If you made it to the Pitchfork Festival this summer (or any number of festivals over the past several years), you probably saw Tim Tuten on stage before every act, pumping up the crowd with his enthusiastic introductions and endless odes to sunscreen and proper hydration.
The co-owner of the Hideout is, by his own admission, a bit of a talker, something he says stems from his years as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. But Tuten's been more of a student than anything else since he bought the place in 1996 with his wife, Katie, and his childhood friends Mike and Jim Hinchsliff.
Forced to learn the bar business from scratch, the partners have managed to maintain the tradition of the Hideout even as the secluded club's surroundings and clientele have changed drastically. Though the workers who used to stop by after a long day at the adjacent U.S. Steel Plant might not recognize the music blasting from the back room, they'll still feel right at home if Tuten has anything to say about it (and he does).
Some say dogs begin to look like their owners; others say owners start to look like their dogs. Which is true for you?
I don't know if we look like our bar, but the bar does have, aesthetically, a lot of the things that I like. I like old bars in non-pretentious environments. I like country music, I like jazz, I like juke joints and jazz joints and blues bars and honky-tonks. We had a lot in common when we started coming here; we looked a lot like the dog. Maybe we found each other because we saw each other as similar.
Who's on your I-want-them-to-play-here wish list?
I'd love Rhymefest to come here, and I think he might sometime, I've talked to him. I think it would be cool to have someone like Common, too.
What's the best/worst thing about your job?
Anyone that owns a house knows that they have to fix the toilet, they have to repair the floor, they have to do stuff. When you own a bar, you're having a hundred people in your house every night, you're having a hundred people using the toilet...every night you're having a party. But if you do what you believe in and what you love, you have beautiful, beautiful nights.
What's on your iPod right now?
I don't have an iPod...I listen to The Autumn Defense a lot, and Andrew Bird and The 1900's. The record I was listening to the other day was Aztec Camera, an early '80s English band; they had a hit called "Delirious". I was also listening to Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme.
Music aside, the best night to visit your club is:
I love to drink at the Hideout on Friday afternoons while it's still sunny out. We have bands here on Friday afternoons and I love those early shows. You can start out sitting outside on the patio and the sun sets and then the band starts sound-checking at like 7 or 8.
A little-known fact about your club is:
The back room was built in 1954, and it was built for parties. They would have weddings and confirmations there, which we still have today. We've had probably four weddings here, bar mitzvahs—two of those—and we've had confirmations, baptismal parties.
Besides yours, what's your favorite Chicago music club?
Weed's was my bar for 10 years, and I still go there today. Delilah's, on Lincoln Avenue, that's another favorite bar. Those are bars with owners who love what they do. I love FitzGerald's in Berwyn, and Cal's Liquors in the South Loop. One of my mentors...is Boot Allen, and he owns a place called the President's Lounge #2 on 75th St., an old-school dusty soul club. He was a high-school teacher and a bar owner...some people might think that's a weird combination, but it's really not to me. It's like public school, public house.
Is there a kick-ass music club owner/manager we should know about? Tell us who we need to know.
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