The power of nostalgia always amazes me… it seems as though we’re always yearning to revisit our past. Why is that? There are numerous reasons, I’m sure. Personally, I’ve always been drawn to local history because it informs us as to the kind of people we are, and more importantly, why we are that way. Sometimes you ask yourself: have we always been like this? In the case of the rich music scene here in the Valley, I’d have to say the answer is a resounding yes!
I’m a big music fan, and last year I did a documentary on the Iron Horse Music Hall’s 35th anniversary. I’ve always loved the ‘Horse, and saw one of my very first shows there as a teenager. It’s a warm and fuzzy memory that brings me back to (at least what I believe to be) a simpler time in my life. It’s a touchstone for me, and one that I can still go and visit at any time. But for many of my friends and colleagues here in Western Mass, the music venue of their youth no longer exists – the former Rusty Nail on Route 47 in Sunderland.
James Brown plays the Rusty Nail in Sunderland, MA. (photo courtesy Janis Sokol)
Burned to the ground 30 years ago, in its time the Nail was THE place to see a show for so many in this part of the world. And its draw and mystique is so powerful that people still speak fondly and wistfully of it today, as I discovered when I did a segment on it for Connecting Point’s “Gone But Not Forgotten” series.
By all accounts, it was a (somewhat endearingly) ratty roadhouse club in the middle of a field on a back country road in Sunderland. An oasis for music lovers in the middle of nowhere. Acts like the Ramones, Stevie Ray Vaughan and James Brown rocked the house night after night, as did local legends like Fat and Clean Living. It wasn’t anything fancy or special. But like so many of the things we hold dear, it didn’t need to be: it was OUR club, OUR place, and the space that created and held OUR memories.
Remembering where we came from is important. I’m lucky; many of the places of my youth still exist. When I want to put on the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia and take a trip back in time, I can. But for those who love and remember the Rusty Nail, it’s not so easy. It’s my sincere hope that my segment makes it a little easier for them to do so, and put a smile on their faces. For a storyteller, there truly is no greater gift!
