PANAMA CITY — After a brief downbeat, a local music venue is up for an encore.
Owners Anthony Brunelle, Josh Guidry and Matt Guidry of the A&M Theatre in downtown Panama City are bringing back the original, and often avant garde, acts commonplace to the establishment. In addition, they plan on expanding their appeal through a musical styling somewhat foreign to the A&M stage.
“We want to be open and welcoming to everybody,” said Matt Guidry. “Even with cover bands, I always thought: music is music.”
In the world of independent music venues, booking strictly “original” performances is a point of pride, but the A&M owners said the talent of Panama City performers is too broad to exclude any medium.
“We are really trying to grow the market itself to be appealing to original artists, because there is a lot of talent here,” Guidry said.
Most nights at the A&M, a music lovers’ ears can feast on local punk, funk, folk, rock, reggae, hip hop, bluegrass and/or electronica. And each subsequent night an entirely different spectrum of art could be seen and heard.
New plans for the venue go beyond simply welcoming cover bands into the mix. The owners are hoping to become a catch-all for creating and displaying any and all modes of Panama City grown art.
In the Greenwhich Village-esque loft of the A&M Theatre, Brunelle and Guidry were busy installing metal wall mounts Wednesday to easily replace the several dozen paintings, drawings and photographs by local artists covering the walls, which sell or circulate regularly. Large gaps of unused space were reserved for two projector screens to host vintage movie or video game nights.
A vacant drum set sat on the empty stage and various instruments were draped over the church pews encircling the main room where album recording sessions had taken place in between renovations.
Other than dance parties and variety shows, consisting of stand up comedy and poetry readings, the A&M is looking to expand toward other performance pieces, rehearsal space and possibly dance lessons.
“We want this space to be available to artists, photographers, filmmakers — anybody that has anything to do with art or music,” Guidry said.
A&M Theatre is the last bastion of original local music in Panama City. The former owners closed shop after seeing little success, leaving Guidry as the last remaining stakeholder. Guidry recruited his brother, Josh, and Brunelle from there.
The reason original music venues have not flourished in the city, Guidry said, was not for lack of talent.
Panama City has produced talents to go on to national and international notoriety.
“Part of the problem you run into, if you want [play music] seriously, you have to move to a bigger market,” he said. “It’s easier to leave than start something here.”
Reversing that trend is the goal for A&M
“We didn’t want to change the name. It says right there in the name what we’re all about: Art and Music,” Guidry said. “It’s for local artists and musicians. That’s why we want to keep this place alive.”
While their first officially reopened show was Friday with Dismal Creek, the venue will be open Thursdays through Mondays with Bass Church Sundays and Open Mic Mondays. Thursday through Saturday, any assortment of performances could be on the stage.