Dinner and a show
"We don't start until after our dinner crowd is over. We still serve food. It's kind of like dinner and a show," Spigle said. "I'm a restaurant businesswoman, and I'm in business to make money. I'm here to attract customers, not drive them away.
"I don't put up with people who don't behave, and they know it. I have a long list of people who are not allowed in here. And I don't allow any cursing songs, no vulgar stuff."
Spigle said Reno's wouldn't go out of business if karaoke was banned, but it would hurt food and alcohol sales, and the 60 employees who depend on the business to make a living.
"It's Saturday night in Danville. What are people going to do?" she said. "They'd go to Lexington and spend their money there."
Matt Mason is the maestro of karaoke at Reno's. His catalog of 13,000 songs "is not as many as a lot of people, but it's enough." Most of it is country, old and new, but there's enough pop, rock, R&B and soul in there for just about anybody to find a song they like.
Mason got his start in karaoke 15 years ago, after a divorce found him seeking refuge in a Lexington bar where people liked to get up and sing along to their favorite songs.
"I went there a year before I got up the courage to sing. I don't drink, so it took me a little longer than most people," he said.
Mason has been providing the tunes at Reno's for nearly three years now. It started out only on Wednesday nights, but grew so popular it was expanded to two, then three and now six nights a week.
Nothing indecent
"I don't see why they are making such a big deal out of it. The worst thing I've seen was maybe a little 'dirty dancing,' but nothing indecent. I've never witnessed a fight. Bad singing would probably be the worst crime, but you've to take the good with the bad."
Not that Lisa Jackson was guilty of such a crime, but the karaoke virgin was a bit unsure of herself when she mustered up a hushed version of Lauryn Hill's "Nothing Even Matters."
Like Mason, Jackson had watched a lot of karaoke but lacked the nerve to take the microphone. On this night, she was moved to action by the recent death of her friend, Sharrona Ford.
"I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Sharrona, who just passed," Jackson said, adding that she couldn't figure out what the fuss was about. "What is it that is being done wrong, anyway? It's just a way to have a little fun in Danville."
Even William Weyman, a local deaf man who made an unsuccessful bid for mayor last year, supports karaoke. Weyman can't hear any of the performances, but he likes the fun atmosphere at Reno's when people put their mouth where their heart is.
"I say 'yes' to karaoke and dancing," Weyman said. "Boyle County needs it."
Amen brother, and pass the microphone.
