Life & Work with Frank Hicks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Frank Hicks.

Hi Frank, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 1985 we had a lady that lived in a house (an old train boarding house A two-story building that was built in 1887) across the street from my Truck body shop business and she had lived there all of her life. We helped her out with day to day things and became friends, At 76 years of age she decided to move to a retirement home. The house sit empty for a year or so and we kept negotiating with the bank that was the legal owner and ended up purchasing the house. We used it for storage and had one of our employees live there for several years. In 1997 We made a Motorcycle retail business out of it. The business was so far off the beaten road that we had to come up with some creative ideas to get people down here. So we started having street parties, with bands and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The parties were so much fun that news spread over the next three years and people came down just to check out the little store that was so much fun and the search became an adventure to find this place. Then in 2000, we started a Saturday open Jam and served beer and tacos. We only did this on Saturday from noon to 6pm. It was so busy that we kept it going from noon till 10 pm on Saturdays. The demand of Saturdays became so much that we opened up on Friday nights and had bands playing now on every weekend. We had branded the Motorcycle shop (F.O.G. Cycles) that most people knew now where we were in KC. But the Bar Knuckleheads was suffocating the Motorcycle shop. We had both F.O.G. Cycles and Knuckleheads until 2007 and decided that we should close the Motorcycle company. We had mostly local bands until 2005 and started bringing in National and Regional bands and we started growing more and more and started having two shows on the same night. Then about 16 years ago, Carl Butler who is also and musician and a pastor. Carl and I decided it would be a cool place to have a weekly church service ant that started the Gospel Lounge and weekly service that is music based and has weekly special guest players from 7:30 to around 9 pm so so with a weekly message and is intended for folks that have a church or don’t go to one in particular. On nights that weren’t church night we started to have bands back there as well as… and with the outdoor stage and the original indoor stage the Gospel Lounge stage gave us three stages now. Then in 2011, I sold my Truck business and my wife and I devoted all our time building Knuckleheads into a Music complex. In 2014 the big building that was my truck body shop was converted into a music venue, giving us yet another stage. We now can have three or more stages going on the same night, making us one of the most active venues in Kansas City. There was no master plan for Knuckleheads it was organically grown and we bring in over 400 bands a year

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We had to figure outa way to let people know about us and what we have to offer in a remote part of KC.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most proud of our customers taking a part of our business and feeling like a part of it. Watching it grow and being a part of the Knux family.

What are your plans for the future?
I think one on the best things in life is change and we plan on making small changes all the time to keep things fresh and alive. Bringing in new artists and different forms of entertainment. But keeping it relaxed and homey. Like when you have friends over for a party. So I can’t tell you about big changes as there not clear to me yet 🙂

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: knuckleheadskc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knuckleheadskc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knuckleheadssaloonkc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Knuckleheadskc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy9OnEJnOYMj1tsumsxFx9g
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/knuckleheads-kansas-city