Brewing up support
Musical acts Salty Suites and Phoebe Bridgers help Bob Stane raise funds for his Coffee Gallery Backstage
By Carl Kozlowski 02/01/2012
Like any arts supporter, Bob Stane loves to put on a show. He’s been doing just that for the past 13 years, hosting thousands of folk, pop/rock and country bands at his club Coffee Gallery Backstage.
But show business also involves the drudgery of running any other type of business, and that means the time has come again for Stane to raise and pay $20,000 to Los Angeles County to renew his permits and stay open. With a Feb. 15 deadline fast approaching, he has set up a music-filled fundraiser on Wednesday that should prove to be both fun and fulfilling for Stane, his performers and guests.
“We have to accumulate approximately $20,000 to do all the paperwork,” explains Stane. “It’s for the conditional use permit, the parking variance and fire marshal. We had to raise the money five or six years ago too, but this time around the payments will cover us for the next 15 years.”
Indeed, parking has long been an issue for Stane and his club, as neighboring side streets have established permit zones that result in club visitors being ticketed or towed if they attempt to park in front of homes. The parking variances Stane must renew help broaden the number of parking spaces available to Backstage customers.
The club’s numerous longtime fans have also rallied to help Stane meet the deadline, with many of them donating money to help with the bill. While Stane notes that he is “well on the way” to the $20,000 goal, he is hoping to raise at least $1,000 from Wednesday’s benefit.
Heading the night’s lineup is the bluegrass/Americana folk band Salty Suites, which is led by 19-year-old Apple Valley resident Scott Gates. Scott started singing and playing mandolin when he was just 8, and first took the stage at the Coffee Gallery at age 10, continuing to perform there regularly until his current ripe old age of 19.
Gates has performed on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show with Steve Martin, was featured playing music last season on an episode of the FX network’s show “Justified,” and just finished recording a CD with veteran pop star Kenny Loggins. The rest of the band consists of singer/guitarist Chelsea Williams and singer/standup bassist Chuck Hailes, who both split songwriting duties with Scott Gates.
Opening for Salty Suites will be Phoebe Bridgers, a Pasadena resident that Scott helped discover. According to Gates’ father and manager Andy Gates, Scott is happy to help since Stane has proven to be a fundamental influence on his impressively budding career.
“Bob was one of the first to get Scott on stage, and would put him up with different acts and have him open shows as a solo artist,” says Gates. “This helped Scott expose his talent and got him connected to other musicians. Scott and he are very close, and I think you’d hear that story from many musicians in the area. Bob’s always getting them on stage, connected and seen by the public.”
Ultimately, while raising the needed funds can be stressful, Stane harbors no ill will towards county officials.
“It’s just a fact that the officials are pro-business and are aware we run an extremely positive business that every town in America would want,” says Stane. “We just have to raise the money and get it filed.” n
Salty Suites and Phoebe Bridgers perform a benefit at 8 p.m. Wednesday for the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena. Tickets are $18. Call (626) 398-7917 or visit coffeegallery.com.
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Seems to me that the venue-owner would also try helping out, 'cause if the Coffee Gallery can't pay the County's business-tax extortion in order to consequently collect government sales taxes, then the property owner also gets to host an empty rental property during these foreclosing hard times of commercial property ownership.
Village politics.
DanD