Before leaving the office you flip through your mental Rolodex: He’s Not Here, if you’re a beer drinker; Wine Bar if you enjoy the fermented grape; Orange County Social Club if you enjoy pool or Trivial Pursuit.

If you enjoy live music, cheap drinks and have to get up early the next morning, there’s The Cave.

“We do early shows for people with real bed times, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.,” says owner Mouse Mock. “We don’t cater to students.”

Of course, there’s also an 11 p.m. late show.

No one’s quite sure, but it’s believed someone named Lefty opened The Cave sometime in June of 1968. So Mock plans to celebrate for the whole month.

There’s a lot to celebrate.

Over the bar’s four decades, thousands of bands have passed through The Cave. Some of the most notable include Tift Merritt, Squirrel Nut Zippers, R.E.M., Two Dollar Pistols, Southern Culture on the Skids, Red Clay Ramblers, Arcade Fire, Flat Duo Jets, The Avett Brothers and the Mississippi All Stars, just to name a few.

Mock is planning a free party for the end of the month and is working on lining up a well-known band.

“It’s my way of thanking everyone that has been loyal to The Cave over the past 40 years,” he says.

If you’ve never been to the bar, it might be because you barely noticed it as you whisked by the dark stairwell on your way to the Wine Bar or Tallula’s.

But for regulars, it’s “a homey place to be … sort of a mothering shelter for people who need a place to go,” says Meg Sorrell, who owned The Cave through the ’80s and ’90s and endearingly refers to the bar as “she.”

Once inside, it doesn’t take long to to get to know the crowd, like Washington Capps and his dog Basil, who often can be spotted on the couch in the pool area watching the news on the television.

Hang out long enough and you’ll learn that Capps’ father courted his mother in the Philippines with drunken letters written on bar napkins.

Friendly and energetic bar manager Michelle Ceremuga couldn’t believe it when she first visited The Cave and met a bartender who had been there seven years.

“I thought, how lame,” she says. “But I’ve been here for 12 years now.”

“I came down the steps to The Cave to get a pack of cigarettes. I opened the door and went, ‘Oh my god, this is home.’ ”

Mock, a regular since 1985 and the owner the past nine years, has a great story to tell his children. The Cave is where he met their mom for the first time. He courted her for a year before she took him seriously.

The Cave seems to make as many memories as the town of Chapel Hill.

“The Cave has always been a place that caters to those who live away from home but are not tied to the university,” Sorrell says, “When I was in my twenties there was no other place one could hang out. There is a place for everyone at The Cave whether you’re a musician or not.”

The tradition of music, though, is what attracts people.

“The people who find The Cave, they just walk down the street, they hear the music blasting from up the alley way, they come down the stairs and come check it out,” says Rhiannon Jones.

“They really cater to musicians,” adds musician Daniel Snyder. “When my band first started playing out here this was one of the first places that welcomed us and let us come in and play.”

As long as you write your own music you will have an audience at The Cave. Mock instituted a no-covers rule when he took over in 2000. He often hears musicians say it has allowed them to find their creative voice again.

Performers can choose a $5 cover charge if they want. But most just “pass the hat,” taking up an impromptu collection for the band. Most bands don’t mind playing for whatever is donated into the hat.

That was a lesson even Lyle Lovett had to learn. Sorrell remembers around 1986 the alt country crooner was in town doing a seminar at the Record Bar. Lovett’s people thought it would be a good idea if he played somewhere locally, and so they called The Cave.

After going back and forth negotiating his fee, which started at about $4,000, Lovett finally agreed to play for the going rate at The Cave. Sorrell informed them, “Oh well, we just pass the hat.” Everybody had a great time, and in the end the singer ended up giving what he collected to the bartenders.

The Cave must have made an impression, she says. “Every time he comes to North Carolina he mentions the time he played at The Cave.”

IF YOU GO

To find out the latest plans for The Cave’s 40th anniversary free concert go to www.caverntavern.com or call the bar at 968-9308. See video of The Cave here.

Contact staff photojournalist Leslie Barbour at leslie.barbour@nando.com.