Plymouth businessman saw a need downtown. How the Spire Center was born

When it seemed obvious to musician, songwriter, actor, and local businessman Bob Hollis that Plymouth needed a venue for music and art projects, he jumped into action. That’s basically what he does, and if he can be admittedly obsessive about things, he makes sure stuff gets done. Hollis is currently the president of the Greater Plymouth Performing Arts Council, and celebrating 10 years of the Spire Center being a beacon of music and arts in Eastern Massachusetts.

Back in 2007, Hollis had been a driving force in establishing the Plymouth Community Theater, and after his son Rob Hollis died of an overdose in 2016, he threw his efforts into founding the Plymouth Recovery Center to help other folks with substance abuse problems get their lives together. That’s one reason Hollis was named the Old Colony Memorial’s 2017 Person of the Year.  But as a musician and actor himself, the Spire Center was a labor of love.

“Once we had the idea, we quickly enlisted a team of very passionate people,” Hollis said of the Spire’s beginning days. He was speaking on a break from his busy Plymouth insurance office. “Everyone on our first board was a musician. We began with a focus on acoustic music, which was the experience we wanted. In those days, I was acting as the G.C. (general contractor) as well, and everyone was a volunteer, including my wife, Donna, who oversaw the box office. As we grew, we needed to hire more event people, and then more and more.”

Looking back: Spire Center for the Performing Arts $3M exterior renovation project gains momentum

Hollis helped the aspiring project get off the ground with an initial local arts grant of $650,000. A few years later, a grant as a historical preservation project for $3.5 million enabled the Spire Center to purchase the former Methodist church and undertake the serious renovations that made it the premier music venue it is today. In recent years the nonprofit center’s booking has ranked with the best musical venues in all of New England, a stopping point for many national touring acts.

“We got a grant from the Mass. Dept. of Arts and Tourism that really put us on the map, for bookings, and really raised our market awareness,” Hollis explained. “That allowed us to try different genres, which we always wanted to do, and book more national touring acts. It also helped us start our Lobby Series, where we turn the center into a coffeehouse setting, where not-as-well-known, but extremely talented performers can get some needed exposure. The Lobby Series is designed for a 70-person capacity, but if an act can sell more tickets than that, we’ll move them to the main room.  The record for someone doing that is (Scituate’s) Jay Psaros, who ended up selling 226 tickets before his show.”

What was the biggest surprise to running such a venue, or what misconceptions did the local arts group have when they started?

“Well, I’ve always been involved in music, and played as a guitarist/singer/songwriter fulltime in college and for three or four years afterwards,” Hollis noted. “I think our biggest preconception was that we wanted to make this place more a sweet spot for singer-songwriters. We quickly found out that people would not come out consistently for that type of act. Our concept was about great music, but if people are not familiar with the band or performer, they are unlikely to come out. And today, for that reason, you see a lot of tribute bands – some say the old music is killing the new music. More people prefer to come out for a Led Zeppelin tribute band, than an original rock band, for example.”

“So, our adjustment was that we still maintain a high standard of talent, but we will also respond to what is popular,” said Hollis.  “And we make a real effort to try and educate our market. A good example is blues singer Shemekia Copeland, successful all over the world, but not as well known here. Shemekia sold about 100 tickets her first time through, but her show was so amazing word spread, and for her second and third times here she was an easy sellout in advance. A for-profit venue might not be able to be as concerned with building the market as we can be.”

As the years went on, the Spire was also able to adjust the sound system too, eliminating some early echo problems in the old church with sound baffles and other improvements.

“A superb sound system and great lighting are part of our formula,” said Hollis. “And a major part of it is just treating the performers like gold, so they have one of their best experiences ever in Plymouth. Country music star Kathy Mattea said this place is like a ‘little Ryman of the North,’ referring to the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and that’s just the kind of thing we want to hear. One of our first purchases here was a Yamaha Grand Concert piano, and the performers, especially jazz people, really appreciate that.”

The Spire Center gets along well with its fellow area music venues, like Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, the Levitate Festival, and even Memorial Hall, just down the street.

“We get along well because I believe we offer a different experience,” said Hollis. “Like when Memorial Hall has some bigger acts, it is a different experience than we offer. It’s like they’re Budweiser, and we’re craft beer. But there are nights when they have a sold-out show, and we also have a sold-out show right down the street, so it’s a big economic boost to the town and town businesses. As I kept saying would happen when we were starting out, music and arts have given a boost to real estate downtown, where more and more people enjoy being able to walk downtown and see a show, have a nice dinner and have a great night. The effect is obvious in another way: our initial local grant for $650k was a close vote in town meeting, but by the time we went for the bigger preservation grant for $3.5 million, the vote was 93-2.”

You’ll probably see Hollis in the audience when Lori McKenna plays her Friday night show at the Spire, but 10 years later he’s even more excited about new music coming in.

“We love Lori for obvious reasons musically, but also because she and Peter Wolf were our first sold-out shows during our first year,” Hollis said. “And of course Peter Mulvey was one of our first acts, and someone who’s been a regular performer here all ten years. And don’t forget we have three amazing world music acts on Saturday night – wait ‘til people hear these bands!”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: The Spire Center in Plymouth is celebrating its 10th anniversary