Courtesy Barking Spider
One of our favorite local places to hear live music, the Barking Spider has just announced that it will close its doors for good after a 30-year anniversary party on Sunday, September 18. (That party starts at 2 p.m. and you should definitely go.)
Owner Bruce Madorsky and proprietor Jenna Juredine have decided that the 30th anniversary milestone provides an opportunity to celebrate the life of a music venue known for giving many musicians their debuts. Their father, the late Martin Juredine, opened club on September 19, 1986, in an old carriage house on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. He ditched the jukebox and began having local musicians play a couple of times a week. He booked a bit of everything: Poetry readings, potlucks, weddings and receptions.
His youngest daughter Jenna has kept the club open in the wake of his death.
“I couldn’t let the Spider go,” she says in a press release announcing the 30th anniversary celebration and closure. “I grew up in these walls, with these musicians, customers and co-workers. I had just lost my dad and it was a thread, keeping the connection to my father for all of us.”
Newly married with a baby due in November, she wants to devote more time to her family.
“The tavern takes a certain lifestyle to maintain, and I am no longer able to dedicate the amount of time needed to keep it going,” she says. “We have an amazing group of employees that have worked here for years, some since the very beginning. My father created a safe house for music lovers and musicians and everyone has been so supportive. We are a huge family and that is hard to come by in any business. It’s been an honor to be a part of such an important part of the music scene in Cleveland.”
