The Empty Glass

Name of Bar: The Empty Glass
Location: Charleston, W.V.Red Wanting Blue
Square Footage: 1,000
Capacity/Seats: 35
Open Date: July 1, 1985
Website: www.Emptyglass.com
 

The Empty Glass is the cornerstone of the Charleston, W.V., music scene.  Beloved by all, the Glass has been the site of many an amazing musical experience. For a quarter-century, The Empty Glass has played host to an astonishing array of legendary local and national artists. Chuck Berry graced the stage of the Glass as did Hasil Adkins, members of REM, Mojo Nixon, Ike Willis, Govt. Mule, Joss Stone, The Avett Brothers, Big Jack Johnson, Super Chicken, Brian Diller, The Amazing Delores, Ann Magnusson, Unknown Hinson, Taj Mahal, Jupiter One, Jesco White, Amos Lee, Devon Allman as well as many other great artists.

The Empty Glass is known for live ORIGINAL music. That’s what separates us from everyone else. We do live music seven nights a week, 365 days a year. Everyone knows when you come to the Glass, there will be live music. That’s why it has been here for the past 25 years and hopefully will be here for another 25 years. We also just started our own record label, Empty Glass Records. We have the capability to record bands, and they have the option to have their performance recorded and burned to disk with any range of packaging options. The way we have it set up is everyone from the label benefits from it. The bands get professionally produced live cds to sell at shows and the Glass gets promoted by having its name on the label.

Some of the accomplishments The Empty Glass has received was being on Nightclub & Bar's Top 100 list in 2008. For the past two years, we also were one of the top three finalists in Nightclub & Bar's NCB Awards Small Wonder Bar of the Year category. We had a write up in People magazine, “Small Venue, Big Sounds”; a mention in Newsweek magazine; and voted one of the best happy hours from Marlboro Unlimited magazine. You also can read about the Empty Glass in the newest “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” U.S. and Canada editions.

The Empty Glass is located a block away from the capital and is open from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. We do happy hour from 4 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. We get all walks of life, everyone from hippies to politicians. That’s what makes The Empty Glass so unique and loved by everyone. We are known for our beer selection as well. We have more than 65 beers to choose from, great munchies to go with them, and we just got a write up for best beer deals — $1 pints of Pabst Blue Ribbon draft during happy hour.

The Empty Glass is a landmark in Charleston, and we hope everyone can enjoy it one day. We are in a very, very small market, 51,0000 people, and as bad as the economy is we are still thriving and going strong. It says a lot about The Empty Glass and the remarkable people that stand by it. The atmosphere is like no other, and the music is best around. That’s why we get the bands we get in such a small market because they know they will be treated right and have the time of their life. And as our saying goes, “If it's not The Empty Glass, it's not original."

Empty Glass menu