Laurel Cannito – Memphis Flyer

Back in the day, the classic Lamplighter Lounge experience didn’t involve live music. Pushing through the front door, you would swim through the clouds of cigarette smoke, spy a seat at the bar, settle down, and begin your night of drinking beer, talking, drinking beer, smoking, and drinking beer. No liquor was available, but it was dim, old, and cozy. As the world outside kept spinning out of control, somehow this dive remained unmoved, unaffected, and unconcerned. William Eggleston might step in wearing his full-length black leather coat, or perhaps you’d see Alex Chilton and drummer Doug Garrison saunter up to the jukebox. They weren’t there to play, only finding shelter from the storm. Miss Shirley (Williams) would call you out for swearing but served up the cheap beer and the burgers that bore her name with unflappable conviviality.

Later, after Shirley’s passing, the owner, Ms. Ann (Bradley) would fill much the same role. As she presided over her final years there before retirement, the vibe remained unchanged, but the clientele began to shift. Millennials, and later Gen Zers, it turned out, also craved that shelter. Yet they brought with them a new aesthetic. Maybe their favorite dive bar could also feature bands?

It began happening in dribs and drabs, occasional shows by soloists set up beside the pool table. Who could forget Lamplighter regular Ron Easley singing an obscure oldie about Fidel Castro while strumming a ukulele in 2012? But it still wasn’t really what you’d call a music venue, despite having a legendary jukebox.

That all feels like ancient history now, of course. In 2018, Bradley got out of the bar business and two younger employees, Laurel Cannito and Chuck “Vicious” Wenzler, bought the place, yet they were committed to keeping that magic, funky vibe that had built up organically over the decades. “Keeping it the same was really important to us,” Cannito said at the time. “We were so adamant about that. ‘The same, but cleaner’ was my motto.”

Nonetheless, the two also leaned into hosting more music events than ever in the tiny bar. And within a year or so, they had added the adjoining space in their retail strip on Madison and more than doubled the capacity. This would mark a new era of the Lamplighter hosting bands, one that has continued to this day, albeit on a shoestring budget. For much of that time, the PA and other gear required of a music venue was cobbled together in true D.I.Y. fashion.

But now, seven years after the “youngsters” took over, all of that has changed once again, though the vibe has remained. Over that time, the venue has earned a reputation for embracing some of the most inventive music in town, due to the adventurous tastes of Cannito and Wenzler. “We try to book, like, anything,” says Cannito today. “Even if something’s maybe not our cup of tea, we still try to give every type of music and every type of artistic expression a chance.”

“We’ll let anybody play twice,” quips Wenzler with a grin.

Yet, over those years, while management was open to any flavor of music, the venue’s equipment was not always up to the task. That’s changing in a big way, and the results will be clear when the bar hosts its “LampyFest 2025” this Saturday, July 19th, starting at 3 p.m. Now, the many featured bands will ring out more clearly than ever, powered by major improvements to the venue’s sound system, including new speakers and microphones. It’s an unmistakable sign that music and other performances will continue to be central to the Lamp’s top priorities for the foreseeable future.

As Cannito notes, “This all started when we decided to open up to private investments from our community, right?” Supporters of the bar could buy shares in it, a somewhat untested model for community involvement. As it turned out, it was just crazy enough to work. “The whole impetus for that was us wanting to make improvements and make it a more comfortable space. Now we’re doing that, which is great! We were not only able to improve the sound equipment, we were able to get a liquor license, so we can make more money and pay back our investment.”

And, in keeping with their motto of “the same, but cleaner,” the cigarette smoke-tinted ceiling tiles have been replaced. Will wonders never cease?

Celebrating all of this at LampyFest, with cocktails, no less, will be some of the city’s most iconic bands, mixed with a few newcomers, in keeping with the Lamplighter’s spirit. The festival will feature Dr. Brown, Turnt, Jeffrey Evans & Ross Johnson, Aquarian Blood, Tyler Keith, Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks, Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, plus drag and burlesque performers galore. There’s even a new (used) piano that, rumor has it, is actually in tune — a rarity for any club in the city.

The sheer sonic diversity is classic Lamp fare, but, as Cannito notes, they want to take it even further with their regular Wednesday night variety open mic events. “It’s great to see what people bring,” she says. “Like, one of our friends and staff did her first clown act at one of them. I really want to get that off the ground because I want to see puppets. I want to see more magic. I want to see, like, ballet! I would love to see those things at that open mic because it kind of encompasses what we’re going for anyways, which is like: ‘Hit us up. If you want to do something, be safe, and have fun, go get creative in there. Dance if you want!”

As we speak, the co-owners are brainstorming, and it starts to snowball. “I want to have pro wrestling,” chimes in Wenzler.

“That would be so cool!” agrees Cannito, then adds, “Chuck and I have been working on this collaborative art project for seven years with our community, having to drag this place through Covid and everything. We got really savvy, I think, in how we deal with things. What’s really cool is that now we’ve been able to make these improvements. And it feels like it’s finally ready to show, you know? I think it’s cool that everybody got to see the process, and that everybody had input on the process.

“It’s never gonna be finished,” Cannito adds. “But as far as reaching the vision that we had when we called for investments from the community, I think that’s what we’re so excited to unveil at LampyFest.”

Keeping it the same was really important to us. We were so adamant about that.” Laurel Cannito is describing her and business partner Chuck “Vicious” Wenzler’s inheritance, of sorts: the Lamplighter Lounge. Having worked there for some time when previous owner Ann Bradley decided to leave the bar business, they were in a prime position to acquire the establishment. And, true to Cannito’s words, it looks nearly identical to the place I first stepped into sometime in the late ’80s.

Back then, of course, it was all about the vibe. The beer was cheap, and so were the eats. The jukebox was divine. “Thank you, thank you,” Alex Chilton once said to the machine, as it sounded the first notes of Nat “King” Cole’s “Somewhere Along the Way.” We all felt that way about the Lamplighter. And after a night of swigging and smoking and yakking away, Miss Shirley’s hamburgers were divine as well.

Alex Greene

Burger, Hangover Helper, grilled cheese, and orzo pasta salad

What a relief, then, to find that the vibe is still intact. And yet who could have imagined that the old place would take on a second life purveying those very same burgers, and much more, as an eatery? “Café by day, bar by night!” is their motto, and, perusing the menu, one sees they’re serious.

“I try to cater to all the different dietary types,” says Cannito, who masterminded the menu makeover. Indeed, with selections ranging from salads to hummus to a brie and bacon croissant, it’s far more diverse than in the past.

“I’m not vegan personally,” she says, “but that’s no reason I shouldn’t offer vegan options. So a lot of our stuff is vegan by default, like our veggie curry and our weekly veggie bowl. Most things are made so that they can be served vegan. And then we have veggie dogs. And the Hangover Helper, that’s my favorite. It’s a vegan faux-‘sausage, egg, and cheese’ biscuit. It’s really good. I marinate the tofu in a bunch of spices and cook it in refined coconut oil. It’s on a little vegan biscuit. The burger salad and the two charcuterie plates are for people who can’t do carbs or are gluten-free. I’m trying to have it so anyone can come here and get something.”

This applies to the drinks as well. As befits a smokeless café by day, they now serve locally roasted Launch Process coffee and will soon have nitro cold brew on tap. “For kids, we’ve got hot chocolate and chocolate almond milk, a few juices, and we do Italian sodas. I’m introducing more options for people who don’t drink, and they’re starting to come more. For people who don’t drink beer, we have this really good local Long Road Cider.”

Cannito was once better known as a food justice activist, of sorts, motivated by her classes with Dr. Micah Trapp, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Memphis. Today, she carries that passion for righteous produce to the Lamplighter, as evidenced by the orzo primavera pasta salad she tosses with fresh onion, parsley, and sun dried tomatoes. “My first priority is getting everything non-GMO,” she says. “And I started with the veggies. I’m slowly getting to the meat being non-GMO. Then we’ll work on getting everything local.”

In a sense, then, it’s a complete turnaround from the conventional grub the Lamplighter once served, but even the healthiest of items are served unpretentiously — a kind of woke, down-home comfort food. Accordingly, I sample some of the most comforting food they offer. As promised, the Hangover Helper is all that, working its vegan magic, convincing my palate that I’m being decadent. By way of comparison, I order a simple grilled cheese, with real cheese and sourdough. Both are perfectly browned and satisfying.

But then I must turn to the big question. Will the hamburger be a match for the Shirley burgers of yore? Admittedly, it’s a little different, in a good way. The lettuce, tomato, and onion were never this fresh, nor did the old Lamp serve up house-made refrigerator pickles. But the burger itself brings back the old flavor, rich in memories. Perfectly done and juicy, it’s a gem.

With some pride, Cannito says, “We still do the burgers the way Miss Shirley did them.”