After a decade in downtown Canton, one of Northeast Ohio’s best-known live music venues aims to bring their business to Akron’s Music Row.

On Sept. 24, Buzzbin Music & Art Shop will hold “Benefit for the Bin,” a multi-venue concert event to raise funds for what Buzzbin owners Chris and Julia Bentley hope will be their future home on Kenmore Boulevard.

Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Promoter and Experience Manager Corey Jenkins learned of Buzzbin’s impending closure in The Canton Repository. He immediately contacted Chris to see if he’d have an interest in relocating Buzzbin to Kenmore and connected him with The Rialto Theatre co-owner Seth Vaill in hopes of offering a booking solution to Buzzbin’s displaced shows in the interim.

“I was contacted by Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance to come visit and see what was happening there and I stopped in on the July 1 Kenmore First Friday,” Chris said. “I was blown away by the location and the awesome sense of artistic/music community!”

The following week, Chris took a walk down the Boulevard and was given a tour of 952 Kenmore Blvd.

“I thought it was absolutely perfect for Buzzbin,” Chris said of the former bar located between 13th and 14th Streets. “It has everything that Buzzbin would need to be successful.”

Chris immediately fell in love with Kenmore and the space, and brought Julia to see it later that same week. She agreed it was the ideal new home for Buzzbin and they began working with the building’s owner to make a deal.

The building, which opened in 1916 as Morris Wiener’s furnishing and shoes, is perhaps best remembered as the Ideal Nite Club, which lasted from 1950 through the 1990s. Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance has been hosting pop-up music events there since the Kenmore Better Block in 2017.

“It’s the Better Block way of economic development,” said Tina Boyes, KNA’s executive director. “First, allow people to experience a space as vibrant. Inspire imagination and hope. Then, make connections. Keep inviting people in. After a while, it sells itself: The guitar shops, the recording studios. The music venues. The supportive residents and business owners. Kenmore is a great place for a business, especially a music business.”

The Rialto Theatre co-owner Seth Vaill sees the addition of Buzzbin as enhancing the Boulevard’s musical offerings.

“We’re all here in the same area trying to do the same thing, so it’s important to help each other out when we can,” Seth said. “The addition of Buzzbin to the neighborhood is going to be huge for Kenmore Boulevard and will help to bring more musicians and music lovers here.”

The Bentleys plan to have their new home in Kenmore at least semi-operational by Halloween.

“In all reality Buzzbin could be up and running and having shows in a few weeks,” Chris said, adding that “everything hinges on how fast we can obtain our licenses and permits.”

In the meantime, you can catch upcoming “Buzzbin Presents” shows at the Rialto Theatre, including Twin Lizard and Night Goat on July 30, and punk/metal band First Jason on August 23. First Jason is led by Ari Lehman – the first actor to portray Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th horror film franchise.

Help bring Buzzbin to Kenmore. Get your tickets for “Benefit for the ‘Bin” at buzzbinkenmore.com and therialtotheatre.com.

East Ave Market and So Fresh Used Auto Sales combine family tradition and creativity in one-stop shop

Near the corner of East and Carey Avenues sits a large building labeled “So Fresh Used Auto Sales,” which holds the dreams, ambitions, and entrepreneurial spirit of an entire family. You can get your tires there. You can get your car serviced there. And you can also view local art and shop for a gift crafted by a local maker there.

East Ave Market, the brainchild of sisters Charlee Harris and Louise Bane, who came up with the idea after realizing their family’s business, housed in a former Studebaker dealership at 2290 East Ave., only needed the back half of the space to operate.

“East Ave Market is a spot that we can give people in the community, an opportunity to share their wares, share their art,” Louise explained.

“So Fresh Used Auto Sales is the house that East Ave Market lives in,” said Charlee, the East Ave Market’s creative director. “The market is its own thing and gallery space is its own thing and they live in the storefront of So Fresh.”

Louise is East Ave Market’s gallery manager. She fills the space monthly with local artists’ creative works with the goal of creating space where they can “voice themselves through art.” She also owns Weezie Cakes Bakery, a consistent vendor at the East Ave Market.

And while you’d never know it, she’s also following in the family tradition as a mechanic.

“(I’m) getting older now and when I get up from the ground, working on a car, my back is hurting,” she joked. “I don’t want to do this for another 10 or 15 years. I want us to branch off and do the stuff we enjoy.”

Other East Ave Market vendors include Skinsations Body Essentials, which creates natural and customizable body butters and Sweetlycreated4u, which crafts food-inspired soy candles that look (and smell) good enough to eat.

The Harris sisters will bring these and more than a dozen other vendors, for an experience unlike any other as East Ave Market takes over Kenmore First Friday on August 5. Their vendors include four diverse food trucks offering cuisine such as barbeque and Jamaican.

Plus, you can enjoy live poetry from Hidden Tr3sures and locally made wine in the McCutchan Courtyard.

“We’re just here to have a good time and give people a platform to express themselves within their community,” Louise said.

Joining them will be their sister Charisse, an art professor, directing residents in a community mural inspired by summer and Impressionism. Everyone, regardless of artistic ability, is encouraged to contribute to the mural, which will ultimately be displayed at various locations throughout the community including the East Ave Market’s gallery space. “It’s going to be something different and it’s going to be a good time,” Charlee said. “I think we have the best musical act with Free Black! and I think what we have planned fits with the laid back brand of Kenmore.”

East Ave Market is located at 2290 East Ave. They are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each month, they hold Second Saturday, events that feature a new local artist’s work in the gallery. Interested makers and artists can stop in or contact eastavefleamarket@gmail.com or (330) 784-4175.

Don’t miss East Ave Market live on Kenmore Boulevard at Kenmore First Friday, Aug. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m.

RSVP Now!

Coming at you live from Kenmore Boulevard, meet Abigail Stopka, a local radio veteran who joined the KNA team as an AmeriCorps VISTA on July 5.

Abigail has worked in radio for the past four years, first as a DJ on 88.1 WZIP. Now, you can hear her on 94.9 WQMX and 107.3 Alternative Cleveland. Abigail is also a senior at The University of Akron pursuing a degree in public relations, a proud Akronite who has spent most of her life in the Akron area. Now, she’ll be putting her experience to use on Kenmore Boulevard.

Abigail grew up in another one of Akron’s Great Streets districts, North Hill, where she graduated from North High School. After high school she decided to stay in the area, where has she spent years living in the heart of downtown Akron.

A huge music lover and passionate fan of live shows, Abigail usually spends her Friday evenings during the summer at Lock 3 for Rock the Lock. Now, she’ll be helping with outreach and marketing for Kenmore First Friday and other events the historic Kenmore Boulevard commercial district.

Abigail’s goals for KNA are to expand her knowledge in creative marketing, event planning and volunteer recruitment skills while helping to improve events and beatification efforts in Akron’s largest neighborhood business district, Kenmore Boulevard.

“With my passion for music and Akron, I am so excited to be a part of a team who shares the same passions,” Abigail said. “I am looking forward to getting to know Kenmore and the Akron area even better, I have already learned so much about the history of Kenmore and I am so excited to be a part of something as great as KNA!”

Be sure to welcome Abigail to Kenmore if you see her during the next Kenmore First Friday on August 5!

On Friday, July 1 from 6 to 9 p.m., everyone’s favorite six-string assemblage of wood and wires will be taking over Kenmore First Friday. Unofficially titled “Virgil Lay Day,” it promises to be a celebration for the ages.

Strumming and shredding a-plenty will resonate throughout the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District, with guitar heroes Big Pop and The Buffalo Ryders delivering their hard-hitting riffs on the SIT Strings Main Stage. Featured artists from The Electric Company will entertain in the McCutchen Courtyard, and local hip-hop legend King Locust will rock the mic hard in the Live Music Now Courtyard. Akorn Jammers Open Mic will feature local singer-songwriters in front of the Rialto Theatre.

The breadth of the music styles represent Kenmore’s musical history well, said Corey Jenkins, Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance’s promoter and experience manager.

“Kenmore Boulevard has held a special connection with guitars and the people who play them for decades ever since Lay’s Guitar Repair opened in the 1960s,” Jenkins said. In 1980, Lay’s founder Virgil Lay founded SIT Strings – a global guitar string manufacturing company – on Kenmore Blvd.

“Musician’s Bargain Basement hit the Boulevard in the 1980s and served as a destination for guitar lovers throughout the region until it closed in 2008. Then, The Guitar Department opened in 2009 and has become one of Northeast Ohio’s most popular guitar shops,” he explained.

Starting at noon, Lay’s Guitar Shop will hold an open house and present some of their favorite guitarists on the main stage, including Kenmore’s Jim Ballard and a workshop from Bedell Guitars. At 5:45 p.m., representatives from Lay’s Guitar Shop and SIT Strings will join Mayor Dan Horrigan and members of Virgil Lay’s family at the corner of 15th Street and the Kenmore South Alley to dedicate Virgil Lay Way. Then, at 9 p.m., thrash surfers The Beyonderers land on the The Rialto Theatre’s stage, followed by the classic mid-century instrumental surf and twang sounds of Purple k’niF, which features Waitresses founder Chris Butler on drums and Kenmore High School alum Johnny Teagle on guitar.

SIT Strings, Lay’s Guitar Shop, The Guitar Department and Staff Music (where Lay originally repaired guitars) will all have informational tables on the Boulevard with product, history, promotional items and more.

In addition, Kenmore-based guitar amp builder Custom Audio Mutation will team up with EarthQuaker Devices to host a demo room inside of Studio 1008 (the old Musician’s Bargain Basement), where visitors will be able to check out custom hand-built guitar amplifiers and demo an entire range of EarthQuaker guitar effects pedals.

The Kenmore First Friday Beer Garden will showcase Akron-based Lock 15 Brewing Company, and Kenmore Boulevard will be lined with dining options like Macho Nacho, Johnny Lóte’s Latin Street Corn, Dee’s Dogs & More and Kona Ice food trucks, along with The Nite Owl, Pierre’s Brooklyn Pizza & Deli and Kenmore Eastern Sports Bar, who will have specials running all night.

In addition to experiencing everything guitar, Kenmore First Friday visitors can check out the Torchbearers’ inaugural Community Volunteer Fair, the perfect opportunity to learn about community nonprofits and to find a local organization to get involved with.

“This event is really a culmination of so many things that are good about our community,” said KNA Executive Director Tina Boyes. “ And with all this great energy, I encourage everyone to check out the people and organizations who are making it happen: in Kenmore and throughout Akron.”

For more information about Kenmore First Friday, follow the event on our Facebook page or visit www.betterkenmore.org/first-friday.

Mayor, Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance to dedicate Virgil Lay Way at July 1 Kenmore First Friday event

Lay’s Guitar Shop has been a constant fixture on Akron’s Kenmore Boulevard since the 1960s. Founded by guitar repairman Virgil Lay, it is known around the world for repairing, restoring, customizing, and building guitars and basses belonging to everyone from Joe Walsh and Jimmy Page to The Black Keys. Soon, Lay’s name will adorn a street.

On July 1 at 5:45 p.m. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan will join representatives from Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance, Lay’s Guitar Shop and SIT Strings in dedicating the Kenmore South Alley as Virgil Lay Way. Cutting the ribbon will be members of Lay’s family, including daughter, Patricia Speedy; granddaughter, Karen Speedy; and grandsons, Brian, Ryan and Eddie Speedy, who is president and owner of SIT Strings, which Lay founded.

The ceremony will take place at the intersection of Kenmore Boulevard’s South Alley and 15th St. and will kick off Kenmore First Friday, a night of live music in the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District featuring bands Big Pop and The Buffalo Ryders on the SIT Strings 15th Street Main Stage. Additionally, Lay’s Guitar Shop will host a guitar workshop and live music on the Main Stage from noon until 5 p.m., and The Electric Company recording studio and the youth-based nonprofit First Glance’s hip-hop program will host live music in the McCutchan Courtyard and Live Music Now Courtyard respectively. Along with live music, the event will offer family activities, food trucks including Macho Nacho and Johnny Lóte’s Latin Street Corn, the Lock 15 Beer Garden and Torchbearers Community Volunteer Fair.

The night will conclude in a surf guitar lover’s dream, when at 9 p.m. The Rialto Theatre is overtaken by local favorites The Beyonderers and Purple k’niF, a New York-based instrumental band featuring The Waitresses founder Chris Butler and Kenmore native Johnny Teagle.

“Before Kenmore Boulevard started evolving into Akron’s Music Row, Virgil Lay was pumping out guitars and strings from the basement of the old Kenmore Coffee Shop. Now, nearly 60 years later, Kenmore Boulevard is home to six recording studios, two guitar shops and a regional live music venue all within a stone’s throw of one another,” said Tina Boyes, executive director of the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance, the local community development corporation. “July 1 will be a fitting tribute to a legacy that continues to grow with time.”

Virgil Lay poses with Les Paul’s famous “Log” guitar.

Virgil Lay was born on January 2, 1927 in Vina, Alabama and moved to Akron in 1946. Lay was an exceptional steel guitar player and first went into business with his brother Ray Lay and Lee East in 1962.

The three founded Staff Music – a guitar retail and repair shop – on High Street in Downtown Akron, but before long Lay realized his business passions were limited to repairing and building guitars, while East’s interests were dominantly in the retail side of the business. Upon amicably dissolving the partnership, East kept the Staff Music name and moved to Canton Road in Ellet, while Lay would establish Lay’s Guitar Repair at the corner of 13th St. and Kenmore Blvd.

From left to right: Echoplex inventor Mike Battle, guitar legend Joe Walsh, and Virgil Lay.

In the late 1970’s, while operating his repair business, Virgil began developing a proprietary manufacturing process to enhance the tuning stability of guitar strings. He parlayed this invention into another successful company and founded the “Stay-In-Tune String Company,” or SIT Strings as it’s known today, in 1980.

Before long, SIT Strings had evolved into a global brand, outgrew its corner of Lay’s Guitar Repair and was demanding more and more of Lay’s time. By the end of the 1980s, Lay sold the guitar repair business to Dan Shinn – who had been Lay’s employee since 1979 and still owns the business today – and moved SIT a block away into the building now occupied by Pierre’s Brooklyn Pizza & Deli.

Today, SIT Strings sits on Romig Rd., manufacturers millions of strings per year and counts members of The Black Keys, Shinedown, and Rammstein among its current artists.

Lay passed away March 10, 2009, but his legacy of luring musicians to Kenmore has lived on through Kenmore’s many recording studios, live music venues, and guitar shops.

Visit betterkenmore.org/first-friday for the full July 1 Kenmore First Friday “Virgil Lay Day” schedule and more information.

Darius McCrary who portrayed Eddie Winslow on the ‘90s sitcom brings his one man show to the Blvd.

Actor, rapper, singer and producer Darius McCrary – best known for his role as Eddie Winslow on the long-running television series “Family Matters” – is bringing his one man show to The Rialto Theatre on Friday, June 17.

During his appearance, Darius will read excerpts from his one man show called “I’m Not Laughing” and visit with fans. Darius is encouraging all artists who can draw, animate, clay-mate, or have any type of creative vision to come to the show and hang out!

Darius began his career in Hollywood at the age of nine and in addition to “Family Matters” his acting credits include Bowie James on NBC’s “Committed,” Jamal in UPN’s “Eve,” Malcolm Winters on “The Young and the Restless.”

He has appeared on the NBC/Paramount miniseries “Kingpin,” HBO’s multi-award-winning “Don King: Only in America,” starring Ving Rhames and as Royce Slocumb in the classic comedy, “Kingdom Come” Other roles also include playing opposite to Robert De Niro in “15 Minutes” as detective Tommy Cullen, in the Oscar winning “Mississippi Burning” as Aaron Williams. and “Something to Sing About.”

Darius is a humanitarian at heart and is currently in production for his show and podcast Beyond Black, which is dedicated to highlighting that people are more than just the color of their skin and excellence doesn’t start or end at the category that others may place you. Alongside celebrities and up-and-coming actors & artists, he brings together incredible talents in the form of interviews, skits, reels, and short-films. The show will address important issues such as social justice & racial inequality, but also share an authentic look at the Real Darius McCrary.

Tickets are available now at therialtotheatre.com and include appetizers and one free drink.

Published June 3, 2022

By Jennifer Pignolet Akron Beacon Journal

PHOTO BY PHIL MASTURZO/BEACON JOURNAL

Za’Nyiah Miller was gracing the halls of Kenmore-Garfield High School before she was born.

Her mother, Sierra Senter, was pregnant with Za’Nyiah when she was a student there, graduating in 2005 from what was then Kenmore High School.

On a late May morning, Senter sat in the same red upholstered auditorium seats where she sat as a student and watched as her daughter earned one medal after another on Senior Awards Day. Za’Nyiah’s grandmothers sat behind her mother, gushing they always knew their granddaughter was smart but they didn’t know just how smart.

Za’Nyiah is part of the last class of seniors to graduate from the building after more than 100 years. Kenmore-Garfield will close this summer, bringing an end to a historic pillar of the Kenmore community, at least in its current form.

What’s next for the school? Read more from the Akron Beacon Journal.

The GAR Foundation announced a $70,000 grant to Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance (KNA) to support the ongoing cultural, recreational and business revitalization of Kenmore Boulevard. The funding will expand the Kenmore First Friday events, grow KNA’s efforts to attract business and investment to the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District, and support the continuation of KNA’s acquisition and rehabilitation of commercial and mixed-use properties on Kenmore Boulevard. Tina Boyes, KNA’s executive director, said she is thrilled with the foundation’s commitment to Kenmore and sees the grant as a testament to the community’s potential and KNA’s work over the past five years. “For Akron to grow, it needs strong neighborhoods,” she said. “Kenmore is home to some of the most creative, hard working people. This, combined with our unique and historic business district, makes us a linchpin in the success of our city. We are thrilled that The GAR Foundation believes this, too, and is willing to invest in our future.” Other neighborhood community development groups funded by foundation grants include Progressive Alliance CDC in West Akron, South Street Ministries and The Well CDC.

“We believe that neighborhood-serving organizations provide an important ‘way in’ to economic and community development,” said GAR Foundation Program Officer Bronlynn Thurman. “Our holistic support of economic development must include CDCs supporting neighborhoods, downtown development and systems work at the regional level.”

Additional shows planned in Cuyahoga Falls, Cleveland and downtown Akron.

The Akron Civic Theatre’s Millennial Theatre Project will bring its production of SAY IT LOUD to Kenmore’s Rialto Theatre on Saturday, June 4, at 4 PM. Admission is free.

SAY IT LOUD is an original play written by local theater artists Francine Parr and Maya Nicholson in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the protests that happened across the country during the summer of 2020. The production has garnered acclaim for its authentic representation of the lived experiences of members of our community – many of whom told their stories to the playwrights during the play’s development.

“The Rialto is a staple in Kenmore,” said co-playwright and MTP Artistic Director Francine Parr, “so it is the perfect space to present a production giving voice to the thoughts, fear and anger of the people who make up the community in which it is located.”

In addition to the Rialto performance, SAY IT LOUD will be presented at the Knight Stage in

downtown Akron on May 25th, MOCA Cleveland (in partnership with the Museum of Creative Human Art) on May 28, and the Jenks Building in Cuyahoga Falls on June 3.

Funding for these performances has been provided by Arts Midwest, Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

More information on SAY IT LOUD is available at facebook.com/SayItLoudAkron and therialtotheatre.com.