paddymac,

The Union Station is a sports bar on 16th Avenue. Tim Mackey is an owner along with Buzz Olson. It's a good sports bar with four 8-foot big screen TVs, eight 27-inch TVs, five pool tables, six electronic dart games, a regulation free-throw game, and video machines. They also serve food. It's a nice place to go but not, I think, for music.

Cedar Rapids does have a strong music scene though, especially in the areas of blues and jazz. Lots of clubs feature fine music on a regular basis. There are a few "folk" players but not much work. The only stable jam sessions C.R. has been able to sustain have been bluegrass or country. I think there is currently a regular open-mike event for blues players.

One outstanding venue in C.R. is CSPS, a combination art gallery and small theatre established in what was a Czech cultural center. CSPS has featured concerts by Tom Paxton, Peggy Seeger and Mike Seeger at various times and continues to be a wonderful sponsor of alternative music forms. I'd love to get Rick Fielding down here sometime, his imminent deification notwithstanding.

      - Mark