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| Former names | Carl's Bar |
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| Address | 500 Cedar Avenue |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°58′07″N93°14′50″W / 44.96861°N 93.24722°W |
| Owner | Pat and Sarah Dwyer |
| Type | Dive bar/tavern |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Website | |
| palmers-bar | |
Palmer's Bar is a dive bar and music venue located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Known for its strong drinks, [1] the bar is a live music venue at night. [2]
The bar was founded in 1906 [3] and has had over a dozen owners. [4] A speakeasy during the Prohibition Era, the bar is rumored to have once had a secret tunnel connecting it to 5 Corners Saloon (vacant as of 2022). [5] In the 1930s, it was named Carl's Bar [3] and a brothel operated upstairs. [6] The bar was named Palmer's in 1950 by then owner Henry Palmer. A Mr. Folta ran the bar from 1959 to 1975. His son Roger Folta co-owned the bar from 1975 to 1996. [4] Keith Berg and Lisa Hammer purchased the bar in 2001. [2]
Under Berg and Hammer's ownership, the bar remained open every day of the year. [3] The bar shares a wall with a mosque, the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Civic Center. [6] Scenes for the 2005 indie film Factotum were filmed inside Palmer's. [7]
During the summer, Palmer's hosts a music festival known as "Palmfest". Musicians "Spider" John Koerner, Charlie Parr, Willie Murphy, and Cornbread Harris have played the venue. Local blues musicians Koerner, Dave "Snaker" Ray, and Tony Glover of Koerner, Ray & Glover also played the venue and would also gather at Palmer's after their shows. [8] Bonnie Raitt frequented the bar while she was recording her debut album. [5]
The bar has been used as a filming location, including the 1990 film Old Explorers and the 2005 film Factotum , based on the Charles Bukowski novel. [9]
Spider John Koerner was a frequent performer and fixture at the bar, reportedly spending so much time there that he had his newspaper delivered there. [9] When he officially retired in 2023, Koerner donated one of his guitars, a 12-string Epiphone, to the bar, where it is on display in a glass case. [10]
Palmer's has a "wall of shame", listing people who have been 86'd from the bar. There is also a "Wall of Deceased" that features former owner Keith Berg, who died in September 2015. [4]
Esquire magazine named Palmer's one of the best bars in the United States in 2014. [11] The magazine recommended a bourbon neat with a beer back and said of the bar, "There are dives and dives in this world. There's the type Guy Fieri calls out, old joints that might not feel like they need to get their hair done before seeing company but are nonetheless fundamentally clean and comfortable and unchallenging. Then there's Palmer's." They praised the bar's Wall of Shame, their outdoor garden, and the cheap drinks. Following the listing, owner Berg indicated he would preserve the bar's character and inform the staff that there would be "no bow ties or blenders." [12]
Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty, keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. They developed a devout fanbase and garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey of AllMusic described the band as "One of the most unique cult bands of the '90s...Driven by frontman M. Doughty's stream-of-consciousness poetry, Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism". Doughty described the band's sound as "deep slacker jazz". The group broke up in 2000.
The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.
Sean Tillmann-Hauser is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He has performed and released studio albums as Sean Na Na and as a member of hardcore band Calvin Krime, but is best known for his work under the name Har Mar Superstar.
First Avenue and 7th St Entry are two historic music venues housed in the same landmark building in downtown Minneapolis. The nightclub sits on the corner of First Avenue North and 7th Street North, from which the venues get their names. The two are colloquially distinguished by locals as The Mainroom and The Entry.
Dave "Snaker" Ray was an American blues singer and guitarist from St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, associated with Spider John Koerner and Tony "Little Sun" Glover in the early Sixties folk revival. Together, the three released albums under the name Koerner, Ray & Glover. They gained notice with their album Blues, Rags and Hollers, originally released by Audiophile in 1963 and re-released by Elektra Records later that year.
"Spider" John Koerner was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a guitarist and vocalist in the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, with Dave Ray and Tony Glover. He also made albums as a solo performer and with Willie Murphy, and was an important mentor to the young Bob Dylan.
Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, or simply Riverside, is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the north and east, Interstate 94 to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue and Interstate 35W to the west. It has a longstanding tradition of cultural diversity and settlement, with a robust arts tradition.
Factotum is a 2005 French-Norwegian dark comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Bent Hamer, adapted from the 1975 novel of the same name by Charles Bukowski. It stars Matt Dillon as Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski. Although events in the book take place in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the film has a contemporary setting.
Charlie Parr is an American country blues musician. Born in Austin, Minnesota, he spent part of his childhood in Hollandale before starting his music career in Duluth. His influences include Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Reverend Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Mississippi John Hurt, and his self-professed "hero" "Spider" John Koerner. He plays a Mule resonator, National resonator guitar, a fretless open-back banjo, and a twelve-string guitar, often in the Piedmont blues style. He is divorced from Emily Parr, who occasionally adds vocals to his music. He has two children.
David Curtis Glover, better known as Tony "Little Sun" Glover, was an American blues musician and music critic. He was a harmonica player and singer associated with "Spider" John Koerner and Dave "Snaker" Ray during the early 1960s folk revival. Together, the three released albums under the name Koerner, Ray & Glover. Glover was also the author of diverse "harp" songbooks and a co-author, along with Ward Gaines and Scott Dirks, of an award-winning biography of Little Walter, Blues with a Feeling: The Little Walter Story.
The Turf Club is a bar, restaurant and music venue in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States.
U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL); it also hosts early season college baseball games of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Surly Brewing Company is an American craft brewery with facilities in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and is noted for primarily canning beers, rather than bottling. Initially available only in and around the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the company expanded distribution to include all of Minnesota and at least 12 states and several international markets. During the early 2010s, Surly experienced rapid growth, with production of 21,000 barrels in 2012, 28,000 barrels in 2013, and 47,757 barrels in 2015. Surly's brewing system in Brooklyn Center is a 30 beer barrel (BBL) Sprinkman, one of four identical systems produced by Sprinkman of Wisconsin. The Minneapolis location has a 100 barrel system. Despite sharing a similar name and being headquartered in the U.S. state of Minnesota, the brewing company and Surly Bikes are separate enterprises. An agreement between the two companies allows the bicycle manufacturer to display the single word "Surly" on its products.
Koerner, Ray & Glover was a loose-knit group of three blues musicians from Minneapolis, Minnesota: "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals, and Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica. They were notable figures of the revival of folk music and blues in the 1960s.
Blues, Rags and Hollers is the first album by the American country blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, released in 1963.
Live @ The 400 Bar is an album by folk and blues artists John Koerner and Tony Glover, released in 2009.
James Samuel "Cornbread" Harris Sr. is an American musician. He is a singer and pianist who performs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was a performer on Minnesota's first rock 'n' roll record, and is the father of record producer Jimmy Jam.
Willie Murphy was an American pianist, singer, producer, and songwriter. He is known for his solo work as a singer and pianist; as a singer, bassist and guitarist for the blues band Willie and the Bees; and for his collaborations with Bonnie Raitt and John Koerner.
Jacob Lukas Anderson, better known by his stage name Prof, is an American rapper, singer, and producer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He released his first full-length album, Project Gampo, in 2007 and has since released six additional albums and three EPs. In 2012, City Pages named Prof on their list of Minnesota's 20 best rappers. He was formerly signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment.
Dayna Frank is an American businesswoman who has served as president and CEO of First Avenue Productions, independently owned and operated concert venue and promoter, since 2009.
palmer's bar.