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Note:  This article originally ran in the Lakewood Observer

Located at 11729 Detroit Avenue, The Hi Fi Concert Club (formerly the Blind Lemon) regularly brings some of the best local and national music acts right to the heart of Lakewood.  Although co-owners Billy Morris and Jim Maylor have backgrounds in the hard rock and metal scenes (the two played together in eighties glam rock band Spoyld, and Morris was a member of popular hard rock band Warrant for five years), the club is hardly just a hangout for headbangers.  Morris says, “We want to do a wide variety of music.  We have different themes on different nights.”  Mondays are “kill the keg” nights with cheap draft specials and live music, generally punk rock; Tuesdays it’s like a scene from the Eminem movie ‘8 Mile’ with rappers, graffiti artists, and beatmakers competing against each other;  Wednesday’s Morris’ band provides live accompaniment for “Heavy Metal Karaoke”; and Thursday through Saturday the club showcases live bands of all genres, from acoustic pop to raging death metal. 

In addition to the great sounds you’ll hear at the Hi Fi, the club also looks great and has a warm, inviting vibe for patrons.  Since taking over the club 4 years ago, Billy and Jim have done extensive renovations that go far beyond a new sign and a new coat of paint.  The front part of the club where you’ll find the bar is almost like a lounge area, complete with a few comfy couches and pool tables.  Plasma screen TVs are just as likely to be showing Comedy Central as they are sports.  Artwork and photos of bands adorn the walls.  There’s also a smaller stage in front (dubbed “The Blind Lemon Stage” in honor of the club’s previous incarnation) for more intimate performances.  And to add to the comfort, there’s a full kitchen.  Morris says, “When we took over the club, the kitchen was just a storage area for garbage.  Now it’s clean and we have great food.  We’ve had rave reviews from the health inspector.”   

So what possessed a couple of musicians to try running a club?  Morris says, “Back in the day when Jimmy and I were in Spoyld, we were a top drawing band.  We’d draw like 800 to 1000 people at The Akron Agora and he’d cut us a check for like 250 bucks.  Now we wanted to be on that big stage, and we knew all the money he was making.  We were like, you know, someday we’re gonna’ be that club owner and we’re gonna make the big money.  So we decided to buy a club, and we learned really quickly that a lot of money comes in the door, but there’s also a lot of expenses.  So we’re doing really good, the club is steady, it’s not going to go anywhere.  It’s been a college education.  But we know how to do it now.” 

Being musicians themselves, Morris and Maylor take special care to make sure their club is accommodating to bands.  Maylor says he and Morris, “see things from a different perspective.  Just a lot from the production standpoint.  What it’s like from a PA, production, and light standpoint.  That everything works properly.  Organization, promotion.  Some places take those things for granted.”   

The club owners also do their best to make sure performers are properly compensated.  Although treating bands right is nothing new for the club, recently the Hi Fi sent out emails to bands letting them know their policies.  Maylor says, “We’ve never been on board with pay to play, or go out and sell a fifteen dollar ticket and we’ll give you one dollar.  So many other high profile clubs have done that, we felt we needed to let people know in layman’s terms that we don’t do that.  We wanted to spell it out so there were no misconceptions about that.” 

While the Hi Fi is very committed to giving local bands exposure, the club is also trying to bring in more national touring acts.  Morris says, “We don’t have a big stock pile of money to book really expensive bands.  We have to pick and choose what we can do.  But we’re trying to make our theme for the club “The Midwest’s Tour Stop”.  We’re trying to get the bands that are on tour to know that they can play the Hi Fi.  One thing that we offer that no other club in the city offers is we have a recording studio built in downstairs.  So any bands that play there can have their set professionally, multi-track digitally recorded.  It’s not just a line off the board; it’s a legitimate studio that does a killer job.” 

As for the city where his club is situated, Morris has nothing but praise.  He says, “When you think of Lakewood, it’s a pretty artsy community so you get a wide variety of clientele and bands that come in there.  That whole little block right there with the Hi Fi and The Phantasy, that whole area is pretty unique.”  So why drive to downtown Cleveland and get gouged on parking and high priced drinks?  The Hi Fi Concert Club (along with The Phantasy and The Winchester, both of which we hope to profile in the future as well) is bringing first rate live music right here to Lakewood.