'Country Roads' bar to open in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood

Live. Music themed nights, craft cocktails and a place to sing and dance. A new country themed bar in Ballard is opening so soon. And joining me here on Good Day Seattle is the owner of Country Roads Bar, Bradley Howell. Hi there, Bradley. How are you doing? Good morning. Thanks for having me. You know, I love a man with a dream and who knows how to have a good time. And something tells me that that is you, my friend. And so you already own a bar. in Ballard tell me a little bit about Kangaroo and Kiwi. Well Kangaroo and Kiwi opened in April 2001. It was kind of built as a homesickness cure for myself for all the little things that you miss being a long way from home so base it around sports and kind of food and friendship and mateship and stuff like that so we built that bar in 2001 and we just hit 25 years in April. It's going strong, it's a fun part, it's a very fun bar, it's rowdy, it's loud, it's got a little bit of everything going on, but we love it. And I want you to know, I didn't tell you this during the break because I wanted to tell you on air, but that bar holds a very special place in my heart because one of our very talented senior producers is from Australia and we celebrated her there not too long ago when she got promoted here at work. So, I mean, it is a place I associate with a lot of fun. Okay, good. And I'm curious what made you decide to open a country-themed bar in the same area? Well, I probably should have been after another bar. When I was a bit younger, possibly, although I still feel very young, but the bar just kind of landed right there. I wasn't really too keen on traveling all over the city, running back and forth. And this bar just opened up and it's literally 50 steps from the front door of Kangaroo and Kiwi. So it was right there waiting and ready to go. So just jumped on it. Yeah, you can be the boss from like the midpoint and make sure everything is going OK. Yes, yes. The crowd's kind of, you know, they like to kind of bounce around between different bars. And I think opening this up again will be great for my young crowd on the weekends. Every other crowd that comes, too. Oh, for sure. And you know what? Line dancing, I can attest, as a former Texan, is a lot of fun. So you can definitely hear some good music. What can people expect to see when Country Roads Bar officially opens? Well, when they officially open, yes, that'll be great. We just plan on doing it as best we can, authentic as we can. We have a house band set for Friday nights. We have live music. Music, we're very... I'm very, it's very important to me to support local the best we can. So lots of live local talent will be singing there. The band's called Cowboy Genius, will be our Friday night house band. They do a little bit of everything. Saturday nights will be various kind of bookings and then kind of a DJ on Saturday night. We're going to have kind of country karaoke. We're just going to have lots going on. And there'll only be really two nights where we won't be kind of. It'll just be kind of a bar, but I'm also leaning towards doing a Tejano night on a Tuesday. Tejano Tuesday. I've just kind of, I was at Casey Musgraves the other day, and she kind of played a great song. Me too. Had that, it's something Texas is the song that she sang, and it just had a great vibe to it. I like that music myself, and it just kind of came to me as I was sitting there. I never rest. The mind never stops. Yes. So I thought maybe Tejano Tuesday could be a great start. So that could be. That'll be another night that I might throw in there, too. You are on to something, my friend. I was at that concert as well. And to see, you know, a place like Climate Pledge Arena packed and there is that Tejano-esque music, I think it's really a testament to the popularity that it's seeing right now. Yes. Okay. So if we've got local artists whose ears have perked up, how do they get in touch with you if they'd love to perform? We have a booking agent. She is working a little bit with Conor Burns, another little local bar in Ballard. Thank you very much. So I can reach out via our Instagram page, Country Roads, and we can get in touch there. We've had, I'm really... Not shocked, but equally surprised and pleased at the response that it's getting. People are reaching out to us. Can we play there? Can we play there? Can we sing there? Can we DJ there? Can we dance there? And I just hope we can get everybody in. We will. We will make sure that everybody gets a shot at coming in and playing. And we're just excited. It's just been, the response has been amazing. And before we let you go, I know that it's opening soon. There's no official date right now. I mean, opening a new business comes with a lot of red tape. Mm-hmm. But... How can we keep an eye out for that official date? Well, we're doing fairly constant updates on social media, a little bit of stuff for Kangaroo and Kiwi. We did a little bit of stuff on Sunday night. We gave away two tickets to Garth Brooks on Sunday in association with Country Roads. So we're kind of doing a little bit with Kangaroo and Kiwi as we lead into Country Roads getting ready to open. So lots of stuff on social media, lots of posts. Lots of updates the best we can. Oh, lots of fun, good drinks, good vibes, all incoming. Bradley, thank you so much. Can't wait for the opening of Country Roads Bar. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Appreciate it. Absolutely. We'll keep an eye out. Thank you.