The Shop re-establishes itself as stage for live music

 Over the years, The Shop has been many things to the Perry Street Neighborhood: A beloved coffee house, outdoor movie theater, unlikely indie music venue, a center of neighborhood pride.

Since new ownership has recently taken over, The Shop is reviving some of its former incarnations, giving it a re-beginning of sorts.

This past summer The Shop reinstated its summer outdoor movie nights at sundown.

And on Saturday, for the first time in several years, live music returns to The Shop, 924 S. Perry St.

Saturday’s show features some of the local torchbearers of singer-songwriter and acoustic music who helped establish a stage for live music at The Shop. Since then The Shop has hosted respected touring acts – Rocky Votolato, Point Juncture, WA., Jason Webley among them – along with national fingerstyle guitar champions, and signees from labels such as Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, and Peppermint Records.

Michael Milham, of husband-and-wife duo Sidhe, was among the first artists to play at The Shop, which is a short walk from his home.

During the early 2000s, The Shop also served as a fully functional after-hours recording studio, legendary for opening its services to Snoop Doggy Dogg to record a segment for a television commercial while he was passing through town. The Shop recorded nearly every live show that graced its stage in those days. That first Sidhe show became one in a series of “Live at The Shop” albums by local, touring and national artists. The business sign was augmented by then-owner Mark Camp to “Live at The Shop” specifically for the cover of that CD.

“The Shop sort of out of nowhere ended up being a touring and acoustic indie-music venue that also happened to be a coffee shop by day,” Millham said. “The new owners are bringing back that old vibe that we already feel in a neighborhood of people living and working together.”

For the time being, Millham is helping get the The Shop’s concert schedule firmed up before handing off the job to new owner Jeremiah Johnson. Along with an established schedule of artists, Sidhe is also passing off the old “Live at The Shop” sign to the new ownership.

“If they can take the risk of doing live music, then they should have the good karma,” Millham said. “We are passing the torch to them. They are live at The Shop now.”

For booking inquiries call The Shop at (509) 534-1647.