Gavin DeGraw's new bar.

This is 100% a must-go, my new regular spot. I don’t really love to venture all the way down on Houston/Allen but for GdeG I am there.

I am really upset I had to find out about this via UrbanDaddy, who says (my commentary included):

“A good bar with a good band is a thing of beauty. It's also a tough find” (they think, I am not sure I agree with this assessment, but lets keep going).

“Well, it turns out Houston Street still has a few tricks up its leather sleeve, in the form of singer/songwriter/owner Gavin DeGraw's [yep, the one who is responsible for one of my favorite songs EVER--Just Friends] National Underground, an old-school rock-n-blues tavern which just quietly opened its doors in the old Martignetti Liquor space."

(Thanks for the invite GdeG!)

I wonder if Joey is going to be playing here regularly? Are they ditching the Bitter End permanently? Are the Bitter End guys investors? SO MANY QUESTIONS!

The Daddy Continues:

“Channeling the kind of spots you only see on your southern jaunts (and in Road House), this Underground is getting rid of ticket lines and stages. It's just an unassuming bar with a mic stand in the corner, some Crazy Horse-inspired table art with silhouettes of the female form (he does love the ladies!), and a metallic crest welded on the bar...well, maybe "unassuming" is too strong a word. But with a lounge curtained-off in the back providing more than a couple intimate corners, you'll have no trouble settling in."

Ummmmm yeah, I can see the DeGraw brothers loving the intimate corners.

"When the place gets fully up-and-running, the owners will use their "industry clout" [ Didn't Clive Davis just shelve his album? That sucks. I think this might be where they are confirming that it is going to be a Joey-a-thon with the occasional Gavin jump in appearance ] to put on a steady stream of acts worth seeing up close—think backstage at a Fever Dog show with a little Johnny Cash and Jack Daniels thrown in. [Ok UrbanDaddy you aren't Almost Famous this is just cheesy] And the larger space downstairs offers up even more old school rock ambience, courtesy of the checkerboard tiles and booths from the set of the Godfather (snagged from an old Bowery set-furniture store)."

Come stalk me there: National Underground, 159 E. Houston St (at Allen), 212-475-0611.