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S ince it opened in September of 1997,
Tasty World has held down the fort, a
bastion of local music in a section of
downtown that's becoming increasingly geared
towards the college drinking scene. Renovations
to the old Frigidaire building on the southeast
corner of Broad and Jackson streets seemed to
drag on and on, and lead to much speculation
in '97 about what was going to happen with the
space.
While finding its footing, the two-level club
initially featured deejays. The first live-band
shows took place in '97 before a stage was even
built. "We had shows on the floor," says club
owner Murphy Wolford, who was 30 years old
when he opened Tasty World. "We had no sound
system per se, just speakers and a monitor, and
we plugged a mic into our stereo system and
turned off the music so you could hear vocals."
A few months later, in February of '98, Time Toy
played a reunion show and was the first band to
perform on the club's stage. Since then, Tasty
World has cultivated a reputation as the club in
town willing to give green bands a shot.
This weekend, Tasty World celebrates its tenth
anniversary, with three nights of music on two
separate floors [See box for details.]. Flagpole
spoke with Wolford last week about the ups and
downs of the past decade.
Flagpole: So, 10 years is coming up.
Murphy Wolford: Unbelievable! We worked
real hard, and we're here. We've been here for
10 years and we're not going anywhere now. If
you'd've told me in 1998 that we were going to
make it until 2007, I would've been iffy on it
there. Same in 1999. But we made it through
that year and I discovered that if we could do
that, we could do anything, and so here we are.
FP: What about those two years was tough?
MW: Competition, figuring out where we
belonged, what our place in town was, what our
mission was. Basically finding our footing as a
club with two separate levels here in Athens.
FP: Do you feel you've accomplished the initial
idea of what you wanted Tasty World to be?
MW: Yeah. At the beginning we didn't have
the second floor open, but I knew I wanted to
do live music. With two levels, we found that the
best way to find our place was to be the place
that's just wide open. We can do anything at
Tasty World; we're not too cool for anyone... It
took us 18 months to renovate this building. It
was about to fell down, literally. If you walked
around on the second or third floor of this build
in '89 from the journalism school. Worked at the
Georgia Center in their television department for
10 years—even for three years after I opened
Tasty. World, I kept my day job there.
FP: What made you decide to give it a go and
open a club?
MW: I just had the opportunity. My parents
helped get this place off the ground. They backed
ing, you'd be in danger. It was beautiful in ap
pearance from the outside, but the inside was
a different story. My landlord and I loved this
building. It should've been condemned.
FP: When did you come to Athens?
MW: 1985, for school. Played in bands, lived
at the 40 Watt and the Georgia Bar. I graduated
the whole thing and were so great throughout
the whole process of renovations. My dad was
retiring and ready to invest, and he decided to
invest in me because he's crazy. [Laughs.] The
right place at the right time. The building be
came available, and it was in the right spot...
except maybe it could be on the other side of
town! [Laughs.]
FP: That's something I was curious about.
When you opened Tasty World, Lunch Paper was on
College Square and it seemed there was a lot more
back-and-forth between the different corners of
downtown. But since then, Little Kings and Detour
and Repent have opened, Go Bar and Hot Comer
are booking shows too... except for Tasty World,
the music's almost completely sequestered off in
the northwest comer of downtown.
MW: And not to mention that Clayton Street
used to be the college kids' place to be and
drink when we opened. Broad Street used to be
"cool," and we didn't have to have a rock show
to have people in. Gus' was still hopping. Boar's
Head didn't open until the summer of '98. The
High Hat was open when we were open. One
Love opened a year after. But it's not like that
anymore.
There's a lot more competition in music right
now, more than there ever has been. The Melting
Point, too, is part of that. But ever since '93 or
so when the 40 Watt moved over there and ev
erything grew up around that, it's become more
of the "artists' community" part of downtown. I'd
love to see it spread out a little more, but Athens
is always changing.
FP: Does that present any problems to you?
For example, during AthFest, I’ve heard people
complain, "Oh, I don't want to hike all the way
over to Tasty World."
MW: Is it a problem? Getting my piece of the
market will always be a challenge. I try not to
gripe, but sure, it's a problem getting our cool
national acts seen when a lot of the people who
go to shows don't want to get off their stools at
the Max Canada and walk three blocks. That's a
problem.
If a band's got a buzz going, it's much easier
to walk next-door to the Caledonia or the 40
Watt than it is to come over here... But you
can't stop rock and roll in Athens. If a band's
got energy, people are going to come see them.
It might take a while—and that's one thing a
lot of local bands don't realize—but people will
see them. They could even play someone's dorm
room in Myers, but if they're good, people will
see them.
26 FLAGP0LE.C0M SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS