Right into the musicians’ pockets. That’s right, folks. Every dollar raised during our shows goes to the band. Clementine never makes any money from the door. Why not? Because we want you to come in and enjoy the show, and we want the musicians to be taken care of as well. We actually underwrite most of the expense of the show; the ticket money usually totals half the cost of the music. Seems a strange strategy doesn’t it? Well, that’s how much we want to see quality live music in this town. And we’re glad you do too. So, every time we’re charging a cover at the door, just remember 100% goes to support great live music in downtown Harrisonburg, and enjoy the show.

We’re delighted to have Jeff Minnich join our team and he’s already stirring things up with his hugely popular daily lunch and dinner specials. Chef Jeff hails from DC restaurants Mantis and Bar Rouge, and his creativity and solid culinary skills are already pleasing staff and customers alike. Our menu will continue to change regularly, and with Jeff at the helm we’re bound for some delightful surprises. Stay tuned…

Clementine’s own Mike Hill has been holding it down on Sunday nights, beachballs and all, for a month now, spinning 70s-garage-surfer-psychedelic rock. But now he’s heading off on tour with his band, the Super Vacations, so we’ve got local friend Mike Keane filling in and he’s sure to put his own spin on the evening. Downtempo-postpunk-weirdbeard, that’s what we’re calling it. Every Sunday in July (except the 6th when Miss Tess returns) at 9pm, for free!

A couple of weeks ago we started showing free movies on Mondays in our downstairs lounge, and so far so good. Sometimes we’ll show documentaries and sometimes we’ll show regular feature films. You can see what’s coming up by checking out our events calender. Come early, get some food and a drink, and chill out with your friends. 72″ screenMovies start at 7:30pm.

Somebody sent us a link to this, pretty positive review of clementine. It felt great to read since we’re working so hard to have a chill place to let loose and we can’t obviously please everybody. So, kudos to a well-written blogpost that made us feel good, and to a cool blog altogether, Valley Vibrations: http://localvalleybands.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/clementine-cafe/

For the past couple months, every Tuesday people file in around 9 pm for a night of brain-teasing trivia. 12 to 15 teams of 1 to 6 players compete in a challenging but relaxed 4 rounds emceed by Josh Diamond with DJ Neal Carter. There are prizes, but people mostly come for the fun of it. Show up at 9 for instructions, game starts at 9:30 and ends around 11:30pm, though you can leave whenever you want. Give it a shot once and you’ll be back. What else are you doing on a Tuesday night, eh?

So, we’ve been trying to respond to people’s recommendations. We added a few higher-end entrees, added some bigger salads, and dropped a couple items that folks didn’t really respond to. What’s great is that we can and will change our menu around regularly. We like the flexibility of keeping things new and so far so good. Our lamb, cornish gamehen, crab-crusted filet and vegetable linguine have been flying out the kitchen.

We also expanded our options for after 10pm. Now when you come in for an afterhours drink we’ve got a nice lil’ menu with starters and some larger options. The kitchen stays open until last call, which at clementine is no sooner than 11:30 pm. So when you’re out after dinner with the munchies, we’re a great place to stop.

There’s a Friendly City Food Coop members meeting in the downstairs lounge on April 22nd at 5pm. They just received to awesome grants right after a successful membership drive at Court Square last month. So it’s looking pretty good for a Coop Grocer downtown soon.

Right now we’re working with the Harrisonburg Children’s Museum, www.hcmuseum.org, who will soon be our neighbors across the street. In October, 2008, we’re delighted to host the Collins Center (formerly CASA) fundraiser, www.thecollinscenter.org, also our neighbors. These are private events, though I’m sure you can contact these great local organizations to offer your financial support.

A lot of people have been in touch with questions about renting out our downstairs lounge for various events.

Our downstairs lounge is available for private and public events. At times we program our own events, like documentary films, art shows, or topical discussions, but we also invite you to contact us with your ideas. Whether you want to book a private party or meeting in the lounge, or offer some programming open to the public, we are interested in hearing from you!

To book an event or for more information, please contact: events@clementinecafe.com

We’ve already had the Peter Rowan Trio, Last Train Home, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Fantasy Mirrors, David Shultz and the Skyline, and more, and we’ve only been open about 2 months.  April 18th is a HUGE treat 2007 Grammy-nominated for Best Bluegrass Album He’s been on David Letterman, Conan O’Brian and even Regis and Kelly.  He’s played shows all around the world from festivals to theaters, and now he’s stopping into Harrisonburg at clementine for a show to be remembered. Get your tickets early for the Tony Trischka Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular!   www.tonytrischka.com

May 3rd (Graduation Saturday) we’ve got the audacity to book an amazing afro-blues-reggae show with Corey Harris and the 5×5 Band.  He’s from just over the hill in Charlottesville, but known around the world from his extensive touring and being featured in Martin Scorsese’s documentary The Blues.  Conscious lyrics and roots-reggae grooves, backed by the rhythm section from Culture, this show is simply going to be amazing.   www.myspace.com/coreyharrismusic

May 18th is yet another huge treat.  Virtuoso stringman John Jorgenson is coming with his Quintet and their fantastic gypsy jazz (think modern Django Reinhardt).  If you haven’t heard of him, you should read up soon because you don’t want to miss this stellar performance.  Many consider Jorgenson to be among the most accomplished and versatile guitarists in the entire world, and he’s playing in Harrisonburg!  www.johnjorgenson.com

We’ve got more shows than these.  Check out our events page for shows, and please support live music downtown.  Thank you!!