We had the good fortune of connecting with Vaden and Rachel Lewis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vaden and Rachel, what do you attribute your success to?
When we decided to open The Loop, we had a lot of people make suggestions of adding a stage, making it open for events, adding a coffee shop, those kind of things. We always maintained that we wanted to focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well. In this case it was providing a well engineered, clean, secure, rehearsal studio in a comfortable and supportive environment. Staying focused on the overall goal was definitely one of the most important factors if not the most important.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
That is nice to hear, thank you. Pre-Covid there was a lot of juggling between The Loop and writing/recording/touring, and I’m looking forward to getting back out there again once the world starts to reopen. In the meantime, being “stuck” at home for the last year has definitely reminded me what a supportive community we have here in the Near Southside.

Besides expanding The Loop, I’ve also used this time to work on some other projects outside the music world. I’ve just released a comic book based on the lyrics from Jigsaw Girl (from The Toadies’ 2001 release Hell Below/Stars Above). It’s the first of a five-issue story arc of “lyric” comics based on my songs. I wrote all the scripts and Lee Davis did the stunning artwork, and all issues will feature my handwritten lyrics. It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for years, and it’s a great feeling to see it all come together.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
O this is a fun one. Pre-pandemic, in Fort Worth, we were big fans of starting the night off with cocktails at Basement Lounge off Camp Bowie, then dinner in Sundance Square some place like Wicked Butcher or Capital Grill, then catch the early show at Hyenas Comedy Club, then round out the night out by catching a band at MASS. It would be extra special if the band playing was Vaden’s daughter’s band Ting Tang Tina.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Sonny Stas the lead contractor of The Loop and Rachel’s dad, Vaden’s father-in-law. He was able to take the vision we had for The Loop and make it a reality.

Website: https://www.thelooptx.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelooptx
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelooptx/
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-loop-artist-rehearsal-complex-fort-worth
Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=the+loop+fort+worth&oq=the+loop+fort+worth&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i175i199j0i22i30j69i60.2639j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lrd=0x864e71af6648b2cb:0xcd29705e38896591,1,,,

Image Credits
NA

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