Cat's Cradle

American music venue/concert club in Carrboro, North Carolina. First opened in 1969, Cat's Cradle moved around the city a few times until its current owner, Frank Heath, purchased the club in August 1986. Cat's Cradle settled at its present location on East Main Street, nearby the UNC Chapel Hill campus, in 1993, occupying a two-level, 750-people capacity space. The club grew to cult status by the mid-1990s as aspiring and prominent alternative/grunge/metal US bands frequented the Cradle stage, including Nirvana (who last played in Carrboro ten days after release), Melvins, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Ween. Another iconic act played at Cat's Cradle on numerous occasions, Sonic Youth, even mentioning it in one of the songs on the '92 album, "Chapel Hill," with a verse: "Throw me a cord and plug it in. Get [u]the Cradle rocking[/u]." Sonic Youth also released 15501534 album. Other notable records documenting live shows at Cat's Cradle include 5887822 (2002) by Gillian Welch, Superchunk's Clambakes Series Vol. 3 (2004) and by Ween in 2008. In 2013, the club opened an adjacent Cat's Cradle Back Room with a 160-capacity and a liquor bar. Both clubs nearly closed down permanently during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Several local North Carolinian artists recorded a Cover Charge album to raise funds for Cat's Cradle, including Superchunk, Iron And Wine, The Mountain Goats, Sarah Shook and The Connells. The club has since reopened and currently operates with a regular concert schedule.