The Beat Goes On

Judith M. Wilson

12 years ago

There’s a revitalized music scene in Marin County, where new clubs and old favorites are reaching more audiences than ever before.

The eager crowd edging close to the stage at HopMonk Tavern in Novato is an eclectic mix, with some patrons swaying to the beat, others holding cell phones aloft to snap photos and everyone tuning into the music during guitarist Steve Kimock’s performance on a rainy night in March. Within hours, excerpts of the show appear on YouTube, giving a picture of a revitalized music scene in Marin County, where new clubs and old favorites are reaching more audiences than ever before.

Innovation and evolution are at the forefront of a hot live music scene that’s a big contrast to 2007, when Mill Valley’s Sweetwater closed its doors and it seemed as if Marin’s heyday as a music mecca was coming to a close. Happily, it turned out to be merely a pause. With Sweetwater newly reinvented as Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Broadway resurrected after a fire and new venues Fenix, HopMonk Tavern and Terrapin Crossroads up and running, music in Marin is entering an exciting phase—one that Laura van Galen, owner of Fenix, describes as “the Marin music renaissance.”

Much of it started with the reemergence of Sweetwater in January 2012. Music lovers missed the funky old bar (which many well-known musicians regarded with affection, dropping in unannounced to make surprise appearances on the tiny stage), so the new Sweetwater Music Hall had a built-in audience as well as access to performers. “It was a welcome addition in Mill Valley. We had people clamoring [for us] to open our doors,” says General Manager and talent buyer Aaron Kayce. “The Sweetwater name certainly holds a lot of water.”

The new venue retains the name and some of the physical accoutrements of the old, such as the mermaid paintings that hang at either side of the bar at the back and framed photographs of many of the storied musicians who played at the old bar adorning the brick walls in the café, but in reality it’s a new business, established with the backing of a large group of investors in a new location in the old Masonic Temple on Corte Madera Avenue, just a short walk from the old Sweetwater.

Unlike its predecessor, Sweetwater today is more than a bar. “The goal was to be a community hub,” says Kayce, explaining that the music hall can transform into different settings. In the spring, for example, neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine and filmmaker/writer Tiffany Schlain headed a fund-raiser for the Little School, a local preschool, in which Brizendine spoke about the development of a child’s brain as 125 people sat quietly in the music hall and watched a PowerPoint. In contrast, he described a music show in the same space 24 hours later that had people “hooting and hollering.” In yet another configuration, the space has served as a French cabaret.

A wired world

The world of music has changed significantly since the original Sweetwater opened in 1972, so despite its down-home demeanor, Sweetwater Music Hall is a high-tech venture. “It took the ethos of the old Sweetwater, which had its charm, and poured in the resources,” says Kayce. “There’s nothing we can’t do,” he adds, pointing to a million-dollar sound system and excellent acoustics. Among the added features is live streaming of some shows with state-of-the-art equipment that allowed 5,000 people to watch Nicki Bluhm’s show a few months back. “Having those resources at your fingertips is like nothing I’ve ever had,” says Kayce. “It sets us up for the future. Everything was very well thought out.”

With sophisticated sound and audio systems paired with a unique vision, Fenix, which opened on San Rafael’s Fourth Street in January 2013, takes technology even farther. At the heart of Fenix is fenixlive.com, which feeds live musical performances from its stage to the Internet through livestream.com; shows are available as a live feed or through the archives 24/7. “Every night, our shows are broadcast live on the web,” says Executive Director Merl Saunders, Jr. (son of legendary keyboardist Merl Saunders, Sr.).

“It’s a way for people to see what we’re doing in little Marin County. It’s probably the wave of the future. We get to be one of the pioneers.” He describes Fenix as a club that’s basically a big recording studio, with patrons getting to enjoy the advantages of the finely honed sound.

The characteristics that make Fenix work as a broadcast studio also provide an enhanced listening experience for patrons. John Storyk was the acoustic designer, and “It was his piece of the puzzle, working with the sound and the way it fits in,” says Saunders, who describes the room as being tuned like a recording studio, with extensive fabric treatment on the walls to aid the acoustics. “The music is very present but not overwhelming,” he says. He believes that sound is part of the whole ambiance, where the audience sees speakers on the walls and perceives things happening. The audio is one part of the experience, and the visual is highly compelling as well, while the food and drink add additional sensory experiences.

Every venue goes beyond its physical setting to deliver content online to some degree. Terrapin Crossroads, which opened in San Rafael in 2012 as a restaurant and music venue, puts live webcasts of some of its shows, which take place in the Grate Room, online, and it also makes soundboard-quality audio recordings of all shows for its archive with plans to eventually release them to the public. In addition, it can broadcast private events, such as weddings and bar mitzvahs. “The live broadcast is a transmission in real time of an event that takes place in our space while it’s happening,” says Brian Lesh, spokesperson for Terrapin Crossroads and son of the owners, Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead and his wife, Jill. He believes it’s a valuable service for relatives and friends who can’t attend the event in person.

John Dunsing, co-owner and manager of 19 Broadway in Fairfax, a venue that began as a hotel in the last century and has a stint as a speakeasy in its history, reports that in April, the club debuted free streaming through Ustream, which presents live performances online and on mobile devices, when it broadcast a show featuring the Cole Tate Band and Lumanation. The club is also venturing into podcasts.

Dunsing describes his club as “the oldest and the poorest” of the county’s operating live music venues, thus lacking the resources for a bank of expensive equipment. However, one of 19 Broadway’s sound engineers is a graduate of the renowned Berklee College of Music, and focusing on the basics to provide great sound and an outstanding live experience is the priority.

Many shows draw audiences between the ages of 21 and 30—a technologically adept generation for whom texting is the norm to let their friends know about shows. “This is the kids’ club in Marin County. We play the music they want to hear,” says Dunsing. “We’re the three Rs—rap, reggae and rock. Fitting into that format, up-and-coming local musicians Tommy Odetto and Grahame Lesh [brother of Brian] & Friends recently performed in a show that Dunsing described as “a dynamite night.”

Although many people have the misconception that 19 Broadway is a rowdy place out of the wild, wild west, Dunsing has never seen weapons or knives, and says, “We’ve never had any problems at any of the hip hop shows—ever. Kids watching hip hop and rap are very mellow,” he says.

He considers the venue “a neighborhood bar during the day, a club at night,” with separate but adjacent spaces for each. However, the two constituencies come together for big sporting events, which attract patrons of all ages, who gather around 19 Broadway’s five televisions located in the front bar, in the music hall at the back (which was rebuilt after a fire a couple of years ago) and on the deck. “Whenever the San Francisco Giants or 49ers are rolling, this place is packed,” says Dunsing, who tries to hit all the demographics with a variety of shows and activities and refers to the venue as “19 Broadway, where everyone’s a local.”

Special events are also a big draw. The Fairfax Festival takes place on June 7 and 8 and, says Dunsing, “It’s the biggest weekend of the year,” featuring big shows on Friday and Saturday nights and offering music on the deck during the day. “We mix it up on Sundays and all the holidays,” he says.

Sound check

In northern Marin, Dean Biersch opened HopMonk Tavern in November 2012, in a space previously occupied by Southern Pacific Smokehouse on the periphery of the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center. Its Sessions Room hosts a variety of shows with an eclectic variety of performers, from Ivan Neville to Roy Rogers, Marga Gomez to Hot Buttered Rum. The quality of the live performance is primary and, although recording of some shows in high-definition video does take place, posting shows online isn’t really a priority.

“I’m selling an intimate live experience,” says Biersch, who also owns HopMonk Taverns in Sebastopol and Sonoma. “I’m one of those people who’ll occasionally take little photo clips. …It’s nice to capture an image of a moment, but it’s never the same as being there—never.”

Among the advantages of small clubs is that audiences can get close to the artists, and they experience a special kind of energy and enthusiasm as they interact with the musicians in a way that online viewers can’t. “There’s no substitute for a live musical experience,” says Biersch, who believes a live performance contains an important social component, which lets attendees run into friends, make new ones and create a one-time-only musical experience together. “It’s a meeting of liked-minded folks enjoying the music as an all-inclusive group,” he says.

For an optimal experience in a live music hall, audio is vital for both the audience and the artists, and although the building came with a sound system, HopMonk installed a comprehensive new system. Biersch affectionately describes the acoustics of the Sessions Room as “a dead space,” with it’s coveted acoustic tile ceiling, a stage filled with sand—a dump truck full—and its barn wood floor. The result is a balanced clean sound in which vocals and instruments clearly fill the space. “The room sounds great at the four corners and everywhere in between,” he says.

Communication evolution

Texting, tweeting and posting amateur videos on YouTube are the trend, and all the Marin clubs use Facebook and Twitter as a means of sharing news and getting word out about new shows to a large and widespread audience. In fact, social networking is so effective that Terrapin Crossroads announces almost all its shows on Facebook and Twitter before going anywhere else, says Lesh.

Social media is the top source of information for many fans. “We’re all over Facebook and have hundreds of Twitter followers,” says Dunsing.

Biersch recently experienced yet another aspect of social media after a thief broke into the sound room in the Abbey at HopMonk’s Sebastopol location and stole their sound board. The culprit failed to notice a camera, which captured a brief shot of his face and also caught him from the side. HopMonk posted the pictures on its Facebook page and, within 48 hours, received more than 400,000 hits from people either trying to solve the mystery or expressing sympathy over the loss. Sebastopol detectives arrested a suspect on an unrelated charge the next day and found HopMonk’s equipment in his storage locker; however, the incident shows how powerful and far-reaching social media can be. “Everyone can relate to having something stolen. That never feels good,” Biersch observes. “The positive take-away from the experience was the reminder that our network of music lovers and supporters runs deep. We were humbled by the response and amazed at how quickly the mystery was solved.”

The clubs all have one thing in common: Their principals love music and want to share it. With music the core value and clubs offering a variety of genres, some crossover exists, but each venue has its own unique character, whether it’s streaming to reach a larger audience, linking with the community or creating a particular environment.

The food factor

Food is another defining factor, with a restaurant at almost every venue. That’s partly because, if a venue wants to welcome all ages and serve alcohol, it must, by law, also serve food. But this is the North Bay, and food here is never an afterthought.

“We decided we wanted to have really good food,” says Kayce. Part of the goal at Sweetwater was to make the club family-friendly, unlike the previous incarnation, which was a bar and therefore restricted to patrons 21 and older. “We knew there would be kids in here,” he says, “so chef Gordon Drysdale designed a menu with dishes that are fun for children, including a variety of sliders.

“If you can figure out how to do it, it’s a revenue source,” he adds.

At HopMonk, where fresh beer is the heart of the business, the tavern serves tasty dishes and shared plates that pair well with beer or include it as an ingredient. Biersch describes “HopMonk hospitality” as “a blending of four fine things: fresh beer, tasty food and live music served up in a comfortable and welcoming venue.” The experience includes music in an outdoor beer garden, and an outdoor stage will be a highlight of summer.

Saunders, at Fenix, observes that Marin residents have eclectic taste in food as well as music, and they want the experience to “wow” them. He notes that fresh, local, sustainable food is important to them, and so the chefs at Fenix shop at farmers’ markets for some products. “We use as many local ingredients as we can. You look at your carbon footprint and sustainability. It’s all part of keeping your community healthy,” says Saunders.

In April, Fenix became part of the Downtown San Rafael Farmers Market, which takes place on Fourth Street on Thursday nights, when it began serving dishes from a takeout window and offering wine tasting.

Although 19 Broadway doesn’t have food service in-house, patrons are free to carry in food. “We have menus from every restaurant in town,” says Dunsing, adding that on Fat Tuesday, a favorite was food with the flavors of New Orleans from Michelle Elmore’s Hummingbird Café just up the street. “[Fairfax] loves 19 Broadway because it drives revenue,” he says.

A restaurant is also an integral part of Terrapin Crossroads, which encourages families to eat, relax, watch some music and have fun. “Some patrons come for the food and stay for the music, or sometimes the other way around,” says Lesh. “Terrapin is a place that feels like home, whether you’re listening to music or sitting down to eat, you can always feel comfortable here.”

Above all though, it’s the music that’s paramount in a county rich with musicians and music lovers and a milieu that’s constantly evolving, giving lots of choices to anyone looking for a good show.

Laura van Galen, who grew up surrounded by music and musicians, calls it a journey. “It’s all about spiritual income,” she says. “Passion drives musicians. It’s a labor of love.”