After 2 years of business in Tallahassee, The Sound Bar in Midtown Tallahassee is closing this week. Several other bars and social spots in Tallahassee have had to make a similar decision in recent months. Local musicians say they’re worried about what this will mean for local performances.
The Sound Bar announced its permanent closure earlier this month. The family-owned bar’s last day of business is Nov. 30 Watch the video below to hear from local artist and the owner of The Sound Bar about the closure and its potential impact. Midtown’s Sound Bar adds to growing list of Tallahassee music venue closures
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
After two years in business, The Sound Bar, a family-owned Midtown music venue, is preparing to close its doors at the end of the week, adding to a growing list of closures hitting Tallahassee’s local music scene this past year.
The Sound Bar announced on November 1 they would be closing permanently. Their last day in business is Sunday, November 30.
“It’s been a very memorable two years, I don’t regret it at all,” said Bianca Herndon, the owner of The Sound Bar.
Local artists say they’re running out of places to perform as venues continue to shut down across the city.
“The Sound Bar is one of the most recent ones. But we’ve also had the Bradfordville Blues Club shut down in the recent past, and a lot of these venues shutting down are sort of slowly decreasing the number of places that local musicians have to play,” said Chris Skene, a local artist.
Skene founded musiclocal.org, a website that tracks live performances in town. He said what made the Sound Bar so special was its focus on the local community.
“The Sound Bar is one of the most locally focused music venues in the area. They do a number of things that have an outsized economic and social impact on the community,” Skene said. “They run a fantastic Blues Jam on Thursday nights where young musicians can go out and learn skills from more experienced musicians.”
Herndon says she’s felt the support from local musicians and wants to keep helping them, even after the venue closes.
“I think the memories that we’ve made will be forever, but we’ve made friendships that are irreplaceable with us forever,” Herndon said. “But it’s also not something that we’re done with. It’s just going to look a little different. It’s not going to be with these walls.”
She’s also asking neighbors to show their support for local musicians by attending live performances.
“The best thing that people can do to support them is to go out. It’s not just liking what they do on Facebook. It’s not just watching the video, but it’s going out and seeing them,” Herndon said. “It’s telling friends, ‘Hey, look, I can’t go, but maybe you should go because they would love the support.'”
With The Sound Bar’s final day set for Sunday, November 30, local musicians and neighbors still have the rest of the week to stop by and enjoy some live local music while they can.
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