Green River Cafe: Building a community meeting place

by Sean Vidal

“It’s gonna be the ‘New Spot,’” said Jeremy Rizik, a Lansing Community College student, education major and front man for music group Head and Toe. He was talking about plans for the Green River Caféto become a part of the local art scene.  

“We’re gonna have national trapeze acts…," said Ray Mysterio, Jr., in jest. 

The Green River Café is a new organic coffee shop and sandwich joint that just opened on MAC. It plans to become a showcase for local bands, films and art found in and around MSU.  The café attracts many different types of customers. “Dinner hour is kind of full of older permanent residents and a few kids studying, then it comes to about 8 or 9 and it’s students with instruments and a real upbeat feel,” says Rizik.

Owner Jim Jabara was a student at Michigan State and he modeled the Green River Café after his favorite hang-out on campus years ago, a venue called “The Small Planet.” 

Jim wants the Green River to become apart of the community. “We put this together to give the community a place to meet, talk, eat good food, share music, share ideas,” he says. 

I checked out the scene on Open Mic night.  I got there a little late and saw only two bands play, Head and Toe and a cover band called The Unnamed Band (let's hope there's a new name in the works). 

Head and Toe consists of cello, lead and backup guitar, bongo, occasional piano and harmonica with Jeremy Rizik on vocals.  The group got together last April. Their acoustic set featured melodic and relaxing sounds, but I can tell Jeremy likes to get a little more rowdy with his music. 

“Rock and Roll died the day the first coffee shop opened,” Jeremy told me.  Apparently he likes to rock harder than a coffee shop allows, but I don’t know if I believe rock and roll is dead just yet. 

The Unnamed Band covered artists from Death Cab for Cutie to 2Pac.  After a solo performance of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab came a heavier beat and the rap lyrics of 2Pac’s “Thugz Mansion” created by acoustic guitars followed by a Jack Johnson cover. After the Unnamed Band finished their set, Head and Toe did an encore, a sort of jam session as everyone was leaving.
    

What impressed me about the Green River Café is the fact that Jabara wants it to become a new music venue in East Lansing. “We are expanding out for a venue in the basement called 'The Shelter'”  It’s going to be a good blues/rock and roll area where people can let loose a little bit, bringing in some louder music and keeping the upstairs quiet for a tea and coffee atmosphere,” says Jim. 

The whole Open Mic night isn’t very profitable for a small coffee shop like the Green River.  But Jim does it in order to give East Lansing a place to appreciate the art its citizens create.  Jabara owns a private film producing company and enjoys showing his movies on Wednesday nights, with a band to introduce the film. Jim and Jeremy alike want to showcase a variety of different styles of music mainly focusing not just acoustic rock and pop, but also folk, blue grass and jazz.   

Although he hopes his business will grow, Jabara said he is not solely motivated by profit. “It’s been a pleasure to experience the response that we have found around town,” he says.  Rizik said, “We aren’t a bar and we don’t segregate. We are giving everyone a chance to experience the East Lansing art community, I think that’s fantastic.”  But the business side of the Green River Café, with its eclectic organic menu, needs to survive so that the creative side can continue.