E.F. Lane Hotel (Keene, NH)

From the Sentinel: Bringing in live entertainment is a great way for a business to stay viable, which is why the EF Lane Hotel’s Chase Tavern began a weekly live music series last month, said local musician Jim Murphy, of Murphy’s Blues, who hooked up with the hotel’s manager, Christine Giroux, to take on this project. When the hotel’s Salmon Chase Bistro closed, Giroux wanted to revive the lounge, which holds 90 people, Murphy said . Bands had performed there in the past. “Christine is a blues nut,” Murphy said. A fan of the former Rynborn Restaurant and Blues Club in Keene and before that, in Antrim, Murphy said Giroux also attends blues festivals. Murphy had dropped off a band’s CD for her last year and months later she contacted him to tell him she liked it. From there, they decided to work together to plan a concert series. Murphy, a former regular with his band at The Rynborn, is using a lot of his old contacts from the club to book the series, which now stretches through mid-May.