ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis community is making sure Tom Hall's legacy lives on.
The well-known local blues musician died in a house fire on Saturday, April 22.
Tuesday police told 5 On Your Side that investigators do not suspect foul play at this time.
While many questions are still unanswered like how the fire started, Hall's loved ones are making sure his footprint on the music scene in St. Louis never dies.
Bethany Budde, the owner of SqWires Restaurant and Market, described Hall as a "fixture" in the St. Louis area.
"He had his own spot here and it will be here forever," she said.
For the past 18 years, Budde said Hall sat on a stool on their stage weekly.
"He was one of our first happy hour, Friday happy hour gigs, that was here regularly," she said.
Budde said Hall would play to a crowd ready for the weekend in Lafayette Square.
"I always kind of thought of SqWires as his warmup for his big event on Friday night, wherever he was playing after that," she said.
The fact that he won't walk through the doors and fill the restaurant with his unforgettable sound is something that hasn't sunk in yet for Budde.
"He's going to be here on Friday. He's going to be here in a couple days, so not quite," she said.
That's why on Friday, April 28 the stage will be dark. Instead of Hall filling the 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. hours with his music, the room will be filled with people sharing memories.
According to Budde, 100% of bar sales will go to Hall's family.
"We don't even want to think about the replacing of Tom on Friday happy hour, especially this one," she said.
Just a few blocks down the road at Hammerstone's in Soulard a memorial for Hall hangs on the wall.
General Manager Cory Hammerstone described Hall as a "brilliant musician."
"He kept a particular style of blues music alive, one you don’t hear every day. It seems very sad that that kind of music is going away quietly, it shouldn’t but it was pretty admirable that he kept it alive, and he was so good at it," she said.
Hall was one of the bar and grill's first musicians when they opened in 1997 and he played there weekly.
Hammerstone said she is still trying to process the fact that he's gone.
"I didn’t believe it at first. It was surreal. At one point I thought he was going to walk through the door and find out they thought he had died, and he’d be like, 'Oh shoot,' but obviously that wasn’t the case," she said.
During Hall's usual time slot on Thursday, May 4 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Hammerstone said they will host a celebration of life for him and have an open mic for anyone who wants to perform.
"It’s kind of a statement that he’s not replaceable. It’s an honor for him to say we are going to think of you and remember you, rather than fill his spot," she said.
Hammerstone said the reason for that is that you can't fill the spot of an irreplaceable man.
"He would do anything for anybody," she said.