produced-concert-ft-shaed/

SHAED, a Washington, D.C.-based alt-rock-pop trio comprised of powerhouse vocalist Chelsea Lea and multi-instrumentalist twins Max and Spencer Ernst take Converse College’s Rainey Amphitheater stage May 13 in an entirely student-produced rock show. “Lee’s vocals weave divinely through the Ernst twin...