Doc Wilson & Dan Ross treat KJ's crowd to sweet country folk-rock after amp short
by Alex Fontana
If you're searching for the look and feel of a true 1940s' style bar with all the smoke and mirrors, try slipping into KJ's, at S.E. 20th and Division. This writer and his partner did just that before Halloween, but what was found was perhaps more spookiness than was bargained for.On this fastidious night, musician Doc Wilson with his long-time friend Young Dan Ross got into the Halloween spirit by totally scaring everyone when they caused a short in their amp as they first miked up. Once the commotion died down, they relaxed the crowd with some sweet country folk rock. Wilson and Ross were part of the band known as Sand in the 1960s that is reputed to have had two national albums and appeared on the Merv Griffin show back in 1972.
As for KJ's, the bar has a reputation for, as one person put it, "just good food and fun." Like Casper says, "it's where good people come to have fun." Fun and excitement as when three young women from a bachelorette scavenger hunt came racing in. In this case, bride-to-be Chartisha Warren and friends Michele Tellis and Chinara Shambry flew in to the scavenger/witch hunt looking for anything from tattoos to toadstools.
Bartender Denise and Chef Dale who, like everyone else that works here at KJ's, keeps it on a first name basis. A request for a Hefeweizen beer at this time was kindly informed to be out of the question, out of the season and that those kegs had already been tapped and cried over, to which everyone in the place started bawling. They summed it up, "No Hef here, just Dead Guy."
Of late, many locals have discovered that you can also get great deals on to-go lunches, featuring any of three types of cheese cakes and homemade soups. If you are finished with work for the day, you may want to try some of the sedating pudding or embalming jello shots. And if Halloween is too passŃ for you right now, you may want to consider that in November, KJ's is helping everyone do the good deed by supporting an adopt-a-family effort with food and clothing donations. So bring your duds and drink your suds!
For you creative types, KJ's is also continuing with their singer songwriter showcase featured every week with Katie Naylor. KJ's is located at 2002 S.E. Division and while appearing relatively small, the bar has a lot of room with another support lounge section that gives a good total headcount of up to 150. So, whether you're dead tired or ready to get into the Christmas punch with honky-tonk tunes, KJ's is cool. (See ad and Music on Tap.)