As far as experience goes, Mike Dougher has no equal when it comes to booking bands in Chattanooga.
He was booking shows at The Sandbar back in the 1980s, then Rhythm & Brews for two decades, then Songbirds Guitar Museum. He has also booked for numerous special events and partnered with Chris Cobb from Nashville to book Riverbend 2022.
Most recently, Dougher was booking acts for Songbirds Foundation, HiFi Clyde’s and the newly opened Barrelhouse Ballroom. Before Barrelhouse opened, I asked him what type of shows he thought he might book in the 500-seat venue, and he said he felt like the first six months would be a test period and that “eventually the room will tell me what it wants to be.”
What he meant was that live music venues have the ability to develop their own personalities.
Sometimes the venues and the audiences take a little time to find each other. Since opening this fall, Dougher said he has booked metal bands, 1980s cover acts, tribute acts, country artists and singer/songwriters into Barrelhouse — all the while making notes on how each one is received.