Double Door Inn

The Double Door Inn was recognized as the second oldest blues music venue in the United States, second only to Antone's in Austin, Texas. [charlottemuseum.org] The building the Double Door Inn occupied was originally built as a home in 1914. [charlottemuseum.org] Brothers Matt and Nick Karres opened the Double Door Inn on December 22, 1973, named after the two front doors at the front of the venue. [charlottemuseum.org] In 1976, the Dixie Dregs played two nights at the Double Door Inn and gave the Karres brothers a list of twelve national acts, helping the venue's reputation spread. [charlottemuseum.org] Stevie Ray Vaughan played the Double Door Inn four times between 1979 and 1982. [charlottemuseum.org] Eric Clapton arrived unannounced on June 24, 1982 to play with the Legendary Blues Band, featuring former members of the Muddy Waters band. [charlottemuseum.org] The Avett Brothers recorded their first album at the Double Door Inn. [charlottemuseum.org] In 1984, Matt Karres sold his portion of the venue to his brother Nick, who continued operating it until 2017, when he sold it to Central Piedmont Community College. [charlottemuseum.org] The venue is celebrated in the 2014 book Charlotte's Home Of The Blues and the 2016 documentary film Live From the Double Door Inn: A Documentary by Kim Brattain. [charlottemuseum.org] The Double Door Inn was scheduled to permanently close on January 2, 2017. [clture.org] Owner Nick Karres attributed the closure to escalating real estate prices and the loss of parking. [clture.org] Karres reflected that the venue's run in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s could not be duplicated. [clture.org] At the time of the closing announcement, Karres said he was 67 years old and planned to retire. [clture.org] Karres said he had been at the Double Door Inn for 42 years. [clture.org] A documentary about the Double Door Inn, led by Jay Ahuja, Kim Brattain, Rick Fitts, and Chuck Bludsworth, was raising money on Kickstarter and had reached just over $16,000 of its $50,000 goal at the time of the article. [clture.org] The Double Door Inn stood on Charlottetowne Avenue in Charlotte, along what used to be a dirt road. Its moniker was "Charlotte's Home Of The Blues", though it booked music of all genres. [charlottemuseum.org] The building was put up as a house in 1914 and over the years held a number of businesses, including a clothing store. Parts of the original structure, including the fireplace, remained visible. [charlottemuseum.org] Brothers Matt and Nick Karres thought the building's nearness to Central Piedmont Community College made it a good place for a bar, and opened the Double Door Inn on 22 December 1973. It was named for the two front doors at the front of the venue. [charlottemuseum.org] Local artists began playing acoustic shows in the back near the pool tables soon after it opened; the Karres later built a stage near the front and more acts followed. [charlottemuseum.org] In 1976 the Dixie Dregs played two nights, which established the room for national as well as local acts, and gave the Karres a list of twelve national acts that would go on to perform there. [charlottemuseum.org] Stevie Ray Vaughn played it four times between 1979 and 1982. Other acts included the Turtles, Sam & Dave, Willie Dixon and the Nighthawks, alongside local bands such as the Spongetones, the Belmont Playboys, and the Avett Brothers, who recorded their first album at the Double Door. [charlottemuseum.org] Eric Clapton arrived unannounced on 24 June 1982 to play with the Legendary Blues Band, which featured former members of the Muddy Waters band. [charlottemuseum.org] In 1984 Matt Karres sold his portion of the venue to his brother Nick, who ran it until 2017, when he sold it to Central Piedmont Community College. [charlottemuseum.org] The article calls it the second oldest blues music venue in the United States, after Antone's in Austin, Texas, and the oldest in the country still under its original owner. [charlottemuseum.org] It names a book about the venue, Charlotte's Home Of The Blues, dated 2014 in the text and 2013 in the article's own source list, and a 2016 film, Live From the Double Door Inn: A Documentary by Kim Brattain. The article is by Daniel Coston, who wrote the book. [charlottemuseum.org] The Double Door Inn, opened in 1973, was scheduled to close permanently on 2 January 2017. It had booked touring and local acts in blues, country, jazz, rock and zydeco. [clture.org] This account credits the 1973 opening to Nick Karres alone, where the Charlotte Museum of History account credits the brothers Matt and Nick Karres. Both stand as written. [clture.org] Karres tied the sale to the building boom around him and to parking, not to the club's trade. [clture.org] He was 67 at the time and going into retirement. He said people had asked about buying the name, and that he would only sell it to someone whose first reason for keeping it was a love of music rather than money. [clture.org] He put the room's run in the past tense. [clture.org] The closing came in a run of them. The Chop Shop and Tremont Music Hall had gone out of business over the previous year, Amos' Southend had announced it would close in March 2017 — the article notes in an update that it reopened in March 2019 — and The World Famous Milestone, a club as old as the Double Door, was at risk unless it could raise money for repairs. [clture.org] The article describes the room as it stood: creaky, beer-stained floorboards, walls covered in posters, chairs covered in band stickers, and portraits of artists who had performed there and since died. [clture.org] Shows it names from the club's history include Eric Clapton sitting in with The Legendary Blues Band on a Thursday night in 1982, Junior Walker playing "Shotgun", Levon Helm with his band The Barn Burners, and a weekly residency by the Avett Brothers in their formative years. [clture.org] A documentary on the venue was in production by Jay Ahuja, Kim Brattain, Rick Fitts and Chuck Bludsworth, at Ahuja's suggestion once Karres told him he was selling. It had raised just over $16,000 of a $50,000 Kickstarter goal with a deadline of Tuesday 13 September, for post-production, music licensing and digitization of archival footage. [clture.org] Ahuja put the room's character down to its people, its sound and its audience. [clture.org]

“This whole recent building boom is a new chapter in Charlotte. That’s what happened with Amos’. They lost parking... It’s really just about escalating real estate prices.” [clture.org]

“We’re a small place that’s had top entertainment. I just hope that we created great musical memories for people. The run that we had in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, it won’t be duplicated.” [clture.org]

“What’s next for me is most certainly retirement. I’m 67.” [clture.org]

“Being here 42 years, I knew what was happening to the property around me... We pretty well knew that time was up.” [clture.org]

“If we didn’t sell to the school (Central Piedmont Community College), we would have lost parking too. It’s really just about escalating real estate prices.” [clture.org]

“We’re a small place that’s had top entertainment. I just hope that we created great musical memories for people. The run that we had in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, it won’t be duplicated. It’s happened, it’s history, and it won’t happen again. Because things have changed,” [clture.org]

“The staff has been there for decades. I like seeing Todd and Robin as I walk in. Mike and Reed know I want a Maker’s Mark on the rocks and they have a pretty good idea what my wife wants to drink. The bands will all tell you that the room has a warm, sonic quality that is unique.” [clture.org]