Bullfrogz Cracks Down on Underage Drinking

When Bullfrogz owner Robin Smith requested the Kennesaw city council's approval for a summer benefit concert series her request was temporarily put on hold. Smith would first have to answer some questions about underage drinking.

“Last march, there were 37 arrests in Kennesaw, 90 percent of them for underage drinking,” said Smith. “11 of those underage drinkers were in or around my restaurant when they got busted. That red flagged us, they (the city council) want to go through all of the police reports now.”

It would be rather difficult, if not impossible, for an under age patron to get past the police officer checking identification at the door and somehow be served alcohol inside. Even if an under age patron is trying to sip off the drink of a friend who is of drinking age, undercover security will be there to spot it.

“We try to make the place welcome for underage students who want to go out and have fun, but they pre-game before they come here and that's a huge liability for a liquor license owner.”

One of those under-age arrests wasn't even inside the restaurant, but outside of it when a frustrated girl had been waiting in line for over an hour. Smith, as the owner of Bullfrogz, is considered liable despite the girl not even entering her restaurant.

“We were at capacity and a young underage girl was waiting in line and started cussing out of frustration, the police officer at the door asked her to stop, she didn't and he called her over to talk to her. Next thing you know he smells alcohol on her breath, she's getting arrested and I'm liable.”

Smith's response came quickly, as Bullfrogz is now only serving patrons age 21 and up after 10pm. Regardless, things will be changing in Kennesaw as the city council is discussing new ordinances for liquor licensing and adult entertainment in general.

“We're reviewing the liquor licensing laws but we're not addressing underage drinking,” said city council member Bill Thrash. “We are addressing adult entertainment of any sort in Kennesaw.”

Bullfrogz is currently classified as a restaurant, and Smith enjoys a lot of business in her restaurant during the day. If Bullfrogz were to be reclassified as a bar, Smith would lose business and possibly not be allowed to serve patrons under 21 under new ordinances. Smith believes that switching to 21 and up only at night and banning smoking is the best way for Bullfrogz to stay classified as a restaurant.

Smith, who is also the mother of a 19 year old daughter, worries that this could lead to more Kennesaw area bars and restaurants switching to 21 and up only at night.

“As a mom, I'd prefer for my 19 year old daughter to be in a safe establishment where she can't drink, rather than a college party where she could be doing keg stands,” said Smith. “My husband and I are young people, I'm in my thirties, we wanted to open a place for college students like the places we used to go to when I was in school at FSU.”

As much as Smith would like to have a place for 18-21 year old students to hang out at, she is compelled to make her business as safe as possible. Safety at Bullfrogz is essential in order to have her summer concert series approved. The concert series is in it's third year and all profits go to scholarships for art students at Kennesaw State.

“This benefit is very important to me, but we're just trying to do the right thing here (switching to 21 and up only) because when you're selling alcohol, the most important thing is safety.”

Bullfrogz has always supported safety, being the only bar in Kennesaw to fully fund their own bus. The bus will pick up anyone of age from anywhere in Kennesaw and bring you to Bullfrogz, then will provide rides for patrons who are too drunk to drive home.

One underage patron can recall his trip on the bus and an officer letting him go free despite being obviously under the influence as he boarded the bus.

“I was sweating, slurring words, and I told the officer I'm not gonna drive, I've been drinking all day,” said Andrew Harper. “The officer asked me and my (of age)friends how we got there (to Bullfrog z), I told him the shuttle bus and he let me off the hook because I was so close to turning 21 and the officer knew I'd be safe on the bus.”

Because Kennesaw State is such a new and rapidly growing school (nearly 20,000 students enrolled for spring semester 2010), the city must decide how tight they want their ordinances and what the difference between a bar and a restaurant is.

“The city wants to change what defines a restaurant because a bar serving under 21 year old's is a liability,” said Smith. “Kennesaw is going to have to learn how to have a college town and embrace it, cause it's only going to get bigger.”

Profile of Barry Richman

Sitting on the back porch of MudCatz, a small blues bar near Atlanta, Barry Richman sips a water while an ensemble of misfits chug through Free-bird on stage inside.

“Do you mind if my girlfriend joins us?” Richman asks, almost rhetorically.

It's always strange to see a guitar god like Richman hanging out in some tiny bar, but patrons never mind the free show he puts on at those bars.

“Where else can you see someone who's jammed with Eric Clapton, for free?” A patron asked me.

Richman's girlfriend walks out onto the porch and lets the music come out with her for a moment as the door opens. She appears much younger than her boyfriend Richman and is very attractive. An older gentleman is butchering the chorus to Free-bird as the door swings back shut.

Richman purses his lips and the lovely young lady gives him a kiss, then sits in his lap for the remainder of the interview. Ladies really do love the guitar players.

“As a young boy I was really like a lot of us (musicians), I was bitten by the Beatles bug when they played Ed' Sullivan,” Richman said. “But we (my family) were immersed in music growing up, because of my dad, Boomie Richman.”

Boomie Richman was a quite famous Tenor Saxophone Player from the “Big Band Era”. Boomie played with music legends like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Buddy Holly. Boomie also played in studio bands for several late night shows, one of those shows was the Dick Cavett show.

“Jimi Hendrix was in town and going to appear on the show,” Richman grinned. “So my dad said get out of school today and get over here, it was life changing watching Jimi run through rehearsals, cause at the time Jimi was my absolute god... I was about fourteen I think.”

Although the young Richman was too shy to actually speak with Jimi, he closely observed his every move. The following year Eric Clapton came to town to do the Dick Cavett show.

“Oh I wasn't so shy by then and I got a chance to jam around with Clapton, it's nice to have that when you're only fifteen or so.”

By the mid-70's, it was time for Richman to move out of New York and find his sound; Atlanta would be his destination.

“When I first got to Atlanta you could see groups like Lynard Skynard and The Marshall Tucker Band at little bars like this,” Richman said. “I got involved with the music scene immediately.”

About ten years into his career, Richman had played in several cover bands and jammed around with anyone and everyone in the Atlanta music scene. It was at this point that the guitarist started developing his own “sound”.

“All musicians become a combination of their influences,” explained Richman. “It started with guys like Jimi, Clapton, Paige, and I experimented with all the gear that they used, today i've got a nice combination of things to make my sound.”

Although Richman is not known in the mainstream circle of music, Atlanta musicians are aware of his presence in the scene and his sound.

“We've done a few jams together,” one-armed Atlanta blues guitarist Lefty Williams said of Richman. “The guy knows a million licks and he's grown a lot over the years, he's become the consummate guitarist of our area.”

Richman has played with the greats, he's even played for huge crowds in Atlanta with the Allman Brothers Band, but why has he never enjoyed their fame?

“Fame is a hard thing to achieve in this business, you gotta be in the right place at the right time and I can't speak on Barry's behalf, it's just so tough to do,” said Williams.

Jason Young, an Atlanta based trumpet player who plays with the popular band Party on The Moon, enjoys seeing Richman play at Marietta bar Nik's Back Porch.

“His (Richman's) fluidness around the guitar neck is incredible, it's just effortless for him,” said Young. “The gear Barry uses, the tone he produces, every little thing about his sound works together to create a truly unique Barry Richman sound.”

These days Richman is not so concerned with fame, and he is able to live off playing music. Last June he had a heart attack, and his perspective has changed as a result.

“It was a wake up call, and it helped me finally quit smoking,” Richman laughed. “It's kinda like saying, it's time to live right because you don't know how many years you got left.”

Richman has worked in the community for many years, playing benefit shows and working with young guitarists who aren't so fortunate as to have Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton around. Music lovers and aspiring guitarists would be best advised to experience Richman sooner than later, because after all, you don't really know how many years you've got left.