ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Welcome to 9 Questions with…, an exclusive Spectrum Bay News 9 feature in which we get to know some of the Bay area’s movers and shakers a little better. It could be a politician, an artist, a first responder, a bartender—just about anyone, really. This week, we spoke with Greg Morrison and Steve Palmer of St. Pete rehearsal space and live music venue Groovehaven. Is there someone you’d like to answer 9 Questions? Let us know!

Are you a Tampa Bay native? If not, where are you from?

STEVE: Greg was born in Tampa and traveled the world as an Air Force brat, returning to the Bay area in the early ‘90s. Coincidentally, I’m an Army brat that traveled the world before arriving in the Bay area in the late ‘80s.

How would you describe your job or claim to fame?

We have a great place to rehearse and record music. We also repair guitars, keyboards and other things. We do some artistic stuff in our spare time. Greg builds the occasional cigar box guitar and/or amplifier. I’ve built a few distortion pedals and amplifier circuits, also a few old-timey whirlygigs recently. We are working on a beer-and-wine license  and more live music is coming soon. We also have an instrumental surf band called The Wrenchers. 

What’s your favorite Tampa Bay restaurant?

Well, Coney Island Sandwich Shop in St Pete used to be a favorite lunch spot—they closed without warning recently. (It’s a total mystery that you should investigate.) Currently. the new lunch spot is 9 Bangkok on Central downtown. Their specials are amazing.  

Do you have a personal Tampa Bay “secret spot” and/or “hidden treasure”?

We've got fishing spots that we are not sharing. Weedon Island is always nice. However, you want the best Cuban sandwich? Go to Orlando Latin Market at 3515 30th Ave. N.   

What is your favorite Tampa Bay tradition?

Christmastime boat parades. The bonkers Florida Christmas lights in general. [Tampa Bay] Blues Fest. I sure miss RibFest. St Pete's Pride Parade. Does Taste of Pinellas still happen? 

What’s one thing many people don’t know about you that you’re willing to share with us?

We both lived in Germany. Greg was there four years, first at Bitburg (of Bitburger Brewery fame), then later at Ramstein Air Force Base near Kaiserslautern (K-Town as we called it). I lived around  the Heidelberg area for two years, where the U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army Europe were headquartered. Mark Twain and I both frequented The Red Ox pub/tavern on Heidelberg's main street.   

If you could change one thing about the Tampa Bay area or your community specifically, what would it be?

Our public transportation system could use a lot of improvement. There are many new road expansions and weird scary flying overpasses being built and new developments being built without any consideration of expansion of public transportation. (You must have played “SimCity” at some point, right? I'd have street cars along all the main arteries, and speed runs between major nodes.)

Groovehaven began as a rehearsal space—was it always your intention or ambition to turn it into a performance venue?

It didn't start out that way, but we were working on building up our PA systems from the very beginning, and we were doing larger and larger live sound events. When we saw our current place we recognized right away the potential for a live music venue. We could see the stage and tiki bar and patio tables. The place just needed so much work to make it comfortable and safe—we had to redo the electric in both buildings, add AC to both buildings, scrape and paint, plumbing and a lot more to start having bands rehearse here. We had to deal with a problematic sewer line in one of the buildings and that thankfully has been recently corrected. We recently had some dangerously uneven concrete torn out and replaced by pavers. In the future, we want to add a covered stage, maybe an outdoor tiki bar.  

What can local music fans look forward to at Groovehaven this summer?

We have live music more frequently in our recently beautified courtyard. The Chris Barrows Band will be performing June 12.