Rio Nido Roadhouse continues to rock on

The Rio Nido Roadhouse is a modest-looking place, hidden away on a side road not far from the Russian River, but for decades it has been a gathering spot for locals and visitors alike. And the tiny town of Rio Nido's musical history dates back nearly a century.

Count Basie and Harry James brought their big bands to play there during the 1930s and ‘40s. The Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead played there during the ‘60s. And summer visitors and locals still turn to the Roadhouse for live music by a long list of local and Bay Area acts.

Originally part of an elaborate village built in the early 20th century, the site has a long and complicated history, including a series of changes in ownership and even the razing of the original building. Since the ‘70s, the popular local venue has carried on its proud tradition in unassuming digs.

“It's actually a double-wide trailer,” said Raena Jones, manager of the Rio Nido Roadhouse. “Our logo says, ‘The most fun you can have a trailer - well, almost.'”

Every weekend, the club presents live music on the lawn next to its swimming pool, not far from the separately owned Rio Nido Lodge, one of the few survivors from the original village. The covered patio outside the roadhouse provides extra room where patrons can enjoy snacks at picnic tables or order from a full menu.

Historically a summer getaway for San Francisco city-dwellers, Rio Nido continues to draw that crowd from rental cabins and campgrounds, but it also has built a local following, said Jones, 33, a Santa Rosan who has worked at the roadhouse since 2007.

“This used to be a summer business, but now we're open seven days a week, year-round. We open our doors on holidays, so people have a place to go on Christmas. We find we're getting more and more customers in the winter,” she said.

“It's a place where you really get to know the staff, and we get to know you, too. It's personal and friendly,” she said. “We always make the food to order, and we always say yes.”

While the present management is relatively new - owner Brad Metzger bought the place almost a decade ago and renamed the bar the Rio Nido Roadhouse - the venue still makes an effort to stay connected to its long history.

“People have been coming here for generations,” she said, and many of the locals have ties to the venue that go back decades.

Musician Bill McCubbin, 75, who now books its musical acts, grew up in San Francisco but came up to Rio Nido every summer with his family during the ‘40s and ‘50s. He settled there 10 years ago.

“Rio Nido is really a community of homeowners, and most of them have been around here for years,” McCubbin said. “There's people who live here year-round, but there's a lot of people who still have residences in and around the city who come up for all summer.”

Glenn Leone, 70, grew up working at Rio Nido when the original village complex was still intact, complete with ballroom, bowling alley and more. At 12, he started selling cotton candy and setting up bowling pins and worked his way up to the maintenance crew.

Like many from that era, he still remembers the big-name rock bands that played Rio Nido in the ‘60s.

“We had Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead,” he said. “The Beach Boys came through in June of ‘63. I was there for that one, right after they did ‘Surfin' USA.'”

Inevitably, the iconic Grateful Dead is the band from that era that left behind the most lasting legends, including tales of a notable one-vehicle accident.

“The Dead took out the Rio Nido sign. They backed into it,” Jones said.

Leone remembers that Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, a founding member of the Dead who died in 1973, used to play pinball with the local kids. And Leone was there the night fans went a little crazy.

“One of the shows got so wild that the kids actually tore part of the side of building off to get in for free,” Leone said. “And fans talk about the show in September of ‘67 when apparently Jerry Garcia did some kind of guitar solo that blew their socks off and went down in the Grateful Dead's legend.”

The legend will kept alive this Friday, when the popular local band Tribal Hippie UnderGround Zone, also known as THUGZ, will celebrate Garcia with a show at the Rio Nido Roadhouse.

One of the performances Leone vividly remembers seeing during the ‘60s was singer-songwriter Lou Christie, known then for hits including “Lightnin' Strikes” and “Rhapsody in the Rain.”

“The thing is, I can't find any record of it anywhere,” he said, “but I know he was there. I saw him.”

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.