Who at Kalamazoo College hasn’t heard of the Strutt? It’s that corner building jutting out like the prow of a ship into the intersection of Stadium and Academy. It masks itself as an average college-town coffee shop, and that’s certainly what one finds entering the Strutt by day. Light fills the establishment. An array of unmatched tables and chairs dot the main room – pine and oak, light and dark, they, along with a comfortable couch, fill the hardwood floor, home to weary business people stopping for lunch, to students looking for a place off campus to study, or people looking for a place to socialize with friends.
Night brings a different side of the Strutt into view. The tables and chairs are cleared off; the only light comes from the bar and outside streetlights. Pay the cover fee to support whatever musical act is performing for the night, receive Sharpie’d Xs on your hands and a wristband if you’re underage, walk through the gateway and immediately your attention is focused on the stage. Stars glint from the ceiling in the low light, amps line the sides of the stage. The room is littered now with drum kits, tables for band merch, band members, and concertgoers, drinking and talking and laughing and waiting for the opening band to stop tuning and start playing, goddamn it. The musicians get going. The speakers punish a listener’s ears pleasantly when the music’s supposed to be loud, or soothe with sweet melodies if it should be soft; variety is the order of every day in a music venue that brings acts seven days a week. It’s this side of the Strutt that’s rejuvenating the Kalamazoo music scene and bringing live acts like this town has never seen mere footsteps from K’s campus.
The Strutt is the corner’s latest incarnation; it opened in 2007 as Dino’s, and changed its name to the current one in 2009. Musically the building’s roots can be traced back into the early 90s, when Boogie Records resided there, though since that time the businesses at the corner have come and gone nearly every year. Seniors and maybe juniors at K will remember thinking the Strutt would be just as transient as its predecessors, but the establishment has had staying power.
Part of this is luck, part proximity to Western, Kalamazoo College, and Kalamazoo’s downtown, part good management; a more unique part is bringing the kind of musical acts this town hasn’t seen since the Kraftbrau Brewery closed in 2007. Its closing left a hole in the city’s music scene; Kalamazoo was deprived of the good folk, acoustic, alternative, and rock acts that it brought to town before the Strutt opened its doors and began a campaign to convince musical groups that Kalamazoo was interested in bringing these kinds of music and more to town.
Andy Catlin has been employed as the Strutt’s booking agent since the establishment was founded, proof that making a music venue out of the place has been part of the business plan since it opened. Catlin says that the place has made itself into a functioning music venue, able to draw reasonably well known Michigan or even national acts, “about as fast as you could,” for a company without a huge overhead or helping hands in the music industry. He says that there’s a “lot of excitement in this town about music, rooted in the fact that Gibson Guitar started here. It’s always been this music town.” And, as a convenient midway point between Detroit and Chicago, it’s a great place for bands to stop during their tour and play a smaller show.
Duncan Zigterman K’13 has experienced the upswing in diversity of musical acts since coming to K. He first went to a Strutt show in fall of 2009, to see Michigan ska band Mustard Plug, but didn’t go to many others that year. This year though, he says that he’s been to 15-20 shows, a dramatic increase. “I think they’ve been making a more active effort to bring bands from out of the area here,” said Zigterman.
Alexis Wright K’13 has also been a more regular attendee at the Strutt’s shows this year, going to around 10 or so thus far. She’s also noticed an upswing in the variety of shows offered. “I was really surprised when I got the flyer for September/October, with Lightning Bolt, Xiu Xiu, and others.”
The Strutt has accomplished this increase in artist diversity and number of shows by building relationships with booking agencies over time, and sinking enough money so they’ll know the venue is interested and can give the amount of cash needed to bring a band to town. Andy Catlin has been working hard to accomplish this. “Why we’re getting all these national acts now is because for the last three years I’ve been e-mailing these people,” he says. It’s all rather depressingly fiscal – “Booking is this really weird system based on money,” says Catlin. A band can love the venue and want to come, but it’s all up to the booking agents and the exchange of cold, hard cash between the venue and booking agencies. Sink a certain amount of money and interest in a company and they’re more willing to send bigger acts your way, says Catlin.
On top of that, the variety to now be found at the Strutt is important in keeping it fiscally sound. Catlin says that showcasing many different genres is the “only way you can survive doing a music venue,” that you “can’t just depend on any genre.” Different kinds of acts bring in more fans, hopefully bringing in more revenue so the business can stay afloat. Sean Hartman, the Strutt’s other booking agent, was hired about eight months ago, and has since then brought an even more diverse group of bands to the venue. He says that the “focus here is on variety for sure” and that he tries to bring in more experimental music.
Catlin and Hartman are also open-minded musically, translating into more diverse music for fans in the Kalamazoo area. Catlin says that “who I am as a music fan […] I’m super into all types of music. I truly do appreciate all these different genres.” Hartman also tries to bring bands that most have not heard of to town, attempting to “turn people on to new bands” – something you don’t find at every music venue.
The Strutt fills the niche left by the departure of the Kraftbrau in ’07 while not stepping on the toes of other venues in town. Catlin says the place brings bands most similar to Bell’s Brewery, though that establishment is more jam-rock centered. Louie’s Trophy Bar and Grill plays host to a host of punk, noise and in general louder rock bands, while The Union downtown has constant jazz offerings.
In just three years, the Strutt has been able to bring a long list of relatively well known artists: Chicago based reggae band Deals Gone Bad, noise rockers Lightning Bolt (described by Wright as “the best show of my life thus far”), Japanese experimental psychedelics Acid Mothers Temple, Grand Rapids ska locals Mustard Plug, experimental/indie/electronica band Dan Deacon, and will have doom-metal band Earth, based out of Seattle, in June. That is spanning the genres. The Strutt also has rap shows on occasion, often has local folk and rock bands, and hosts an open mic night every Tuesday night.
All this, for a ticket price that ranges from $5-$15, and it’s not even a dive. As Catlin said, “90% of places you play are a black rectangle with some asshole selling High Life for $7.” But not the Strutt. “It’s a refreshing place for musicians and I think music fans too.”
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