Byron's, Pomeroy, Iowa

About Byron's

Part neighborhood tavern, part shrine to the Grateful Dead, and one of the best little live-music rooms in northwest Iowa.

The two dancing bears on the weathered sign out front are the first clue. The "DEDHED" plate on owner Byron Stuart's car, parked along Main Street in downtown Pomeroy, is the second. Byron has been a Grateful Dead fan his whole life, and the bar holds one of the largest collections of Dead memorabilia this side of San Francisco: framed shirts, photos and posters, commemorative pins, teddy bears, even a cookie jar. The smaller, more fragile pieces live in a glass case behind the bar, and tie-dyed artwork covers the walls.

For all the homage, Byron's is still a small-town bar at heart, the kind of place where regulars trade stories over a cold one. But on weekends it becomes something bigger. The room routinely books top touring acts, drawing fans from hundreds of miles to a Calhoun County town of about 710 people. More than a few artists who played the stage went on to record deals and late-night TV. Todd Snider, the Nashville singer-songwriter, was the first national act through the door, and he has since played both Leno and Letterman. California bluesman Corey Stevenson liked the place so much he told his management about it, which is how Canned Heat came to pack the house one unforgettable night.