Meet Rebecca Riffel | Owner Main Stage Bar & Venue

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca Riffel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Taking risks has been everything in my life. One of my favorite quotes to live by is, “Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where all the fruit is?” And I truly believe you’ll never get to the “fruit” in life if you don’t go out on the limbs. After I graduated college, I went to Thailand to get my TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) degree instead of pursing a “career” from my degree right away. It was a risk, to travel and see the world as a young solo twenty something female and not jump on the corporate ladder society tries to push you into after college. When I was 22 after receiving my TEFL certificate and spending 6 months in SE Asia, I moved by myself to the Dominican Republic to teach 8th grade through 12th grade at a small school in Punta Cana. I’d never been to the DR, only knew a little bit about the country and barely spoke a word of Spanish. It was a risk, but one that landed me more fruit. The experience of immersing myself in a new culture and adapting to it all taught me more than my four-year university degree could, and helped me gain the tools to navigate obstacles in any career in the future. When I was 29, I decided to come back to my small hometown in Arizona and open up a bar/music venue. It was a risk in everyway. A financial risk, but also a risk to try to open up something new and different in a small town. A risk to bring events such as drag shows and indie bands and artists together in a blue-collar rural town in America. But without taking that risk and leap, Main Stage would have never been born and would never be what it is today.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
11 years ago I opened Main Stage, a bar and music venue in the Verde Valley, we have recently expanded with a new restaurant as well “The Kitchen at Main” with Chef Christopher Dobrowolski. With Main Stage, we wanted to create a hub for artists, musicians, and the community to come together under one roof. I wanted to create a safe space where people from all walks of life could co-exist with the love of music and art within our community. I wanted a space for amazing musicians to play, a place for people to come dance and enjoy, and for artists to create all while having a kickass bar, and venue. I wanted to be able to not just exist in our community but to be a force for good within the community and to give back to it as well. I wasn’t sure exactly how to do it all, but over the last 11 years, we’ve achieved that goal. We’ve had everyone from local artists starting out, to multiple Grammy award winners on our stage. We’ve raised over a hundred thousand dollars that have been donated to local charities and people in need through fundraising events and benefits, including a local Wednesday night Bingo night, which monthly raises and donates around $1000 to local charities and people in need in our community. In February with the Law Tigers, Sisterhood Foundation and Yavapai Broadcasting we put on an annual event called “Live with Courage” which is a fundraiser for the Arizona Burn Foundation’s “Camp Courage” for Arizona Children Burn Survivor’s and in one day alone we raised 18K for “Camp Courage” which in turn will send 12 children who have been affected by traumatic burn injuries to one week at this amazing camp put on by the Arizona Burn Foundation. We host an annual event with the Sisterhood Foundation for Northern Arizona Hospice Foundation which last year raised over 10K. With the help of amazing organizations and volunteers, we have been able to be a force for good within our community, and that is what I’m most proud of. Has it been easy? LOL absolutely not. But has it been worth it? Yes, 100 percent.
One of our biggest obstacles has been, we’ve always “pushed the envelope” of what some people thought we should do or could do. We hosted pride events and drag shows before a lot of people in our town were ready for it. And we were met with a lot of hate and protest because of it. But having a safe space in a rural community was always important to me. Having a lace where people could feel welcome and included has always been a priority. And the most beautiful thing about Main Stage in my opinion is seeing people from all walks of life, religions, political beliefs, and backgrounds come together time and time again for the greater good of our community and truly get along.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It is really easy to show friends an amazing time in this area. We have so much to offer and so many great places here in Cottonwood, Sedona and the Verde Valley. Of course, Sedona is beautiful and only 20 minutes away. I may be biased because I grew up in Sedona, but the Red Rocks are magical and worth it. I’d hit up Sedona Memories for the best sandwich in the world to take on a hike, and then Javalina Cantina for the best Mexican food and margaritas after the hike or creek time. We’d have to hit up Brewha in Cornville for sure for amazing food and the best cocktails ever. The hidden gems and best times are in the Verde Valley in my opinion. From kayaking the Verde River, to the best restaurants, bars and wineries. We have so many amazing wineries and wine-tasting spots you really can’t go wrong visiting any of them. I’d have to hit up Rubix for wine tasting. Maynard & Jen Keenen have been big supporters of Main Stage hosting their company party’s at Main every year, and we are lucky to have his talent here in the Verde Valley too, and his new spot Merkin Trattoria up on the hill in Old Town Cottonwood is worth it for the views and ambiance alone. We’d pop over to Copper Jackalope to hang and have a beer or wine, and I love Kate’s in Old Town too for a good dive bar. Bocce is always a favorite for pizza and a good cocktail. Breakfast would be Violette’s Bakery Café at the Clarkdale Caboose. Then go across the street to Copper Cactus Coffee and Books, and book a massage a few doors down at Vital Essence Bodywork & Botanicals followed by a beer at Smelter Town before heading up to Jerome to shop the amazing stores and check out the views.
At some point lunch or dinner at Eden in Cottonwood is a must, the food is amazing. We’d have to book a commemorative trip friend tattoo at ARTery Tattoo in Old Town by Jeremia, and of course, it would be crazy to not take them to the best spot in town for music and dancing and hangs, Main Stage. Where we’d grab amazing food from the Kitchen at Main, which serves food until midnight.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people that I have been blessed to be aligned with, who have made Main Stage what it is today. It’s been a collaboration of a lot of hard-working, amazingly talented people, artists, musicians, and friends and community from staff to everyone who has stepped on the stage to perform to every artist that added to our walls. But it never would have happened without my parents who supported this dream on every level. I’d love to give a big shout-out to my parents, Don & Eileen Riffel. They are the hardest-working and most loving people I know and have led by example in every way. I’ve learned everything I know about business and running a bar from them.

Website: www.mainstageaz.com

Instagram: mainstageaz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mainstageaz

Image Credits
Photos and Images by Leah Joy Love, www.leahjoylove.com