Andy Zimmerman, who has done so much to bring back the area of downtown Greensboro near Lewis Street and South Elm Street down to Gate City Boulevard, announced his latest venture on East Washington Street – Rhythm Works.
Rhythm Works is on the corner of East Washington and Pastor Anderson Way just around the corner from Studio 503, which is an artists/creators space that opened in 2018.
Rhythm Works, which is in the old M. Lieb & Son Gourmet Food building, is expected to open in late summer and it already has an executive director, Mike Hooks, a Greensboro native with a long history in the local music scene.
Zimmerman’s plans for the building include a performance venue, space dedicated for classes, clinics, recording and rehearsing as well as an internet radio station, podcasts and video editing and production. Rhythm Works will be operated as a non-profit organization.
Zimmerman said, “Greensboro has a long history as a musical city and remains so today. Rhythm Works will be the place where established and aspiring musicians can come to play, practice, record and perform. Mike is the perfect person to lead this project toward our planned opening by late summer this year.”
Hooks said, “Rhythm Works is a non-profit whose purpose is to nourish the community of musicians and those who appreciate musical performance. It’s where artists can affordably take their music to a higher level through studio access and rehearsal spaces, a one-stop location for enjoying both local artists performances as well as more regional and nationally recognized entertainers.”
Zimmerman’s partners in the venture are Stu Nichols and Linda Spitsen.
One of the great assets for this venture for downtown Greensboro is that will help expand the downtown footprint beyond Elm Street to the east. One of the complaints commonly heard about downtown Greensboro is that it is too concentrated on Elm Street.