![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.quietzine.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/196301_165521363503204_162498887138785_349925_3639258_n-e1303385781853.jpg\" "\\"THUG")
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Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hookah Spot will open on Friday, April 22nd with performances by DJ Sevenstone and Duh!RockBoyz. Right now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early April, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sitting on one of the Hookah Spot’s fluorescent-splattered couches talking to the proprietor, Emily Walker, under a blacklight. The nascent venue is a flurry of activity. Two volunteers are remodeling the unisex bathroom in the corner, while another fiddles with a digital camera, taking pictures for the Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s website. Tattooist Robbie Crisp is on his way out the door, having just put the finishing touches on an eight-foot-tall mural of Clint Eastwood on the wall behind the new plywood stage. If aspects of the space are a work in progress,<\/strong> the business plan is not. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the only college town [in North Carolina] with a major university that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a hookah lounge,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Walker, who will graduate from WCU in May with a degree in psychology. Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will offer twenty flavors of sheesha and a modest snack bar. Patrons who are of age will be able to bring their own alcohol for a corking fee, but Walker hopes to draw a significant portion of her business from younger college students who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always welcome at nightspots whose revenue is dependent on alcohol sales.<\/p>\n And while sheesha may be what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for sale at Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, music is actually the most important aspect of Walker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strategy. She hopes Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s can offer something unique to the local music community, both from a stylistic and technical standpoint. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not much really hard rock music,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of my main goals for this shop is to walk in the door and see everybody moshing and having fun.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The size of the Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s space places it comfortably in between some of Sylva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s other venues, which will make it a more appropriate venue for some local and touring bands. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel like Bone Shack is too big for certain bands to play,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker explains, whereas many other local venues may be too small or have inadequate sound systems.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want music to become more of a bigger deal in people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wanted something that was a warehouse style, so that we could have live music and really enjoy it and not have too many limits on it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Though much of her vision is based on attracting successful touring acts to Sylva, Walker expects Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to become a comfortable home for local musicians as well. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m giving everybody a chance!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker insists. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want [local bands] opening for some of the bands coming through and then building up. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Several of her friends\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bands are currently using the venue as a practice space, and though they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not paying rent, Walker is pleased with the fringe benefits of having musicians hanging around the shop at all times. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love music!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker exclaims. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to hear as much as possible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n A volunteer named Tyler interrupts our conversation<\/strong> about the venue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new PA system by hauling a mangled piece of ductwork out of the bathroom. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your problem right there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he jokes in a faux mechanic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drawl. Walker still plans to install an entirely new ventilation system \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a necessity for an establishment that trades in burning coals \u00e2\u20ac\u201c before the venue opens.<\/p>\n Walker has been doing much of the construction herself, but has left most of the decoration to local artists. Crisp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s piece is prominent, next to another large mural by Cullowhee tattooist Eddie Redskull, and the other walls of the space are covered with work in a variety of styles. One particular corner, and many of the space\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s other flat surfaces, will be fair game for patrons to decorate themselves using the fluorescent pens Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will provide. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want people to feel a personal attachment to this place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker explains.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Asked about vaguely similar venues in Sylva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent past<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c such as the short-lived show space at 609 Mill Street and the ill-fated all-ages venue KarrTunz in Jackson Plaza \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Walker, who first came to WCU in 2009, makes it clear that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s committed to forging her own path. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard anything about [KarrTunz] other than it was a venue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker shrugs.<\/p>\n The support Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s has received so far from students, community members, and future customers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c every one of the hookahs had already been reserved for the opening night several weeks in advance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has Walker feeling confident that her venture can succeed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is all my energy right now, so hopefully it will be all my energy for a while\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I mean, I painted the walls,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker laughs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to keep it around.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Absolem’s Hookah Spot opens Friday, April 22nd with performances from DJ Sevenstone and Duh!RockBoyZ.<\/p>\n For more information, visit the Absolem’s Facebook page<\/a> or web site<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sylva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s downtown nightlife, such as it is, runs along Main Street, while nearby Mill Street \u00e2\u20ac\u201c often referred to, tellingly, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Back Street,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and currently home to a cobbler, a frame shop, a laundry and a fishmonger \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has tended … Continue reading
\nSylva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s downtown nightlife, such as it is,<\/strong> runs along Main Street, while nearby Mill Street \u00e2\u20ac\u201c often referred to, tellingly, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Back Street,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and currently home to a cobbler, a frame shop, a laundry and a fishmonger \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has tended to go dark after business hours. Passersby this spring might be more than a little surprised, then, to suddenly hear the thump of a bass drum or to spot a clutch of college students congregating in front of the matte-black storefront at 561 Mill Street.<\/p>\n
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\n—–<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.quietzine.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/200652_165521323503208_162498887138785_349923_7508571_n-e1303386923636.jpg\" "\\"Clint")
\nWalker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own tastes are diverse, ranging from softer indie to metal, but she has arranged to have Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s booking handled by an experienced agent based in Pennsylvania whose connections tend toward hardcore. Though she does hope to fill what she perceives as a local void in that genre, Walker expects to host a wide variety of artists. The lineup for the opening weekend, for instance, includes a pair of DJs, a local outfit called The Raw Taters, and the Triad-based hip-hop crew Duh!RockBoyZ. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lot of people are sending me music,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Funk bands and things like that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.quietzine.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/207834_165521283503212_162498887138785_349920_3554899_n-e1303386472165-300x209.jpg\" "\\"Absolem's")
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping to appeal to everyone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker insists, while acknowledging that she has focused somewhat on a college crowd, even in her selection of sheesha flavors \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153strawberry daiquiri\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gumball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for instance. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to argue with the idea that WCU students under the age of twenty-one make up an underserved market for entertainment in Jackson County. Walker feels strongly that Absolem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s can thrive economically by welcoming these students while simultaneously broadening the creative life of the community through music and art.<\/p>\n