Sonoma live scene ?in musical limbo

Quality acts exist, but is Valley willing to support them?|

This weekend marks the closing of another music venue in Sonoma Valley – the Annex Wine Bar will close its doors for good on Sunday, July 30, after failing to come to terms of a lease with the new owners of the property. (Note: the adjoining Community Cafe is not affected by the closure of Annex.)

The Annex provided a venue for just about anyone to perform, a step up from an open-mic, but not really a big stage. The venue wasn’t the highest paying in town, as a wine bar open for four hours a day, the budget wasn’t large enough to bring many established acts into the venue, but many acts enjoyed the “living room” vibe created by owner, Margie Brooke and would play there for much less than other venues. More than one act got their start there and many more solo performers got to prove that they were in fact good enough to play in front of an audience. We can say from experience, that many a show there was quite extraordinary – and, with apologies to Billy Joel from “Piano Man,” often we heard “Man, what are you doing here?”

The weekend finale starts tonight, July 28, with Peace of G which features members of Ten Foot Tone, Plan Be and more, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29, it’s Don Trotta playing rock, reggae and blues, also at 7:30 p.m. The finale is scheduled for Sunday, July 30, when the venue opens early at 3 p.m. and the day kicks off with Calvin Ross and Friends, followed by Full Circle at 4 p.m. and Wildflower Weed at 5 p.m. Wrapping up the evening will be a combination of bands that will include Sonoma Sound Syndicate, the Mark Larson Band and a possible reunion of the DaveEdJohn Quartet, who all kick off at 6 p.m. The evening will end at 9 p.m. as they literally have to move everything out of the venue by midnight. Thanks Margie for making a place for music to happen, and happen it did.

Which begs the question: What exactly is happening with the live music scene in the Valley? In the 10 years we’ve been writing for the Index-Tribune we’ve seen ebbs and flows but in the end, it never seems to change. There are a handful of venues that could be considered actual music venues, with a stage, lights and sound provided – but most still just move some tables out of the way and plug the band in to a circuit that may or may not be the same one as the blender.

God forbid we be anything like Napa, but in that time, Napa has added the Uptown Theatre, the Blue Note Cafe, Silo’s and more that all bring name-brand talent to that valley. Why can’t we have that here? The reasons are too endless to even go into in this small piece. Where would these acts play? The most obvious would be the Sebastiani Theatre, which boasted a packed house just last weekend for Sean Carscadden’s farewell concert. Unfortunately, for proprietor Roger Rhoten to remain competitive in the movie market and keep first run movies on his screen, he needs to show movies most every Friday and Saturday night.

Sonoma Valley music lovers also have a dislike for cover charges for live music like something we’ve never seen. We all know money talks and perhaps it’s time to start to place value on a musical performance like we do with movies, plays, art showcases, wine tasting and other things we gladly shell out $10 for without blinking. If there is the potential for someone to actually get paid, maybe the venues create themselves. There are also challenges within the city limits with the city noise ordinance. Maybe it’s because we tend to hang with a musical crowd, but it seems most people we know like live music, and many venues are packed with like minded people enjoying live music every weekend.

Maybe it’s time to take live music seriously, or not.

The choice seems to be up to you, the listener.

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