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Clunk Music Hall opens Since 1998, Fayetteville's Music Hall has been hosting shows for local, regional and national bands. Over the years, the Music Hall has gone through a few name changes and owners but the goal has been the same: to provide a safe place for all ages to enjoy live music. Over 1000 shows have graced the room held together with ducktape.
  Charlie Porter // Clunk Music Hall was the first place I ever met Jay Hall, and of course the irreputable Christopher Michael Selby (meanest guy I know).
I think it was the Spring of 2000...
I had never been to Clunk in my life, though I had heard of it and seen lots of flyers around the U of A campus for shows that I would intend on going to and then get a little tipsy by 8 or 9 and forget. Well, this night I showed up at Clunk all by myself, which is intimidating in a way, sort of like the first day of high school or worse.
Anyway, I don't remember exactly why (i think i knew somebody in a band, maybe?) but for some reason my name was on a list of some sort, which in hindsight is laughable on its own, but anyway Jay was working the door that night. I waited in line and when I got to him he said, "Hey, 5 bucks!", and I said "I think I am suppose to be on a list or something?" He looked at me very puzzled and said "What the hell are you talking about?!?"
Uh oh, I must have ... (More)Clunk Music Hall was the first place I ever met Jay Hall, and of course the irreputable Christopher Michael Selby (meanest guy I know).
I think it was the Spring of 2000...
I had never been to Clunk in my life, though I had heard of it and seen lots of flyers around the U of A campus for shows that I would intend on going to and then get a little tipsy by 8 or 9 and forget. Well, this night I showed up at Clunk all by myself, which is intimidating in a way, sort of like the first day of high school or worse.
Anyway, I don't remember exactly why (i think i knew somebody in a band, maybe?) but for some reason my name was on a list of some sort, which in hindsight is laughable on its own, but anyway Jay was working the door that night. I waited in line and when I got to him he said, "Hey, 5 bucks!", and I said "I think I am suppose to be on a list or something?" He looked at me very puzzled and said "What the hell are you talking about?!?"
Uh oh, I must have said something wrong. There were people behind me, there were people in front of me, the place was crawling with people and at that exact second it seemed like every single one of them were staring at me.
"Uh, a friend of mine... said i should be on a list... or something, I dunno..." I sort of muttered a little, but loud enough he could hear me.
Jay was sporting a sweet flannel and I think maybe some cutoffs, "You mean you don't have any money or anything??"
Why didn't I just run after the first question, I am such a douche. "Well.... I.... uhhh...."
Right then, Chris walked up. Jay leaned over and whispered something to him. Chris got this look on his face like, "oh yeah"; then he opened the box with the money in it, lifted up a little tray and pulled out a wrinkled piece of torn flyer from a previous show or somethng and scribbled on the back of it in green marker was my name. It was the only name on there.
"This must be you," Jay started laughing so I nervously joined in.
The rest of the night I felt like the biggest poser and I'm sure I was. I kept seeing Jay around town the next couple of weeks and would always avert my eyes or try to hide behind something.
Finally, we came face to face one night at JRs, in a booth.
We had some friends in common. It had been a while since the incident where I basically humiliated myself, so I thought maybe I was in the clear. Of course, Jay Hall was a sort of genius or savant or maybe just autistic or something (he could do like 13 crosswords in an hour), and he was blunt.
He remembered every detail of it and we both laughed our asses off the rest of the night recounting what the situation looked like from the other side of the table. I told him how I felt like such a dicksleeve and he told me that if Clunk had just mentioned it to him we could have avoided the whole ackward situation, but Chris has a knack for leaving out details. We became great friends and eventually neighbors. He was an amazing dude. I still think about him from time to time and miss him dearly. (Less) Clay Simmons // Clunk Music Hall, the first incarnation of the music hall, was started and lovingly maintained by Chris Selby (aka Clunk) until he eventually got rid of the space to book shows at other venues around town. Not sure of the year. I remember when he got the space, a bunch of people pitched in and helped build the stage, a three foot high platform at the front of the building. There was an unpacked parachute stuffed under there. Not sure where that came from. Located behind a Chinese restaurant on College Ave in Fayetteville, the building, a windowless steel frame and cinder block monstrosity, wasn't much on atmosphere, but Chris managed to make a go of it for many years. It's hard not to like Chris, thus he developed phone friendships with a lot of big name booking agents and distributors. He was able to bring in a lot of big touring bands. Modest Mouse played there a handful of times. When Chk Chk Chk (!!!) would play, they'd re-christen the place "Crunk Music Hall" for the evening. Chris also managed to keep all of his neighbors (the aforementioned restaurant, a strip club, and a martial arts studio) from getting ... (More)Clunk Music Hall, the first incarnation of the music hall, was started and lovingly maintained by Chris Selby (aka Clunk) until he eventually got rid of the space to book shows at other venues around town. Not sure of the year. I remember when he got the space, a bunch of people pitched in and helped build the stage, a three foot high platform at the front of the building. There was an unpacked parachute stuffed under there. Not sure where that came from. Located behind a Chinese restaurant on College Ave in Fayetteville, the building, a windowless steel frame and cinder block monstrosity, wasn't much on atmosphere, but Chris managed to make a go of it for many years. It's hard not to like Chris, thus he developed phone friendships with a lot of big name booking agents and distributors. He was able to bring in a lot of big touring bands. Modest Mouse played there a handful of times. When Chk Chk Chk (!!!) would play, they'd re-christen the place "Crunk Music Hall" for the evening. Chris also managed to keep all of his neighbors (the aforementioned restaurant, a strip club, and a martial arts studio) from getting too pissed off about the parking nightmare, incidental vandalism, and general mayhem that ensued during big shows. Other notable bands that played there include Les Savy Fav, Dismemberment Plan, Camera Obscura, Vue, Har Mar Superstar and other Sean Tillman projects...man those are just the ones I can remember. There's gotta be tons more and tons more stories. Anyone? (Less) 
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Clunk Music Hall
