Experience Sound & Soul at Pembroke City Limits

It’s a cold Saturday afternoon, the first day of February at Pembroke City Limits, a bar, restaurant and artistic hub nestled in the heart of historic Suncook Village. Dry January has ended for many of the patrons, making it a fine time for The Rolling Stones.  

The building at Pembroke City Limits was, throughout its history, an ice cream shop, then a pharmacy and, most recently, a used furniture store before it was gutted and renovated as a bar in 2024. Today, there is standing room only as the band takes the stage at 2 p.m. 

Eric Klesper, and Rob Azevedo, at far left, with their staff, including from left: Danielle Azevedo, bartender, Melanie Bilodeau, bar manager, Hannah Ketcham, events coordinator and Kim Foss, bartender.

The band, of course, is not the original Rolling Stones; rather, local musicians performing a tribute show with song selections from arguably the greatest run of four consecutive albums in rock ’n’ roll history, starting with The Stones’ 1968 album “Beggars Banquet” and moving through “Let It Bleed” (1969), “Sticky Fingers” (1971) and the 1972 double-LP “Exile on Main Street.”  

John Zevos, who plays with the local group Lichen, fronts a house band while other New Hampshire musicians — including a horn section — join them on stage, giving the show the feel of Martin Scorsese’s 1978 documentary on The Band, “The Last Waltz.” 

It is an older crowd drinking beer and wine and indulging in the restaurant’s vegan cuisine while taking in the tunes. A few folks even get their groove on and break out dancing to “Midnight Rambler” in front of the stage. 

Meanwhile, the owner and creative force behind Pembroke City Limits, Rob Azevedo, roams the room, basking in his creation, this wild and improbable project that opened six months ago and has certainly landed on its feet.

Pembroke City Limits, most recently the site of a furniture store, opened in 2024.

“My payoff is the look on the audiences’ faces after a great song,” said Azevedo, a native of Melrose, Mass., and a graduate of Plymouth State University. “It’s the satisfaction on the faces of the musicians when they look out and see that people are really listening, really caring about the music.” 

Long before there was a Pembroke City Limits, there was Azevedo’s radio program “Granite State of Mind,” which he launched in 2012 with friend and former co-host Dave Cummings. The radio show still airs on Friday nights on 95.3 WMNH and features local musicians, showcasing Azevedo’s personal love of the music and musicians in the Granite State.

“Music has always been part of my life,” Azevedo said. “I cannot remember not needing music, listening to it and loving it. It has shaped my ambitions, enhanced my dreams and my imagination. I (promote musicians) out of the pure joy and satisfaction that I get when I’m involved in anything music-related.” 

After decades living in Manchester, Azevedo and his wife, Julie, moved north into an old rustic farmhouse in the sleepy little hamlet of Pembroke in 2022. There was an old barn included with their property, and Azevedo — a consummate promoter — decided to use the barn to host live concerts from local musicians, a venue that he called “Pembroke City Limits.” 

“It was all about music and community,” Azevedo said. “The barn was a place where people could share music, and I always get a kick out of sharing music.” 

The shows were a hit, and when Azevedo began to notice upward of 30 cars parked on the grass of his property, a new idea began to germinate: What if he were to take the shows being performed in the barn and move them to a venue in one of those empty buildings in Suncook Village and served food and drinks as well? 

At Pembroke City Limits on a recent Sunday afternoon, Gary Smith chats with Jo Tierney of Boscawen after one of his regular jazz performances.

Azevedo then reached out to friend and co-owner Eric Klesper and proposed opening a bar and restaurant where they would feature local music, while opening the space to a plethora of other creative and artistic endeavors, using the same name: Pembroke City Limits.

In 2024, despite neither of the two men having any experience running a restaurant, Azevedo and Klesper got to work, doing their market research and seeking out a space to make their vision of Pembroke City Limits a reality. 

“It was really about taking a chance,” said Klesper, who is primarily responsible for the bookkeeping at Pembroke City Limits. “I can be risk-averse and was spending way too much time thinking about when I might retire. When this opportunity presented itself, I ignored my instincts and went all in because, frankly, I was bored. And I also have a soft spot for the business.”

However, unlike most entrepreneurs, Azevedo said his sole focus was never the bottom line; rather, he was focused on creating a community space where the arts could flourish — and not only music, but the culinary, literary, visual and theatrical arts as well. 

“As long as we’re not losing money, then we are gaining so much more as we perfect our craft,” Azevedo said. “If we all do our jobs, and work with the same commitment we have shown to date, in time, the fruits of our labor will arrive in different forms.”

The Sleazy Vegan provides food at Pembroke City Limits. From left: Anna Lee, kitchen staff; Trafton Hanscom, kitchen manager; Kelley-Sue LeBlanc, owner; and Christian Murchison, kitchen manager.

The new bar would also have to serve food. Azevedo reached out to Kelley-Sue LeBlanc, who owns and runs The Sleazy Vegan, an award-winning food truck and catering service that serves all vegan cuisine. 

“I was working with Rob to design a kitchen that wouldn’t need a full hood vent, while still providing a great menu,” said Leblanc, a Nashua native who spent 25 years in the tech industry before launching The Sleazy Vegan in 2022. “And supporting the arts, the community and small businesses is something that can make a real difference in all of our daily lives.” 

LeBlanc, who was very much aligned with Pembroke City Limit’s manifesto of acceptance and creativity and community, signed on for a brand collaboration. 

The lineup was inked: Azevedo and Klesper would run the front, booking the shows and pouring the drinks, and LeBlanc would offer a fully vegan menu, knowing it would be somewhat antithetical to the typical bar food fare.

“The best part of this experience has been the feedback from the customers,” said LeBlanc, who has seen skeptical customers warm up to the menu once they try the food. “We have two small businesses working to build and protect each other while working to build and protect the local arts, music, food and farms.” 

Next, Pembroke City Limits would have to find staff to help run the place. Azevedo said that the entire staff was hired without a single application being filled out. 

“Our staff are all locals,” Azevedo said. “We based our hires off vibe and off attitude. If you had it, you were in. I knew none of these people a year ago, and now we feel like a real family. We have a motto at Pembroke City Limits: ‘Brick by brick.’ Night after night, we work to build friends and new customers with a new community based on fresh ideas and artistic performances.”

In July 2024, after a few setbacks — contracting delays and licensing snags — Pembroke City Limits finally opened its doors to the general public. 

Yoga class attendees stretch out before turning to the bar for their hard-earned mimosas at Pembroke City Limits.

“The first six months have been great,” Klepser said. “I think we’re on a good path and have established our identity. The music and the musicians have blown me away, and we really lucked out with our staff and our customers.”  

And the Pembroke City Limits has no compunctions with expanding their own “limits” and trying new ideas to welcome a broader community. With the help of Hannah Ketcham, a bartender and their marketing guru, they have introduced a host of community events, including yoga sessions on Sunday mornings, rock paintings and dog adoptions.    

Some mornings, before Pembroke City Limits opens, Azevedo admits he will arrive in the quiet space, alone, while the morning sunlight seeps through the picture windows, skipping off the hardwood floors that he has just finished polishing. 

Azevedo will then sit at a table, sip his coffee, and bask in this thing that he has built, a labor founded on his love for music and the arts, enmeshed with his own unique brand of intrepid optimism. “It’s hard to explain how much my life has changed since we opened Pembroke City Limits and how blessed I am to have all of these beautiful, earnest people in my life,” he said. 

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards once wrote that “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you just might find” — and Azevedo would agree — “you get what you need.”