Soundbites: A Festival for Bent Nails Bistro 

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• Courtesy
• Atom & the Orbits

No, this isn't a lost episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." But if you love the story of a ragtag crew of friends rolling up their sleeves to save their favorite drinking hole, you'll want to know what a group of like-minded Montpelier music fans is doing this weekend for Bent Nails Bistro.

Langdon Street has been a special part of Montpelier's music scene for as long as I can remember — starting with the gem that is Buch Spieler Records. In business since 1973, the vinyl shop took a serious hit during the July flood but is currently renovating its retail space with plans to reopen soon.

And then, at the end of the street, there's Bent Nails Bistro.

The club opened in 2021 after another bar and music venue, Sweet Melissa's, went under during the pandemic. Before that, the space was home to Langdon Street Café, a bohemian coffee shop and nightspot that was sort of a spiritual cousin to Burlington's Radio Bean. All three venues on that site have been integral to the live music scene in the Capital City, hosting a wide range of acts, from metal bands to singer-songwriters to rappers to goth DJ nights.

When I visited Bent Nails soon after the flooding, things looked grim. Co-owner Charis Churchill was already knee-deep in the cleanup and repairs, but it was clear a long road to recovery lay ahead — and an even longer one before the venue's little stage would host music again.

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• Courtesy
• Charis Churchill

"We're going to try and get back as quickly as we can," Churchill told me that day as she took in the state of her club, wearing mud boots and covered in dirt. "This place means a lot to people here, especially music fans."

Now some of those fans have banded together to help get the club back on its feet. Led by entrepreneur and event organizer Linda Winter, a committee of five Bent Nails regulars is throwing a block party this Saturday, September 30, on Langdon Street to raise funds for the beleaguered café.

"It's pretty crazy, because we're all people that probably would never have met or hung out anywhere else in the world except Bent Nails," Winter told me by phone. "I didn't even know all of their last names or have their phone numbers; I just knew them as people I'd see at the bar, enjoying the music just like me."

Along with Sabrina Fadial, Cara Lyndsey, Sally Hafer and Will Roberts, Winter organized the Bent Nails Music Festival Fundraiser, a one-day fest featuring 12 bands on two stages: an outdoor stage at the end of Langdon Street and the stage inside Bent Nails, marking the club's official return to hosting live music.

"I've been hanging out in this space forever, whether it was Langdon Street Café or Sweet Melissa's or Bent Nails," Winter said. "It's such a special place for this community, a spot you can hear music just about every night of the week. And it really became our third place, a spot where you can feel comfortable and safe and surrounded by people who love music."

The fundraiser's lineup is chock-full of Bent Nails regulars, including singer-songwriters Sarah Munro & Mark LeGrand, R&B act Soul Porpoise, vintage rockers Atom & the Orbits, and the bar's house band, the Nailers. It's a fitting cross-section of a vital small-town music scene, one of the most interesting in the state. The lineup underscores Bent Nails' crucial role as a hub for Montpelier's artists, along with Charlie-O's World Famous and Hugo's (both of which are also in the process of recovering from flood damage).

"You can tell how much it means to these bands to get Bent Nails back," Winter said. "They're playing for free! We're all doing this out of pure love for a place we want back in our lives."

The event is free, but donations are encouraged. Check out bentnailsbistro.com for more information and set times. Welcome back, Bent Nails Bistro!