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Greenville Ave.'s Vagabond closed last week amidst talk of ownership change

During its brief existence, John Kenyon's Vagabond on Greenville Avenue became quite a special little music venue -- thanks, in large part, to the involvement of Eric Nadel, The Voice of the Texas Rangers and Baseball Hall of Fame-r who started serving as its musical director shortly after its January 2014 opening. Any venue that soft-opens with a performance featuring Joe Ely, Terry Allen and Butch Hancock -- each of whom has a small stake in the joint -- is a pretty special place. The food was pretty good too.

But it appears it wasn't meant to be: The Vagabond closed a week ago, and its fate remains unclear.

At the beginning of last week its live-music calendar went blank, and the phone number went straight to fax. On Thursday, there was a sign taped to the front door: "Closed Monday for kitchen repairs." Not a good sign.

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This was last Thursday. (Michael Ainsworth/Staff photographer)
This was last Thursday. (Michael Ainsworth/Staff photographer)
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Kenyon said he couldn't talk on Thursday -- "in meetings." He eventually sent a text that said, "We are considering an ownership change and that's all I am at liberty to say a the moment." Others familiar with the situation say that's about right. It's still not clear who's buying it or what they plan to do with it -- keep it as the Vagabond, change the name and keep the concept or start over from scratch.

Kenyon -- once known as "The Mayor of Greenville Avenue" during a fabled run that included ownership or co-ownership of Nick's Uptown, the Fast and Cool Club and the Red Jacket -- told us last year he sold his house to open the Vagabond. And he did: He was living in an apartment following the club's grand opening.

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Business was good for a while; the music, even better. (Leon Bridges played the Vagabond long before he was on late-night network television.) But the rainy spring hurt business: The porch, used during live-music shows, was all but inaccessible in May. Last week Nadel cleared the calendar.

"Hey guys I just found out this morning that our friends at the Vagabond have closed their doors," singer-songwriter Dan Dyer wrote on his Facebook page last week. "They told me they are hopeful to reopen (maybe in a different spot) in a couple months. Sorry to cancel the show i had coming up next week."

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CultureMap is reporting this morning that the Vagabond is closed.  It is. For now. For good? Who knows. Kenyon has once again gone silent, like his club.