The Bitter End, New Yorks Oldest Rock Club

Back in 1973 David Tenery and myself had a band. We were into the acoustic-folk scene at that time. Artist like Arlo Guthrie and Jim Croce were doing real well along with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. David wrote some real cool songs such as "Southern Serves the South" a very popular train logo on the boxcars and inspired from working in the train yards at Drexel Furniture. In our band was Ricky from Elkin, NC playing banjo and guitar, his brother Micky playing fiddle, guitar and conga drums, David Tenery on acoustic guitar and myself on bass guitar. We were invited by a lady that ran the rock club to the The Bitter End in New York City to come and audition. We had put together a demo tape and sent it to her and she really liked the sound. We were practicing at Ricky and Micky's apartment in Gardner Webb where they were attending college and everything seemed like a go with the audition. We were on our way to stardom. If we made the audition we were to go on tour on what they called the "coffeehouse circuit" all over the country. I'll have to admit we had a unique sound and style of music which everyone was into at that time. A week before we were to leave for New York City, Ricky and Mickey backed out of going because they were in college and wanted to continue their education. Looking back, that was a wise decision for them but at the time all the effort we had worked on and put together was shattering our dreams. David and I were determined to go and perform in New York City in Greenwich Village. We put together a last minute band with Rob Conrad on electric guitar from Elkin, NC and Paula Dagenhart on drums using the same songs but now it had an electric sound. There were no banjos, fiddles, or congas to be heard. We went and performed for the audition and the lady knew that it wasn't the same band so we failed the audition, but we still got to perform at the Bitter End, New York City's Oldest Rock Club back in 1973. Maybe we should try again because the place is still there and I am still performing a similar style of music to this day. We have banjos, fiddles, and mandolins doing the Americana Sound.

The Bitter End, New York City, Greenwich Village

The Bitter End NYC
In 1973 when I graduated from Starmount High School my good friend David Tenery and I took a trip to perform at the famous Rock Club The Bitter End. This was a real adventure for a 17 year old country boy to see The Big Apple and to get to perform on the same stage as Arlo Guthrie and Bob Dylan and many others. We drove all the way to NYC in David's Ford Econoline van and stayed at a Hotel right off off fifth avenue called The Arlington Hotel. New York is not like the country where I came from. There was no service stations as we know it in the city. We had to park a long way in a parking deck and walk to our hotel. The Bitter End is in Greenwich Village and is one of the oldest rock clubs in America. It was Rob Conrad on electric guitar, Paula Dagenhart on drums, David Tenery on acoustic guitar and myself on the bass guitar. Our original band which was suppose to go, backed out the week before we were suppose to leave so we threw this band together in one week and didn't want to miss this opportunity to play.
The Trapp Brothers
Our original band had congas, fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, and bass guitar. I never look forward to driving in NYC again. The taxis and buses will run you off the road so be prepared to get out of their way.