Venue's closure takes away another stage for local musicians

“Unplugged was never about the bar itself and the building. (It was) the community that supported that bar and the faces that were in there every week and building that place up, making it what it eventually came to be,” Livingston said. “We do have other spots here in town that we can still meet up and gather and play music with each other, but that stage was much different than the others.”

Livingston discovered Unplugged when he was 21, but it became much more than an establishment to play at. For him, it was a space of acceptance for his craft and who he is as an individual. He played his own music and also was able to watch and learn from other musicians performing in the space.

Livingston credits much of what he has become as a musician to Unplugged. While it’s just a stage to some, it’s the place he was able to “cut his teeth” at as an artist starting out in the music world.

“As a career, it’s one less place I get to book, but it’s, I guess, less memories that I’ll be making on the stage that I kind of honed my career in on as a musician,” Livingston said.

News-Press NOW reached out to Unplugged’s owners about the closure but did not receive a reply.

Although the loss will be palpable for those looking to share their craft on Unplugged’s stage each week, the door opens a bit wider for the other venues in town. A skate shop by day, a bar and music venue by night, Sk8 Bar encourages the music community to gather behind its mic.

Brandon Rock, co-owner of Sk8 Bar, said that although his venue is mainly geared toward concerts, live music can be heard and found there almost every night of the week. There’s karaoke on Sundays, open mic nights on Thursdays and bands performing every other night of the week.

“In St. Joe, we have a few places that have always done concerts, we have a little different demographic,” Rock said. “A lot of punk shows, metal shows, stuff like that. So there’s a lot of bands that have come through that haven’t been to St. Joe yet, so it’s pretty cool to be able to bring them here.”

While there are many aspects to making Sk8 Bar what it is, live music is where people have the most fun and what the owners strive to be able to continue to provide to patrons year-round. Rock said that when bands blow through town if they want to play on their stage, Sk8 Bar will open up even if they are scheduled to be closed to make sure that show is played.

“I know we sell skateboards here, and that’s cool, but during the winter there’s not a whole lot of that going on,” Rock said. “(In) spring and summer that’ll pick up and that’s a lot of fun also, but we’ve kind of evolved into just a music venue with a skateboard secondary.”

Rock owns Sk8 Bar with his wife Jess and his brother Garrett, and they knew from its inception that music, in some capacity, would be integral to the bar’s success. One year later, they aim to bring new bands and music opportunities to and for the community each week.

“When we opened, we knew that a skateboard shop by itself would not be sustainable here in St. Joe because other places have tried,” Rock said. “We got into it for the music, to bring especially punk music and stuff like that, St. Joe has been lacking in that, so it’s basically our main platform at this point.”