On a recent Friday afternoon, AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" wafts out an open front door at 415 Church St. Meanwhile inside, this commercial space is being transformed into a place for bands and local music fans to, yes, rock. It's a small, poetic moment. At least as small and poetic as a moment involving a screeching AC/DC track can be.

Co-owner Eddie Yessick and wife Meredith Carlton Yessick hope to open Side Tracks Music Hall here by the end of the month. "We want to replace the Crossroads vibe, the void that's been left here in the city of that," Meredith says. She's referring to Crossroads Music Hall, the shuttered large downtown Huntsville venue whose 2013 closing left a hole in the local music scene that remains largely unfilled. (Although some of the local breweries have helped to by bringing in more live music.)

"The best example I can always come up with is," Meredith adds. "I saw the Alabama Shakes at Crossroads, you know? Where are bands that have that crowd, on the way up going to play in Huntsville? There's not a venue for those bands anymore. So we're really excited to hopefully become that venue." With a capacity of around 375 including the patio, Side Tracks will be closer in size and vibe to Crossroads' original Heart of Huntsville Mall location rather than the larger Clinton Avenue version. The new venture is in the same Church Street commercial development as Cyn Shea's Cafe and Catering.

Side Tracks' first show is scheduled for March 28. Los Angeles folk-punk band Jason Paul & The Know It All's will headline an 8 p.m. show also featuring Huntsville punk act Property and the live debut from another local group, Standard Version. Birmingham rockers Within Reason and Huntsville band Angry Native will perform at an 8 p.m. April 7 grand opening. Visit the venue online at facebook.com/sidetrackshsv for updates.

Eddie Yessick sees Side Tracks as the new Huntsville venue for artists like rootsy Florence underground rockers Pine Hill Haints, a personal favorite, to play, and hopes to one day host shows by the likes of eccentric Nashville singer/songwriter Todd Snider. "Catch the touring acts, all kinds of genres," Eddie says. "Have a bluegrass band one night. Hard-rock. Badass country guy. There's a lot of talent around here. I want them to focus on their original stuff. Like (5ive O'clock Charlie singer/guitarist) Mike Roberts, his original stuff is amazing."

In addition to the former Lee Ann's space, Side Tracks also has annexed a previously vacant next door space to increase the venue's size, and this is where they're building a two-foot high stage for bands to perform. A green room will be next to it. They've been working on Side Tracks since fall, opening things up dramatically by knocking down Lee Ann's former bar area and dining room partitions. The four-top tables that currently dot the finished concrete floor will be moved aside when many of the bands play. Closer to the bar there are pub tables and two pool tables. A new bar has been built into a back wall. A garage door is being installed into that back wall that will open the bar up to the patio on temperate days. The patio contains another bar and more seating, as well as a small outdoor stage where acoustic acts will perform.

Side Tracks plans to be open 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Meredith, who is heading the kitchen, plans to serve a southern influenced full menu (spicy chicken and waffle appetizer, fried green tomato salad, braised beef short-rib French dip, etc.) until 10 p.m. Late nights until 1 a.m., Side Tracks will serve a breakfast menu (eggs, bacon, waffles, sweet potato hash browns, etc.). "Just good accessible comfort food," Meredith says. The plan is for the bar to have 12 taps with craft beers on tap, mostly from local breweries.

Meredith Carlton Yessick and Eddie Yessick of Side Tracks Bar-Grill & Music Hall. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)

The Yessicks are each 20-year veterans of the restaurant and bar business. Meredith comes from fine dining while Eddie has spent the last five years as a bartender and manager at Furniture Factory, the downtown casual restaurant and watering hole that also presents live music, mostly cover bands. Furniture Factory owner Mark Comara is partnering with Yessick on Side Tracks. "He's backing me on this," Yessick says. "We're not trying to compete with Furniture Factory, we're trying to compliment it. I love Mark to death and he's provided us a great opportunity here." Asked about demographics, Eddie says, "I figure we'll a younger crowd, especially with a lot of the shows. But musically we'll be all over the map so I expect the clientele will be the same way. Moms to hipsters, skateboarders, punk rockers, the hippies to everybody." Courtney Lee who books bands for Furniture Factory, is also booking for Side Tracks, with some input from Yessick.

Side Tracks is currently hiring for all front- and back-of-house positions - bartenders, servers, cooks, dishwashers, etc. - and is currently accepting applications and holding open interviews. Call 256- 858-1390 for more info. Eddie expects Side Tracks to open with a staff of around 25 or so employees.

Meredith, wearing a flat-cap and scarf today, describes she and Eddie as a "punk rock Arab boy and downtown debutante who cooks and loves a good brass band." A few years ago, they met for the first time ever at Humphrey's Bar & Grill and married in 2016 in Nashville. "We got married, bought a house and instead of having a baby we're having a bar," jokes Eddie, who sports a sizable beard and white glasses frames.

As of now, most of Side Tracks' interior charcoal walls are barren aside from some framed vinyl records and a railroad crossing sign. The name Side Tracks is partially inspired by the venture's proximity to train tracks, Meredith says. "The slogan we've joked around with is 'Come get sidetracked at Sidetracks.' It's playing off the train tracks and everything but also, 'Come to this place and lose the rest of your day.' Get sidetracked."