While the two specialize in hip-hop shows, they don't want the 500-seat Roxy -- which reopened last weekend -- to be known strictly as a hip-hop club, Ragan says. Rather, they want it to be a venue that presents all kind of music, including blues and jazz. In addition to such national acts as Brotha Lynch Hung, due this Friday, June 11, Lil Wyte, who will be at there Friday, June 18, and Dirtball from the Kottonmouth Kings, booked for Saturday, July 9, the pair plan to book a lot of local acts, including an all-local metal show on July 2.
"My being involved in music, owning a record label and promotional company and a venue, I know what it's like for locals to get off the ground," Ragan says. "I want to work with hardworking locals in every demographic."
Although one of the club's previous operators had told them the liquor license had expired, there was actually a month left on it, so the partners were able to get it transferred. Now they're working on getting an all-ages license for the spot, which they hope will go through in the next three to six months. They also plan to turn a small room near the entrance into a kitchen so that they can serve breakfast from 5 to 10 a.m. and then reopen around 4 or 5 p.m.
Since taking over the Roxy, they've installed new sound and lighting systems and repainted the interior; Ragan says they also spent about two days scraping gum off the floor with razor blades, since some of the previous tenants had just painted over the gum. But their work has been rewarded: Ragan says people are telling them that the Roxy has never looked as good as it does now.
