On Broadway - Spencer Waasdorp & The Garbage Plate

On Broadway is a bi-monthly web series that delves into the food memories of the talented musicians of Broadway in downtown Nashville. Every other week, we’ll pair those memories with a relevant recipe and information on how to listen to each musician’s material. Our aim is to connect the passion of food to the passion of music—two mediums that evoke instant reactions and memories, and remind us of the incredible people that pour their heart out every day to make their living in our backyard.

If Spencer Waasdorp was a song, it would be “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oats. Everything about his person screams the feeling of that song on repeat and talking to him awakens the part of you that just feels like busting into some sick dance moves right where you’re standing. Talented in everything from instruments to vocals, fiercely positive, a constant sweetheart, and in possession of a signature laugh that tickles your insides, Spencer seems to sprinkle happiness behind him like breadcrumbs. It’s a super delightful juxtaposition from the rock n’ roll buff he appears to be on stage.

Spencer got an early start on his music career––sneaking into his sister’s room at the age of 5 to steal her toy keyboard. “I always just had an interest in music,” he says, as he muses on his father’s drum kit and his mother’s side of the family that played a lot of instruments. At the age of 10, “I discovered ACDC and that’s when my life changed forever! I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.'” And so, at the age of 12, he started asking his parents for a guitar. After taking some lessons, Spencer visited Sodus Point with his father to see a band called The Cobblerockers. “They asked if anyone in the crowd played anything. [To my dismay,] my dad volunteered me and I got up there and played 'Johnny B. Goode' with them. I remember it was the most terrifying experience I’d ever had, but when it was all said and done, and it was over, I was like… 'I could get used to this.' I think the fever really hit there. I [thought], ‘wow, that’s a rush. That was cool.’”

After completing two degrees at Finger Lakes Community College, one in Jazz Guitar and one in Audio Recording Technology, Spencer decided that Nashville was the place to be and relocated in January 2013.  It may have taken him four months to book a gig on the iconic street of Broadway, but for the last two years, Spencer has had no lack of work. As for getting there, he’s happy to reminisce about the multiple––and eclectic!––side jobs he took to get by.

Spencer is from Rochester, New York, a family-oriented city in the Finger Lakes region. As a growing boy, he looked forward to going to the “hots” restaurants. “Each place was named after the section of town and then the word hots. They’re like a diner, but they have garbage plates and fried goodness that’s so good it’s so bad.” Invented in 1918 by Nick Tahous Hots and designed to satiate the seemingly bottomless pit that is the college kid’s stomach, the garbage plate is basically a combination of ‘everything but the kitchen sink,' or so the saying goes. “It’s a giant plate. Half of it’s filled with macaroni salad or baked beans, one or the other. The other half is filled with home fries – crispy, so amazing, fluffy, home fries. Then it’s topped with two cheeseburgers or giant split open hot dogs and cheese. Then it’s covered with tangy, not necessarily spicy––but some places will have hot sauce or a hot version of it––so this whole plate is doused in this tangy meat sauce and it’s usually finished with ketchup, mustard, and raw onion––optional of course.” Not surprisingly, the dish inevitably welcomes some friendly competition. “The first time I ate one, I had just gotten done jammin’ with some buddies and we were old enough to ride our bike to Empire Hots…We would get them to see if we could finish it, you know?...You’re just pilin’ it in!” The entire image of this scene speaks perfectly to Spencer’s personality, as he’s so warm and welcoming, everyone wants to be friends with him. Though quite over-indulgent, and easily written off as “drunk- food” or a “hangover remedy," the garbage plate brings friends and family together at these cozy diners in lower, western New York. As Spencer says, “It’s part of our heritage. It’s part of where we’re from.”