Keep On Rockin’ Me
Mike Miller Loves Bringing Hot Music to Wilbert's

It’s 7:40 on a Friday night, and the crowd at Wilbert’s has dwindled to a few hangers-on who either don’t have tickets to the Indians-Tigers game or are nursing one last beer before they go. Mike Miller, the owner of the establishment, sits at the long bar and talks to the bartenders. One is an old friend; the other is his brother-in-law.

Everything’s going well tonight, except maybe for the fact that Victor Martinez was traded to the Red Sox earlier in the day, and one of Wilbert’s big promos for the baseball season has been $3 Victor Martinis. Miller just laughs. He’s got about 3,000 leaflets announcing that offer, so the Victor Martinis may stay for the season. The Indians will still be giving out Martinez bobble heads tomorrow, anyway.

Miller’s been here since 4 p.m. getting ready for the pre-game crowd. In addition to ensuring that everything is set up for the bands that will be playing tonight, he has been in the kitchen making, among other things, his special salsa. (“It’s got a certain sweetness,” he says. “That comes from the fresh vegetables.”) Miller does most of the cooking for Wilbert’s himself, although he has a small kitchen staff that works with him.

“I do the food shopping, the cooking, the taxes, the press releases, the website,” Miller says, rattling off his list of duties for the concert club/restaurant he has owned since 1992. He likes to provide his customers with what they want, as well as a few surprises to keep them smiling. Today, on his regular liquor-buying trip, he picked up Three Olives’ bubble gum vodka. Now his brother-in-law is making shots with the vodka, some ginger ale and a splash of cranberry. “Bazooka Joe!” the bartender says gleefully to all who try a shot. The friendly atmosphere at Wilbert’s is infectious.

Some of the people who pile into Wilbert’s before and after an Indians game and rave about the vodka shots don’t realize that they’re inside a kind of Cleveland institution. They may be surprised when they hear a band like Uptight Sugar, who will be playing later on this particular evening, pour out their psychedelic/pop rock/blues sounds. The fact is, Mike Miller has been providing Cleveland with cutting-edge music for a long time, first at his original location in the Warehouse District and for the last several years, at Gateway in the Caxton Building.

Miller enjoys bringing music to the uninitiated as well as the faithful followers. He also likes to help bands gain exposure in the Cleveland area. Tonight, he’s paired Uptight Sugar with Brown Shoe, a group of young guys from California that have been compared to My Morning Jacket and Red House Painters. Miller believes their sound will be a nice complement to Uptight Sugar. Together, the two bands may feed off each other to build a bigger following.

Bands seem to appreciate the helping hand Miller offers. The last time Keith Urban played in Cleveland, he gave a shout out to Wilbert’s for giving him a gig several years ago. “I try to be hospitable to the bands so they have a good experience,” Miller says. All he asks in return is a good performance and a good attitude. “If I have a problem, I don’t have them back.”

Wilbert’s is named for Miller’s father, who encouraged Miller to open his own concert venue after working for others for several years. Early on at Wilbert’s in the Warehouse District and later at Gateway, Miller worked at a frenetic pace to bring in cool bands and eager customers. In the past few years, however, he has adopted a new philosophy: “I’ve learned to make less work work for me,” he says. He has a smaller staff, and thus wears a lot of hats to make up for the downsizing. But he compensates for that by sometimes coming in a little later or not opening on certain days when there are no events in the area.

While it may not result in exponentially high profits, Miller sees the positive side of his new philosophy. “I have more family time,” he says.

He credits his wife, Rachael Kahl, with helping him to be more business-minded yet more family-focused. With three children under the age of six, the 51-year-old Miller likes having time for both. It can still get a little hectic, of course. After a recent late night at Wilbert’s, he went to sleep at 3 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. so he could pack one of his children a snack and take him to robot camp.

Miller carries his paternal nature to Wilbert’s and employs it when necessary. When he sees a worker in the kitchen hanging out and looking around, he knows it’s time to send him home. Rather than offering up a belligerent “Why are you standing around doing nothing?” rant, Miller quietly clocks the guy out and hands him his pay.

It’s now 9:45 p.m., and the Indians game is only at the top of the 7th inning. Plus, there are fireworks after the game. Brown Shoe is itching to start their set. “Mike, can we start?” one of the members asks, sounding like an eager kid appealing to the coach to put him in the game. Miller gently says, “No,” and explains why. There aren’t enough people yet in the bar; the band has to be patient. He calmly settles them down in a fatherly way.

At this stage of the game, Miller has earned the right to be a bit parent-like to the younger gigs that pass through his venue; nevertheless, he maintains a young-at-heart attitude when it comes to his passion for music. “I like all kinds of music,” he says, from alternative to classic. “The other day, I was listening to ‘Tommy,’ and I’m thinking, The Who was a punk band in the sixties, and then they release this rock album. How crazy is that? And it’s so good!”

Miller is looking forward to upcoming concerts at Wilbert’s, including Willie Nile, a Buffalo native with a Dylan-and-Springsteen-like quality in his singing and song writing. He’ll take the Wilbert’s stage on October 10. Miller’s excited because Nile’s latest CD, “House of a Thousand Guitars,” has been winning critical acclaim.

Miller enjoys all the ins and outs of owning a restaurant and concert venue, but it’s finding musical talent and introducing it to the Cleveland area that really energizes him. Although he doesn’t sing or play any instruments, he knows a good band when he hears one. And that ear for music has kept Wilbert’s going through relocation, recession and a less-than-satisfying baseball season.

“I’m still doing what I love to do,” Miller says. As long as people keep coming, Wilbert’s will be providing the music, the food and the hospitality. “I want to keep doing this until I’m 85,” he says. That’s a heck of a lot of music, and a heck of a lot of shots of bubble gum vodka.

Find out what bands will be playing at Wilbert’s: http://www.WilbertsMusic.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Diane DiPiero ohiodianeATnetzero. com
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