Portsmouth’s Press Room celebrates 30 years of music, beer, friends and cheer 

Cookie cutter Irish/English style pubs have popped up all over the region in the last few years. One chain of such places even imported and reassembled some pubs from Ireland in Portland, Maine. They seem like theme parks compared to natural and unpretentious Press Room, one of the few true melting pots left in our area. It’s a place where carpenters rub elbows with well-to-do businessmen, where housewives and indie rockers and fisherman and college kids and local politicians can all feel at home. Music fills the smoky air within the pub’s brick walls seven nights a week, bouncing off the many exposed wooden beams and oriental rugs that grace the walls upstairs.

This month marks 30 years since The Press Room opened its doors, influencing the culture of the area forever. On Monday, Nov. 13, a party of epic proportions is planned to celebrate the birthday. The festivities will start at 3 p.m. and will continue all through the day. Many musical guests will play and, as with every other day at The Press Room, all are welcome.

The late Jay Smith opened the pub at 77 Daniel St. in 1976. The area needed a good place for musicians to play, he thought, and of course, a place for a good pint. The Press Room was the first establishment in New Hampshire to offer Guinness on tap, and music has been a staple since day one. Friday evening sessions of traditional music have been going on in the corner for more than 25 years, and the Sunday night jazz series has been going strong for more than 20. Every night the room is open, someone is playing music. It’s one of the reasons the room endures.

Tom Hall is one of the leaders of the Friday night sessions. His bearded figure can be seen every week, a concertina or some other instrument on his lap, as he and the sizable crew of trad musicians huddle together and sing Celtic tunes and sea chanties. Hall remembers Smith’s decision to open the place.

“He came to a party at my house,” remembers Hall of his first meeting with Smith, who passed away in 2002. Of course, the gathering included lots of music. “He was a singer. A traditional folk singer. One of the finest I’ve known. He had a wonderful voice, a wonderful voice, he played multiple instruments.”

Hall says Smith, working for the newspaper Publick Occurrences, wanted a place to play and to drink good beer. “He decided to sell his house in Hampstead,” recounts Hall. “This was in ’73 or ’74, he said ‘Tom, I’ve got to find a good pub.’” Shortly afterwards, The Press Room was born.

Over the years, as the city outside grew, the spirit of little bar room has remained timeless.

“The feeling is pretty much the same,” says Hall of the room, and the sessions. “Of course we’re always looking for young people to carry it on. It’s still the same nice warm comfortable place it always was. I’ve never seen a place like it. That’s what brings them back.”

On a cold night, opening that heavy, big black door and stepping into the joint feels like a warm and inviting harbor in the storm. Local art dons the brick walls, and a tiny TV flickers above the downstairs bar amidst darts trophies, leftover St. Patrick’s Day decorations, bottles and other knick-knacks. Over the bar, a dark oil painting of a reclining naked lady peeks out from behind the clutter. Below is a beery din of patrons who talk, laugh, order drinks and food, sing and holler.

Some customers lean in toward one another deep in conversation as waitresses busily wade through the humanity delivering beer, wine and food. Others casually watch the tube while they nurse their drinks, and still others animatedly discuss something or another or watch and listen to the music that fills the place seven nights a week. The producers of TV’s “Cheers” might very well have modeled their show on this classic New England haunt. Any local worth their salt can’t help but duck into the bar to see who’s around, and chances are you will indeed see somebody who knows your name.

Bruce Pingree is a familiar face around town, with his curly mop of dark hair and enigmatic smirk. Something has been keeping him coming back alright. He’s been on the Press Room payroll for more than 25 years. He now manages the joint along with handling the booking.

“I started working for (Jay) Smith in December of 1980,” Pingree says. “I was a DJ at the Riverside Club (a long since closed place where the Portsmouth Gas Light is now), but my paycheck was through the Press Room. I helped out with some carpentry and at the door for the bigger shows.” Pingree, who has held down a renowned blues show on WUNH for more than two decades, was a natural fit with the room and with Jay Smith. “(Jay) had been a radio disc jockey coming out of college, where one of the things he studied was ballads. So, we had the music history thing in common.”

Eventually Pingree came on board as a bartender for a few years, then worked his way up to his current position. So why does he think the Press Room endures while so many other establishments have fallen away through the years?

“The building has something to do with it, with the brick walls and everything,” Pingree says. “The warmth of the sound is definitely part of it. Many musicians have made comment on the feel of the place.”

There’s more, though.

“The place is unique. The fact that it’s a local joint. There’s a crew of regulars that are decent people, and that always treat the staff right. We don’t have fights because of the regulars—everybody’s watching out. It’s the “Cheers” thing, everybody knows your name. That line fits.”

“You can always find someone at the bar to talk to,” adds waitress Larisa Yaskell. “And we have a very intelligent crowd for the most part. When I started working here the wait staff had a reputation for being overeducated.” Yaskell herself holds a master’s degree in writing and publishing. Maybe it’s something in the water here. She, too, has been working at The Press Room for a very long time.

“I originally got this job as a stopgap because my boyfriend was in a rock band and had quit his job,” she says laughing. “That was 13 years ago. It was supposed to be temporary. There are customers that I met 13 years ago that are now good friends of mine, which I don’t think you get at a lot of restaurants. Its a real pub, where people know each other.”

Bartender/manager Heather Connolly points out some of the usual suspects at the bar. “We have so many regulars,” she says proudly. “The minute they walk in, they don’t even have to ask, it’s like ‘Here’s your Bass!’ or ‘Here’s your Sierra Nevada!’ Usually if I see somebody walking by the window I just pour it and put it down.”

Connolly points around the room and gives some information about the various random items on the wall, including a shower curtain in the corner that’s a large scale representation of a newspaper article about the end of prohibition. For a few years, a mysterious group of customers would come in on the anniversary of the end of prohibition. They’d grab a pint and salute the curtain before downing the pints in one fell swoop. Nobody really knows who they were, but it’s a funny yarn. There’s a story for every nook and cranny. “So many places change hands and concept, and we haven’t changed our concept in thirty years!” she says. “It’s one of the only true neighborhood bars in Portsmouth.”

Michael Winter, longtime area resident and co-founder of music club The Elvis Room, which closed in 1999, agrees.
“That’s what I think is unique about it. I always think of it as one of the true local bars,” he says. “More often than not, if you come in here on a Friday or Saturday night you’re going to see 10 or 15 people that you know, if you’ve lived here for a while.” Winter points out, too, that it’s one of the very few remaining holdouts for original music in a town that used to host bands and solo artists in many a bar.

“It’s a good room,” he says with a nod.

It’s Saturday night, and music from the upstairs room fights with the hubbub on the main floor as Boston resident Racky Thomas leads his blues band through an incendiary set on the stage. The mob of people who squish toward the stage stumble and dance while the band throbs out an excellent Muddy Water’s “Mannish Boy.”

Bassist Jon Ross grabs a whiskey at a set break and soaks up the joyous scene.

“This is the first place that I came to when I came to town from Tuscon, Ariz., not quite 30 years ago,” Ross says. “I just showed up with my upright bass and sat in on the Sunday night jazz thing and I went home and my phone was ringing and I was working eight nights a week.”

In 1994, Smith joined forces with the former arts and culture weekly Seacoast Times to put out a “Live From The Press Room” CD that featured many of the clubs regular performers including Ross, Bob Halperin, Tom Richter, Tommy Gallant and more (an earlier album, “Impressions,” featured the blues of TJ Wheeler and the jazz of the Tommy Gallant Quartet).

Whether it’s  the “recreational playing” he does when he sits in with the locals at the open mikes on the main floor or the band gigs he plays on the stage upstairs, Ross has performed countless times in the old room. And he’s spent enough time touring with folks like Monster Mike Welch to appreciate its unique quirks as a result.

“Jay Smith was one of the biggest attractions,” Ross says with a smile. “I used to love hanging out at the end of the night for an hour and a half to get paid ’cuz I got to hang out with Jay while he twizzled his voodoo economics, he and Larry Garland and I hanging out singing those old songs in multi-part harmony.”

“It’s all that you’d expect of a pub or a tavern,” singer Racky Thomas, who grew up in New Hampshire. “And the music scene—you just don’t find that everywhere you go. Roots music and blues is still alive here. I’d hate to admit that Bruce Pingree has something to do with it,” he jabs lightheartedly, as Ross cackles in the background. “Love you Bruce. But really, it’s great. I’m so grateful for it.”

When asked what is it that makes the Press Room unique Ross offers, “I’ll fall back on what Duke Ellington said when somebody asked ‘What is jazz?’ If you have to ask, you’ll never know.’”

BB King knows about the Press Room. He played a one-of-a-kind wedding reception for about 50 people one time. BB was the bride’s only request, and her family made it happen.

“That’s another one of those bizarre, wild moments,” laughs Pingree, “that may be the only wedding reception he’s ever done.”

Smith was worried what the band would think of the room. “Once the band gets here believe me they’re gonna love it,” Pingree told Smith. “And as each band member came in they said, ‘Oh! Wow this is cool.”

Boxford’s Jay Gardner couldn’t believe his ears when he heard The Press Room was up for sale 10 years ago. He’d been keeping a look out for a place in Portsmouth after the success of his first bar and restaurant, the Rattlesnake on Boylston Street in Boston. “I had friend who was bartender and manager in Portsmouth. He called one day and said the Press Room was for sale and I said, ‘Get out of here!’”

Gardner was familiar with the city. He had spent many summers in the area during his college years at Henniker’s New England College, and did some bartending of his own in the area. It was just the landmark he was looking for. Shortly after meeting with Smith in 1995, he made the deal and has been running the ship ever since.

“What do I enjoy about the whole aspect of The Press Room? It’s the clientele and the music. It’s just a great spot,” says the ever-smiling Gardner, who still splits his time between his two restaurants. The difference from the big city scene of Boston is a welcome change, too .

“I can honestly say, there aren’t as many as many attitudes (in Portsmouth compared to Boston). It is unfortunate that Portsmouth is going the way of the big condominiums,” he says. “Up here you can sit at the bar, and you can have a guy in overalls and he’s sitting next to a guy in a suit. I wish there were more places like this up here, but then, I’m glad I have the only one.”

and what keeps ’em coming back

by Alan Chase

Turning 30 is quite a feat for The Press Room, given the up-and-down nature of the hospitality industry. Yet the room is imbued with a warmth and charm that has helped to sustain it over the years. More than just a place to have a drink, it’s joint where people go to socialize, hear terrific music and just hang out.

Any place that has lasted as long as the Press Room certainly has its die-hard regulars as well as its newer clientele. With that thought in mind, I spent a recent Friday and Sunday evening speaking to a variety of customers and employees. Of course, live music played in the background as I roamed around talking with folks. I had one fundamental question: What makes the Press Room so special?

“The core people that come here, folks who have been coming here for years, have really grown into a family,” says Dave Behm of Northwood, who has been coming to the Press Room for 20 years to take part in the steady Friday afternoon traditional music sessions and to be with friends.

Bartender Heather Connelly, who has worked at the Press Room for 11 years, notes “There’s no pretentiousness here. The Press Room is a neighborhood tavern where everyone is treated the same.”

Todd Bailey, a new customer, says that the people “…really look out for one another here. You have a sense that people truly care for one another.”

John and Mary Gail Dudley of Dover have been coming to the place for over 25 years. “It’s the overall ambiance, the people and the music. There’s really no other place like it,” he says.

Tom Hall of Portsmouth has been coming to the Press Room since the first year it opened, in 1976. “The Press Room has a warmth and character that is unique. More than any other place I’ve been to, the people who come here regularly have developed a camaraderie that is very special,” he says. Hall celebrated his 30th St. Patrick’s Day at the venue last March.
Another Friday regular is musician Carol Coronis of Nottingham.

“What makes this place so special is the aura, the presence. You hear it in all of the music that’s played here and you feel it in the warmth and energy the people exude.”

Sunday Jazz has been a tradition at the Press Room for over 25 years. I spoke with some of the regulars on that evening.
Dick Lord from Durham says that the Press Room “…offers good jazz in an intimate setting, where those of us who come regularly feel like a family.”

Henry Belot from Dorchester and Jackie Jones from North Reading, Mass., make the trip up every Sunday. “The music is always reliable and the place is a good setting,” said Belot. For Jones it’s “…the wide variety of music, and the fact that there is no smoking on the jazz night. Plus it’s a very good room for listening.”

Les Harris Jr. has been playing on the Sunday Jazz night since he was 17.

“The management’s commitment to jazz and the comfortable atmosphere are what make this place so special,” he says.
Berklee School of Music professor and trumpeter Greg Hopkins, who was the featured guest on a recent Sunday night and who has played at the Press Room on numerous occasions, observes “…this place really is the heart and soul of jazz in New Hampshire. But it’s also an important part of the fabric of jazz in the New England area. And the crowds here are sincere in their appreciation, not elitist. And they’re very open-minded.”

As I mentioned earlier, for any venue to last this long, is truly a feat. Yet, the Press Room has endured because of its un-pretentious atmosphere and the good nature of its employees. I’ve spent many nights hanging out there, soaking in the music and the overall good vibe. As longtime employee Larisa Yaskell puts it, “…this is a place where you meet new people who become long-term friends.” As someone who’s made several friends at the Press Room over the years, I have to happily agree.