Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendra Jaymes Champeau.
Kendra Jaymes, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After moving to Los Angeles from Chicago to pursue acting, I got into a relationship and put all of my aspirations on hold. I spent a few years barely doing anything to further my career. I was a bartender trying to make ends meet and would go on auditions when I could. About 8 or 9 years ago, I started working at The Park Bar. It’s a small beer and wine place that, at that time, mostly focused on sports, primarily the Green Bay Packers. Eventually, that relationship I was in ended badly and I was pretty devastated. Things seemed pretty bleak.
The bar had toyed around a little with letting bands play here and there. A few people had attempted to book bands in the past with some success. Another girl that worked there, Lisa and I decided we could book bands. She was a musician and I was an actor; we figured we could do this. We booked live music on Friday and Saturday nights, four bands each night; it started off a little slow, and we took out ads on Craigslist and scrounged to find as many bands as we could.
Shortly thereafter, I met Chris. He was from Green Bay and we really hit it off. Things were looking up. We were getting some great bands on the weekends and all of a sudden I started booking commercials.
Lisa decided to move to Austin then Nashville to pursue her singing career. I wanted to continue with the music scene at The Park and slowly built up a huge list of bands that wanted to play.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It actually has been a pretty smooth road. Well, once you get out of your own way, things will fall into place. The biggest struggle has been not being able to keep up with all the emails and not being able to accommodate all the requests from bands that want to play. We have around 25 resident bands that play once a month, so that leaves very little room for new bands.
The Park Bar and Grill – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I think what makes playing at The Park a little different than most places is the intimacy. We are a small place that gives the audience a chance to be up close and personal with the bands. I host the evening, introduce all the bands, run the sound, as well as bartend. I really want the customers and the bands to feel like they are part of an event, not just a place where people go and music is playing. We have 4 – 6 bands on a Friday and Saturday nights. I have to run a pretty tight ship time-wise, but I never want the bands to feel rushed. I think that is one of the reasons we have some amazing performances. Customers tell me they love to come down on Friday and Saturday nights because the music is so good. The bands tell me that they really love playing at The Park because it’s stress-free.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It has been a pretty cool journey so far. I have been really inspired by the music and all the musicians. Having never played any instruments before, I decided to learn the drums. It has been an absolute blast! I have sat in with a few bands and played a few songs. I take lessons regularly from an amazing drummer Nick Liberatore and look forward to continuing to play and learn. I have also been known to get up with a few bands and sing a song or two. It’s such a supportive community. I couldn’t be more grateful to have made so many amazing friends over the years; it’s like one big family.
Chris and I eventually got married. Commercial work has been wonderful. We have quite the vintage car, truck and motorcycle collection that we love to work on.
It is really amazing what you can accomplish when you get a little inspiration. I am excited to see what the future has in store for me.
Pricing:
- $5 at the door
Contact Info:
- Address: The Park Bar and Grill
2007 W Burbank Blvd
Burbank CA 91506 - Website: kendrajaymes.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theparkbarandgrill/
Image Credit:
James DePietro
Michelle Shiers
Chris James Champeau
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