A new café has opened on Regent street and it’s bringing more live music to downtown Fredericton. Since Read’s Newsstand and Cafe closed, there’s been a lack of coffee shop tunes but The Tipsy Muse Cafe is fixing that.
“What we envisioned was a creative hub,” said Rob Pinnock, one of three co-owners.
When Pinnock first walked into the old Geek Chic Boutique on 86 Regent Street, which had been used as headquarters of a construction company for the past two years, he said he personally didn’t see it.
But the other co-owners, Michelle Berthelot and Krista Touesnard, told him to think of it as a blank canvas.
“[They said], ‘Well, it’s a box, but we can make it our own.’”
The inside of the café is simplistic. The walls are white, there’s no clutter and nearly everything matches.
“That works well for our space. It makes it very malleable,” said Pinnock.
The café aims to have music Thursday night through Saturday night each week, or as much as they can fill.
“There are still some holes in our schedule that we’re hoping to fill, but if there’s ever a hole in our entertainment lineup we’ll just haul out the turntables and we’ll just spin records for the night,” said Pinnock.
On the walls of the café is a series of east coast photos. The featured photographer is Sarah Kierstead, who also works at The Muse.
Co-owner Michelle Berthelot said Fredericton needed a place that featured local photography.
“I’m a photographer myself, that’s what I’ve done for 20 years, but I’d like to be able to feature different types of work. A place for people to sell their work and for people to see what they have to offer,” said Berthelot.
Berthelot and Pinnock said another way they’re supporting the arts is by partnering with potters from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. The Muse uses the pottery to serve in-house drinks.
“We have three different potters who have made three different sizes of mugs for us in their own designs, and they’re all for sale,” said Berthelot.
Pinnock said they aim to be an artist-friendly space.
Their monthly schedule of live music takes up a big chunk of wall in the corner, the taps they serve alcohol from are crafted from instrument heads and their main barista is Jeannine Gallant of Fredericton-band The Hypochondriacs.
“Our doors are open for that kind of element, cause that’s what we want to represent,” said Pinnock.
“Music is very important to us, and it’s a vital fabric of what we’re trying to do here.”
