Underground music gets lift in Nevada City

Sara Zahn is the event coordinator, producer and house manager for the Haven Underground, a new art and music venue tapping into the area’s underground culture.

Below Broad Street, deep in the city’s brick and post past, a collective of artists has created Haven Underground, a subterranean venue that is luring the curious to a rich culture of music, art, dance and film.

“You know you’re in a basement. You feel the history of the place. Being on Broad Street, walking through a door you’ve never been through… You’re almost transported to a different world,” said Sara Zahn, the 32-year-old event coordinator, producer and house manager for the Haven Underground.

Zahn joined a group of four artists known as the Hive Collective earlier this fall.

For the past year, she produced shows at the now shuttered Tin House, formerly located across from the county fairgrounds, a small house concert venue and performance art gallery known by emerging artists.

The Hive Collective, originally made up of a core of four artists, opened their project, Haven Underground, in May of 2011.

“We have been creating ritual theater and community gatherings for so long and always the issue is finding the right venue. We have always dreamed of cultivating a space where the community feels welcomed and inspired to offer their unique gifts,” said Eve Bradford, 34.

Bradford grew up in Vermont. She studied art at New York University and for the past decade has served as an educator, event producer, performer and activist.

Others in the collective include: Isis Indriya, Isis (Eesis) Piaget and a fellow named Brooks Tomlinson. An aura of mystery surrounds the group that is difficult to track down by conventional means.

When they first started their project, Hive Collective saw potential for the space at 228 Broad Street that was little more than an empty raw basement with bricks and dirt.

“It’s one of the connections to underground tunnels… there’s secret doors if you look closely. Word on the street is it was used to transport prostitutes” and liquor during prohibition and possibly gold further back in time, Zahn said.

After modern restoration, the Haven has an intimate atmosphere with a soft, dimly lit lounge area with tables and bar for conversation and a separate equally popular dance floor. When the door is closed at the top of the stairs, music is adequately muffled on the street.

“We’ve gone to four in the morning and haven’t had any problems,” Zahn said.

On the last Thursday evening of 2011, Zahn was busy preparing for the night’s much-anticipated concert featuring the Grateful Dead cover band The Dead Beats joined by Harry and the Hitmen, a psychedelic seven-piece Motown band from San Francisco.

Show prices can range from $7 and up. Big name acts like the reggae band Midnite took in ticket prices as high as $40 a head.

Regular dance classes are part of the activities at the Haven including: Table Top Tango on Tuesday nights, Nomadic Dance integrating tango, hip hop and salsa and the popular Ecstatic Dance.

During the South Yuba River Citizen League’s Wild and Scenic Film Festival, the Haven will screen two films and host two after-parties with live dance music into the late hours.

The Nevada County Arts Collaborative has shown interest in the site and See Jane Do is planning a ‘Soiree Into Action’ there. It’s also a place for non-profit groups such as the Yuba Watershed Institute, which held a soup night fundraiser in the space in November.

“The calendar is filling up very quickly,” said Zahn, adding the Haven is always interested in booking new music acts.

The night before Christmas Eve, Zahn produced a nearly sold out show featuring Aaron Ross and Pet Newsom, musicians she grew up listening to during the formative years of her youth spent in Nevada County during the late 90’s.

“It definitely affected me greatly,” she said of the music scene during her latter high school years.

“At the time, influential musicians like Joanna Newsom (Pete’s sister), Thad Stoner and Aaron Ross were playing music. There weren’t a whole lot of shows to go to, but everyone was practicing in their basements,” she recalled.

Zahn returned to Nevada County three years ago after living in places like Los Angeles and New York, enmeshed in the art and fashion industry.

“There seemed to be a void,” with the area lacking a venue that catered specifically to underground music and culture, she recalled.

At the time, Foothill Theater had just claimed bankruptcy and she found herself thrown into the production and promotion world when she put on 12 shows in 6 weeks at the Nevada Theatre.

“I’ve been doing it ever since,” she said, and recently put on her fourth Nevada City Bazaar, an event that featured 60 vendors and 14 bands.

“It’s a lot of work but for me it’s about feeding the community and culture. I truly believe art and music can get into the community conscious and can be a real vessel for change,” she said.

To learn more about the Haven Underground and to view a calendar of upcoming events visit: havenunderground.org

Laura Brown is a freelance writer. Contact her at 401-4877 or HYPERLINK “mailto:laurabrown323@comcast.net” laurabrown323@comcast.net.

What’s ahead

Jan. 13: WSEFF After-party with Railflowers

Jan. 14:
WSEFF After-party with Dead Winter Carpenters
& Brett Shady

Jan. 18: Nomad Dance Workshop

Jan. 18: Nomad Dance Open Dance Party

Jan. 19: Filastine

Jan. 26: See Jane Do “Soiree Into Action, free

Jan. 28: The Bears, Neal Morgan, Aaron Ross

Feb. 18: The Still Sea, Screature, Rat Stomp

To learn more about the Haven Underground and to view a calendar of upcoming events visit: havenunderground.org