Brezeale's Grocery & Bluegrass

In the Lebanon community of Anderson County, SC — and very close to several of my Old Barn Project photos — is an old country store that was owned by a man with the surname Brezeale. His store sold groceries and sundry goods to the small community of farming families long before other stores were available in the area. Another man owns the store now and has converted it into a venue where 'Bluegrass' music is performed on Saturday evenings. The signage now reads "Brezeale's Grocery Bluegrass."

The venue has bluegrass music every Saturday from 6:30pm to 11:00pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring their instruments on some nights and join the playing; other nights, they appear to have performances from local bands. The venue also provides a contact point for those who wish to purchase instruments (guitars, banjos, fiddles), have instruments repaired, or take lessons in playing. They also keep tabs on local bands who are available for booking at parties, so it has become a one-stop-shop for anything related to Bluegrass music in the area.

For those interested, the Atlanta Photo Studio has some great photos of the action on their WordPress blog. Anyone interested in visiting can find more information on the Brezeale's Grocery Bluegrass website. For me, I was happy to have found another old country store and document it with this photograph and writeup.