Honky Tonk Bar Planned for Brady Street

Details are scant, but a large window sign makes the intention clear: a new live music venue is coming to Brady Street.

Nashville North will open in the former Up and Under Pub space at 1214 E. Brady St. Billed as a “honky tonk,” the sign promotes the prospective bar as the place where Brady Street and live music intersect.

That was the role Up and Under played for more than four decades until September when bar owner Timothy J. Brodersen said his lease was being terminated and it wasn’t his choice. Last call was September 27th. Brodersen and his wife had owned the bar for 14 years, but the business went back to 1977.

There are no building permits or license applications pending with the city to indicate who might operate the new space. But the building is owned by Peter Wolbersen who co-owns another bar. Wolbersen is a minority partner in The Tracks tavern, 1020 E. Locust St., in Riverwest. He also owns the building Tracks occupies, and several rental properties in Riverwest.

A call to Wolbersen went unanswered. He’s owned the building outright since purchasing it from a business partner for $80,000 in 1997. Today it’s assessed for $522,300.

And while details are limited, the name and honky tonk reference make the featured musical style of the new place clear. Nashville North will be a country music bar.

It would replace the blues-centric focus of Up and Under.

The two-and-a-half-story building itself dates back to 1885, when the neighborhood was anchored by the Polish community. It’s first floor was occupied by a tavern then, and continued to be as the Italians became the neighborhood’s dominant ethnic group. It would continue that function right through prohibition. Today, two apartments are located upstairs, but the first floor remains as it always has – a place to get a drink.

For an extensive look at the building’s history, see a 2016 profile by my colleague Michael Horne. It contains a mix of Lower East Side history, prohibition intrigue and detailed research that only he could assemble.

2016 Photos