Fresno venue updates: Tower Theatre, Rainbow Ballroom and the old Audie's

Plus, a band called O Henry and an album of letters to the editor.

We all knew the pandemic would be bad for music venues.

The industry has been shuttered for close to 11 months with little federal help, though the last COVID relief package did set aside $15 billion for music venues, museums and theaters (thanks largely to efforts from the National Independent Venue Association. #saveourstages indeed).

Locally, at least two long-running venues are looking to change hands, with one (possibly both, from the go of things) likely selling to a church.

The Tower Theatre is currently in escrow to be sold to Adventure Community Church, though not without some struggle. The city is calling for a rezone of the property and there has been backlash from Tower businesses and community.

For its part, the church says its business at the theater will be incidental and the property will remain an event space with the current management doing all booking and promotions.

In a further twist, the Painted Table announced it has put in a bid to buy the theater, though it’s not quite clear what that deal looks like.

At the same time, the owner of Fresno’s longest-running music venue has also announced its intent to sell.

The Rainbow Ballroom is listed for just under $4 million. The Valdivia family says it would like to find a buyer to continue running it as a venue and in a letter on the venue’s Facebook page, it appears a sale is just one options being explored.

The family also owned the Liberty Theatre, which it sold to a church last year.

No matter what happens, the Valdivia family says it will continue with live music promotion (that’s good news).

Aside from the historic significance of the building (and the many, many musicians who played there) the Rainbow Ballroom is one of the few viable venues of its size (2,500, at capacity) in Fresno.

It’s loss would be a huge blow to the local scene. Hot take: Maybe more so than even the Tower Theatre.

Discuss.

And it looks like the final, final call for the old Oly/Club Fred/Audie’s Olympic space on Van Ness Avenue. Full Circle Brewing Co. had been running the space as a taproom (with some live music events) until it closed in May.

The Artist Tree, a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary/art gallery, now has a lease on the location, contingent upon being awarded one of the city’s retail cannabis licenses.

The stage will go, though there will be space for live music during events.

And now for some recommendations.

O Henry , “Pilcrow”

O Henry is a new project from Orion Fitzhenry and Ethan Foster and a really nice discovery for fans of indie-rock.

The five songs on “Pilcrow” mostly pull a familiar low-fi indie vibe out of folky acoustic tunes (especially in the vocal arrangements), before the final track, which goes more of the rock route.

I am reminded of Pavement, perhaps.

“Pilcrow” is available now on Bancamp for $4 (or more. And you should give more. Always).

No Strings, “It Isn’t All That We Do”

First, some background on No Strings.

This is a mother-son duo; Matthew Embry and Harriette Wagner. Embry (and his brother Darren) was around the Fresno scene in the 1980s. Some will remember his band E For Elephant (with Brian Kenney Fresno).

No Strings has been playing and recording since 2014 or so, doing original songs, plus jazz standards, some rock/pop/country/folk stuff and spoken word.

Which brings us to “It Isn’t All That We Do.”

Released in 2019, the album features recantations of letters Wagner wrote to the Fresno Bee’s editorial page in the late ’70s and ’80s, a time when she was “heavily committed to political activism.”

“I participated in protest marches, spoke to women’s groups and classrooms, did media interviews, lobbied politicians, spoke against anti-woman legislation, wrote and performed political songs at rallies and conferences, traveled to and lobbied in states that had not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution and generally worked for gender equality along with other progressive causes,” she wrote of the time.

The collection is appealing as a historical document, perhaps especially so those who yearn for the newspaper as it once was. Musically, there are some nice moments, but the sounds are mostly ambiance for Wagner’s voice and words.

“It Isn’t All That We Do,” is available on Bandcamp.

What am I missing? If you have anything you think I need to know, feel free to reach out: jtehee@gmail.com