On Saturday night, The Lakely hosted Josh Gallagher and Todd Bartlett for a cozy jazz dinner hour.
Josh Gallagher is an Eau Claire native and graduate from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was also selected as a pianist for the Brubeck Institute Jazz Sextet during the 2004-2005 school year.
Gallagher performs at The Lakley regularly and is a staple performer at the bar.
“I’ve been playing here at least a couple times a month since The Lakley opened in 2016,” Gallagher said. “It’s the main spot for jazz.”
On Saturday night, he performed a variety of jazz standards with trumpet player Bartlett.
“I play with a number of people, but when I need a trumpet player, I always ask Todd first,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher’s performance was almost three hours long with occasional breaks.
“This is my life,” Gallagher said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
Gallagher said he lives in Eau Claire and one of the things he appreciates about performing in this city is having UW-Eau Claire close by.
“I like having the university here — the music program here — even though I didn’t get my degree there. I like having all the music students around,” Gallagher said. “It kicks things up a notch.”
However, Gallagher said students don’t always make it out to The Lakely or other downtown music venues.
“It would be nice to have more students here,”Gallgher said. “But I understand if it’s hard when you can’t spend a lot of money.”
The Lakely is part of the Pablo Group of performing arts centers and dining options. The Lakley is part of the Oxbow hotel, which is partially owned by Eau Claire music legend Justin Vernon — creator and lead singer of the indie band Bon Iver.
Gallagher and his group will be performing again on Oct. 12. The Lakley will also host a variety of other jazz performers this month, as well as open mics, drag bingo and more.
Rolland Duerre, a waiter and sound technician at The Lakely, has also been present since the bar opened.
“Gallagher is a great musician,” Duerre said. “He creates a nice atmosphere for the restaurant.”
Duerre is also the singer for Backstroke, a local rock band. Duerre said his band recently played at The Plus and is looking forward to more performances around Halloween.
“We are opening up The Venue for a show on Oct. 18.” Duerre said. “It will be the first show there in three to four years.”
Duerre said that the local music scene took a hit after the coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic, he said house shows with local and student bands were common every week, while now they only happen a few times a year.
Duerre said music lovers should keep an eye out for these local bands as well as more established performers at venues like The Lakley.
Sonnek can be reached at [email protected].
