YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The list of live rock music clubs that are at least 50 years old is short and dotted with famous names.
Cleveland’s Agora can make the claim, along with the Troubadour and the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, the First Avenue in Minneapolis, the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., and the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
A Youngstown venue has now been added to that list.
Cedars West End will celebrate its 50th anniversary Saturday, June 14, with a tripleheader of rock acts. Performing will be Turbo Lovers, The Jellybricks and Candace Campana. Music will start around 8:30 p.m. Admission is $25.
Just about every Youngstown band of note has played the club over the past half-century.
The original location of the bar on North Hazel Street, downtown, was purchased by the Simon family in the early 1970s. It was reborn as a rock venue in 1975 after eldest son Tommy took over. Since then, it hosted countless local and national acts, becoming a Mahoning Valley icon in the process.
Tommy Simon, who died in 2017, ran the bar until 2008, when his daughter, Mara, and her spouse, Billy Danielson, took over.
Cedars was relocated to 706 Steel St. on the West Side in 2012, and is still owned and operated by the two. Danielson can be found tending bar and running the kitchen almost every night.
History
While Mara Simon spends little time tending bar these days – she’s usually home caring for the couple’s children – she’ll be at Cedars on Saturday for the milestone celebration.
It will feel like a family celebration to her.
“Being brought up in the place, I’m very proud [that we have reached 50 years],” she said. “It’s my dad’s legacy, and he worked so hard on it for everybody, and for us to be able to carry it on.”
Simon was always by her dad’s side when she was growing up and was often at the bar with him as he took care of business. She began working there after she turned 21; it’s where she met her spouse, Danielson, who was her first hire as a bartender.
Cedars has always been an outsized part of her life.
“I’m not really an only child,” she said, “because this place is my older sibling!”
Her grandfather bought the bar in the early 1970s but had no special plans for it. After Tommy was given the reins, Cedars became ground zero of Youngstown’s rock scene.
“He was going to be a lawyer,” Simon said of her dad. “He had three college degrees. But he was asked to keep the bar going for the family, and he took it to heart. … If he were here today, he’d probably be in tears.”
In the ’80s and ’90s, Cedars was one of the few places in downtown Youngstown that wasn’t boarded up. The city was at its nadir after the collapse of the steel industry.
Despite its surroundings, the bar was always a lively home for the creative community – including writers, actors and even dance clubs. But it almost came to an end in 2012 when the building was sold and Cedars was evicted.
Remarkably, Simon and Danielson were able to find a new home on the West Side that looked much like the old one and had a nearly identical layout. They moved the original bar and its back piece to the new location, which made it seem even more familiar.
After moving, Cedars carried on without missing a beat. New location, same vibe.
Simon recalls the day she learned about the availability of the Steel Street location, which at the time was County Maigh Eo Irish pub.
“[Owner Michael Ragan] left a note on my car windshield that read, ‘I hear you’re looking for a new place. Call me,’” she recalled. “I did. And when I first walked in, it felt like home.”
Staying in business is not for the faint of heart, she noted. The secret, she said, is to put your heart in it, and not just be in it for the money.
A lot of bar owners might have thrown in the towel when they got the eviction notice, Danielson said.
“You have to change with the times,” he said. “Fifty years is a long time, and you will [learn] a lot of things [about this business]. But the proof’s in the pudding.”
Simon said she is proud of what she and Danielson have accomplished over the past 15 years at the new site.
“It’s not the shell,” she said. “It’s the people inside that make it.”
Music Foundation
Larry Kennedy, singer-guitarist for The Jellybricks, always looked to Cedars when he was growing up in Boardman.
He moved to Harrisburg, Pa., in 1997 to start The Jellybricks.
The band is now approaching its 30th anniversary, and he still lives there. But no matter how long he is away, Kennedy will always consider Cedars the foundation of his music career.
“I grew up a Beatles obsessive from the time I was really young,” he said. “The first time I found myself in Cedars, I was in my teens. The band we were watching was The Infidels, and what I remember was it was a club full of people losing their minds to a band playing original music, and all I could think was, wow, we have a Cavern Club (the Liverpool, England, bar where The Beatles got started) right here in Youngstown. I was in the kind of club that spawns great art and has a scene supporting it.”
From that moment, it became Kennedy’s goal to play Cedars.
“I didn’t care if I played the actual Cavern Club or Carnegie Hall,” he said. “I wanted to play Cedars. I learned that day that you didn’t need to go somewhere to be a great band. Cedars gave me the green light to start making music.”
Cedars had a discerning – or perhaps hard-nosed – clientele.
“It was a proving ground,” Kennedy said. “The people there were really paying attention, so you better make it good. You were trying to earn their approval.
“You know, [an artist acquires] a game face when you play a place like Cedars. When you move on to other places, you think, ‘If I can make the crowd at Cedars happy, I ain’t afraid of anyplace.’”
The Jellybricks have played Cedars many times over the years, but Saturday’s show will be the band’s first since the pandemic.
The band released its latest album, “Dreaming in Stereo,” in February and will play a healthy dose of the new music along with some old favorites.
Rockers Respond
The Jellybricks are among the many local rock acts whose members cut their teeth at Cedars.
Among them are The Vindys, who recently returned from their second North American tour with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pat Benatar.
The band played its first show as a headliner in 2014 at Cedars West End.
The Business Journal asked Jackie Popovec and John Anthony of The Vindys – and a few other local rockers – for their thoughts on Cedars as the venue marks its milestone:
Jackie Popovec, singer and songwriter, The Vindys: “I want to congratulate Billy and Mara on 50 years of keeping the music scene alive and well in Youngstown! I’ve made so many friends, memories, and played and seen countless shows at Cedars since I hit the scene around 2010. To me, Cedars is legendary, a cornerstone of Youngstown’s rock and punk scene in the ’90s. And while I mostly missed all the fun at the downtown location, you can still feel that original rock club and good vibe energy every time you walk into the West Side location. Also, St. Patrick’s Day at Cedars is an absolute must. Billy cooks up the best homemade Irish dishes you’ll find anywhere in the area. So good it made me cry! Cheers to 50 years, and here’s to many more!”
John Anthony, lead guitarist for The Vindys: “Our first Vindys headlining show was at Cedars! I’ve always wanted to thank Billy and Mara for always allowing all types of music to be welcomed at Cedars, from Zappa tribute shows, to playing my first time at Cedars with Hoss and the Juggernauts, and even doing a whole night of Charlie Brown Christmas music! Cedars has been a backbone of the Youngstown music scene. Happy 50th!”
B.J. Lisko, singer and guitarist for Turbo Lovers: “Cedars has been a welcome home for original, local music for five decades. Without it, the scene would likely look very different to what it is today. Turbo Lovers are proud to be a part of their 50th anniversary celebration, and we look forward to bringing home an excellent night of rock that represents and celebrates their legacy and their continued future.”
Candace Campana, singer, guitarist: “Cedars has been integral for my personal band development. We always seem to have a packed house when we play Cedars West End, which is not only great for confidence, but to share my music with eager listening ears. It’s a fantastic hang out, and I think audiences recognize that and enjoy the down to earth setting. Billy is amazing, so that also helps! I was honored when he asked me to be a part of the 50th anniversary of the venue!”
Pete Drivere, guitarist for The Infidels, and studio engineer: “I first played at Cedars, in the downtown in the winter of 1982. My band, The Infidels got an opening slot for The Eight Balls. I had only heard of the place, and at 15 and from the small town of West Middlesex, it was about as big time as I could have hoped at that point. Over the next few years, The Infidels had more or less became one of the bigger draws at the venue, bringing in a wider audience than the stalwart punk and art crowd that the club got its start with. For me, in my post-high school days, Cedars was a thrill, It provided me, like many, with a hang out and a place where I could see local and touring original bands. When the Infidels hit the road on our many touring and out of town gigging adventures, Cedars was always the place where we would do homecoming shows and it was the stage where we would reconnect with our local and regional fanbase. When the original location was forced to relocate in 2013, it felt very tragic and disappointing. Though I was long over the thrill of hanging out at the club, the passing of the original location felt more like a death in the family more than just one room closing and another opening. With the reopening of the new location on the West Side, the tradition lives on. Occasionally, you run into some of the original people that were associated with the original location and if sort of feels like the old days. Cedars has meant a lot of things to a lot of different people over the years. There definitely have been people from the ’80s crowd that have had kids that now hang out there and go there to see bands. Many generations of youth have entered its doors both at North Hazel and now at Steel Street and hopefully that will continue for years to come.
Pictured at top: Billy Danielson and Mara Simon, owners of Cedars, inside the bar.