Always Something Worthwhile at Rhythm & Rye

By Adam McKinney

Olympia has never been short on entertainment options; the city’s embrace of the arts and wide varieties of creative expression ensures there’s something interesting to do and see just about every night. The sheer volume of options borders on overwhelming. It’s helpful, then, to know of one place, in particular, that always has something worthwhile to do.

Enter Rhythm & Rye, a bar and music venue that’s become an integral feature on Olympia’s nightlife landscape in its eight-year existence. Besides sporting an extensive catalogue of microbrews and a warm interior design that encourages lengthy stays, Rhythm & Rye has made it a goal to have something special to see every night of the week: jazz on Mondays, Rock Candy Burlesque or StoryOly Tuesdays, Americana Wednesdays, funky genre-fluid band Hotcabi on Thursdays, touring acts Fridays and Saturdays and “Stone Soup” mixed-jam nights the first and last Sundays of each month.

“We’ll have anything from a 12-piece funk band to some of the best bluegrass you’ll hear and some of the best jazz you’ll hear,” says Rhythm & Rye owner Andy Geertsen. “We even do some heavy metal sometimes, but we’re pretty picky with it. I love heavy metal, but it’s got to be good. … We try our best to give you the best quality of stuff that we can find. I’ve been booking shows in downtown Olympia for a long time, and it was hard with other venues to keep it consistent. With this place, it’s nice to be able to have some consistency so you can kind of train the crowd to come down and know it’s going to be fun no matter what it is.”

Upcoming shows of note include blues veteran Dennis Hastings September 24 and a performance from rising indie darlings Kuinka and SISTERS on October 5.

 

WHAT

Rhythm & Rye

WHEN

Dennis Hastings – Monday, September 24, 2018

Kuinka and SISTERS – Friday, October 5, 2018

WHERE

311 Capitol Way N, Olympia

HOW MUCH

$5-$25 suggested donation for Dennis Hastings,

$10 cover for Kuinka and SISTERS

 LEARN MORE

facebook.com/rhythmandrye

360-705-0760

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