Arriving freshmen and returning University students with a hunger for live music will find no famine in Bowling Green for the 2010-11 school year.

The Bowling Green night life has a slew of pubs, clubs and watering holes to call its own. Places to go to dance, relax and hear music are abundant, and downtown is often alive as a result. But of all the establishments in town, only a handful hold the right to be considered a live music venue.

Ziggy Zoomba’s Bar and Grill, located on the south side of Wooster Street near the intersection at Summit Street, is a sports bar named for a popular University chant heard at many athletic events. The club has an 8-foot by 4-foot stage that lowers from the ceiling on a hydraulic lift for concerts, to be stowed away out of sight until needed again.

Ziggy Zoomba’s currently doesn’t have any upcoming shows on its events calendar, but according to owner Bob Everhart, Monday and Wednesday nights are designated for the live acts he hires. Everhart said he is seeking acts to play his venue for the coming year and encourages any interested to visit their website or Facebook for booking.

Heading west on Wooster Street, the next bar boasting live entertainment is Nate and Wally’s Fishbowl, located on the North side of Wooster between Prospect and Main streets. The bar has aimed to bring live music to the town from the moment it opened its doors in August 2001.

“We never did DJs or anything like that,” said co-owner Nate Cordes. “It was live music from the beginning.”

The style of music most prevalent at Nate and Wally’s, Cordes said, is typically acoustic folk or bluegrass. The bar has a comfortable ambiance described by Cordes as having a “family feel” where “everyone’s welcome.” Those with a natural inclination toward grassroots music, hemp, dreadlocks and patchouli will find it easy to make friends in the Fishbowl.

Across Main Street is the theater-turned-nightclub Clazel. Prior to its renovation as a multi-purpose venue in 2008, the Clazel served Bowling Green as a movie theater that began operations here in 1926. The club opened under new ownership in August 2008 and has since attracted many acts, both regional and national.

“Bowling Green is a very diverse town, it has people with all different kinds of taste in music,” Marketing Director and Talent Provider Banan Alkilani said. “Our goal is not to stick to any one specific genre.”

Attendees to a show at the Clazel are greeted by velvet ropes and a sophisticated atmosphere. Beyond the ropes is a 360-degree bar serving cold drinks to all of age who wish to indulge. Past the bar, two parallel ramps descend into a lower-level dance floor, flanked by V.I.P. balconies on either wall.

The Clazel focuses on talent, appeal and uniqueness of approach to create its criteria for bands it seeks to book, Alkilani said. The club last year hosted such acts as Sublime cover band Badfish, Georgian Americana artist Corey Smith and New England jazz-reggae musicians Barefoot Truth. Live music there occurs on average two nights a week, Wednesday through Friday.

Back across to the East side of Main, sits Howard’s Club H. If Clazel offers class to the town’s live music scene, Howard’s provides the grit. A step through the front doors treats patrons to an immediate wave of rock ‘n’ roll in its essence.

Every inch of Howard’s carries the feel of the underground – raw, grungy, unapologetic and honest.

“Local bands are the real backbone of what we do here,” Sound Engineer and Booking Manager Maurice Austin said. “If you’re into music, especially live, original music, this is the place to be.”

The majority of the acts that perform at Howard’s fall somewhere under the umbrella of rock, Austin said, from metal to alternative to acoustic. In addition to the countless local bands, Howard’s has held shows with larger acts such as the Misfits and Ekoostik Hookah. Coming in late September is the band Trainwreck, featuring Kyle Gass of Tenacious D.

Howard’s has live music occurring every Wednesday through Saturday, with “Loud and Local Wednesdays” occurring each week. “Loud and Local Wednesdays,” according to Austin, is a loosely organized open-mic night acting as a “forum for up-and-coming local bands to come and show what they’ve got.”

Removed from the downtown scene, near the intersection at Napoleon Road, sits the last venue on the list. Checker’s Pub offers live music every Saturday night, occasionally on Fridays, and tailors its acts to suit a crowd thirsty for classic rock. It is a bar with a nostalgic, saloon-style feel driven by domestic drafts and whiskey.

“Checker’s is a classic bar. It’s got all the old stuff a bar used to have,” said owner Scott Rood, referring to the bar’s old-fashioned jukebox and Harley-Davidson pool table.

Rood, who took over the location a year-and-a-half ago, said live music has always been a part of Checker’s, and when he took the reins, he had no plans to change that.

“Checker’s has been a live music bar as long as I can remember, since I was a kid,” he said. “We just wanted to keep the same theme to the place.”

All shows at all locations are 18-and-over unless otherwise specified. All club representatives encouraged those interested in learning more about upcoming events, or looking to play at their venues, to visit their respective websites or Facebook.