MEDIA
Up And Coming Weekly
March 14, 2007
By James Johnson
PADDY GIBNEY'S DAY
Popular local musician Paddy Gibney will be putting the "luck of the Irish" to the test this month when he takes ownership of Fayetteville bar Wheeler's on Raeford Road and renames it Paddy's, An Irish Public House.
Gibney, along with his bandmate Bill Ayerbe, has been a mainstay in Fayetteville's music scene since 1998. In their time performing, the two have recorded four CDs and gained a following that stretches beyond Fayetteville's borders. Still, the Ireland-born singer-songwriter is anxious to try new things.
"I had always wanted to open my own pub since I had come here 20 years ago," said Gibney in a phone interview. His speech was slow and hushed, physically drained from the hours spent renovating Wheeler's.
"I had put off doing it for years because it was always nice to, at the end of the night, be able to pack up our things and leave a club that has just been terrorized by gangs of wild music fans. I didn't have to clean. I didn't have to lock up. I didn't have to worry about any of that stuff."
Recently though, Gibney began to consider his future, and what effect his wild rock star life would have on him by the time he was an old man.
"I was having a good life, but at the same time, when you start to notice that some of your fans could be your children, something goes off in your head," Gibney said. "You start thinking, 'We can't travel and play live music at wild bars forever.'"
One night while playing a late gig at Wheeler's, Gibney said he was approached by an inebriated man who claimed to be buying the bar and wanted to know if Gibney would continue to play there once he owned it. Gibney reassured the man and then approached the two brothers who owned the bar, James and Chester Wheeler, to see if what the man had said was true.
"They were just tired. I said to them, 'Are you really thinking about selling to that drunk guy?' They said that the man had yet to come up with the money, and I began talking about my interest in buying a pub. The next day Chester called me and said, 'Look, we would rather you buy the bar,'" Gibney said. "It was an awesome deal for someone with no experience to walk into a sort of turnkey operation. The location is established, and we already play here every Friday night, and I thought, "This is for me." The important thing is not knowing how to reach the goal; the important thing is knowing how to set it."
"We were just there for too long," former owner James Wheeler said during a break from painting. "I think Paddy will do a great job. This place is going to be so packed that I think the first thing Paddy will realize is that he is going to want more space."
Before its official opening on March 16, Gibney said he is completely renovating the bar, to make it truly his own, and to give it that extra authentic Irish touch that can only be found in a truly Irish-owned pub. The job was made easier by the tremendous amount of support given to him by friends, family and fans.
"One of the amazing things, something that humbled me very much was...as soon as it came out that I had bought Wheeler's, I got messages from all over the world, from soldiers who'd been stationed at Fort Bragg at one point and heard my music, asking what they could do to help," Gibney said. "I am lucky to have so many people in the business who want to see me succeed."
Gibney's renovations include a new stage, with new track lighting and completely new roofing and flooring. All in all, Gibney estimates the pub will have over $25,000 in changes.
"Everybody told me, 'Don't spend money; leave it; shampoo the carpet.' Well I can't do that," Gibney said. "If I am putting my name on a building, it is an extension of me. It is who I am. It is my heart. I am not opening a pub to be more popular. I am already popular. It is not to make more money. I already make money. If all I get out of opening this pub is money and popularity, then I will be sorely disappointed."
Buying Wheeler's was not the only major change Gibney has made in his life. Recently Gibney has purchased a house, and is working to earn his American citizenship. Still, he is reluctant to say he has "settled down."
"To tell you the truth, there are only two things I really care about as I look back on my life. Being a great husband and being a great father," Gibney said. "If I am going to (expletive) those two things up, I'd rather not do them."
For more information on Paddy's, An Irish Public House, call 677-0055.
