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Bar owner seeks balance in business, lifeBy DOUGLAS FISCHERStaff WriterA recent Sunday night in the Marlin found Adam Wool sitting behind a very familiar set of drums.FINDING BALANCE—Adam Wool, entrepreneur and musician, is the owner of the Marlin on College Road.Smoke rose to rafters. Feedback buzzed softly from the speakers.Guitarist Curtis Cunningham plucked some idle strings while bassist Ron “Rif’ Rafson stood by, looking cool in shades and a cap.“How ‘bout some Bo Diddley,”came a request from the audience. It was the last song of the night. The bluesband briefly conferred, considered“Hand Jive” but settled instead on B.B. King’s version of “Caledonia.”Wool, who owns the club, didn’t want to alienate his clientele. He promised to work a Bo Diddley break into the middle.Cunningham cast him a disparaging look. Diddley in the middle of King? “I can’t wait to see this,” he said with a laugh.It started subtly. Wool, on drums, tip-toed from the flowing“Caledonia” into “Hand Jive’s”syncopated beat. After a few minutes, Rafson caught on, swinging his bass into line. Cunningham cracked a grin and jumped right in. Seven staccato minutes later, the trio returned— smoothly—to “Caledonia.”“He’s a lot of fun,” said saxophonist Hunter Judkins, who didn’t play that night but is a member of Wool’s other group, the Hot Licks Jazz Band.“In terms of the overall sound of the band, his musical ear is highly tuned—even though he doesn’t play an instrument with a melody.”Wool, 34, has owned and operated the Marlin since last May. Running a night club has a glamorous side, Wool admits.There’s the hours, for one. “I feel sort of decadent,” he said, when he emerges into the blinding summer sun at 6 a.m.“Every musician wants to own their own club,” he said. But “when the toilet overflows,out.”Wool is more than just an owner. He tends bar, when necessary. He installs the lighting and sound systems. He plays three or four nights a week.A typical day starts at noon. “The other day,” he said, “I got up at nine, and it was like, wow, I got so much done before noon.”Errands keep him hopping all afternoon. After a break for dinner, he’ll play a few sets or tend bar until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.—straight to bed, either. There’s the stress of being the host of his bar.“It’s like having a party in your house every night,” he said. “After everyone leaves, I can unwind, have a glass of wine.”Wool co-founded the popular Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream parlor with his brother in 1986, selling out five years later.A Boston native, he transferred to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1982, gradu-• -«' % . * wT *ended up tending bar instead of measuring electrons?Balance.Wool took a lot of philosophy classes at the university, looking for a bit of “fuzziness” to counter physics’ precise answers.“I still need both sides,” hesaid. “I hook up my lighting systems, but I also hang out, talk with people. It’s fuzzy.” *Musicians appreciate the variety of music at his joint.“He’s made it possible for a lot of musicians to play in a differenta II • 1 mNora Gruner News MinerAdam Wool■ Age: 34■ Status: single■ Years in Fairbanks; 14■ Position: proprietor of The Marlin■ Former business venture: cofounder of Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream■ How does serving drinks differ from scooping ice-cream?At an ice-cream place, people don't sit at a bar, eat five sundaes in a row, and talk your ear off.■ Thoughts on cheap beer: “You’ll never see dollar drafts here. ... I want good quality stuff in mv bar. The auv who Dlavs
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Mon, Mar 25, 1996
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Adam W.
USA 01 Feb 2023
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