Bluebird Ice Cream shop hosts touring and local music

Neumos, Chop Suey, Comet Tavern, Bluebird Ice Cream. One of these things is not like the others, but in fact they all have one thing in common: all of them are music venues.

Its sweet treats will never play second fiddle to the bands it hosts, but Bluebird on East Pike Street and 12th Avenue has been hosting sporadic shows since January.

"The goal was never to make it a full-fledged venue, but we always wanted that to happen from the get-go," says Josh Reynolds, owner of Bluebird.

The space offers an alternative to the bar venues on Capitol Hill or the underground DIY venues throughout the city.

"It's a public space, and it's able to be an all-ages place," says Erin Birgy, who has been helping to organize some of the shows at Bluebird.

Having a space like this fills a niche in the music community.

"Especially in Seattle, there's just very, very few all ages venues," Reynolds says. "I understand why that is, but it's a bummer when the end product is [...] you can't see music when you're under 21."

And as long as the music doesn't run past 11 p.m. on weekends (or 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday), the shop isn't violating any noise ordinances. There is no cover charge for these events, but shows with touring bands have a suggested donation that goes straight to the bands.

As it is primarily an ice cream shop, Bluebird's nature as a venue for music is sort of a Clark Kent/Superman affair. On normal days, couches sit on the small stage that gets stripped for shows, just off to the side of a piano literally carried in for the shop's opening this past summer. It's a small stage in a small venue, which also makes an intimate yet flexible atmosphere for the performers that is especially unintimidating for the small bands the shop hosts.

"If there aren't a ton of people there, it still feels like there are people at the show and not a big empty space," says Jon Manning, who has also been involved in setting up shows. "But there's also different spots you can stand in there that will create a little more room, so even if there are more people, it can still accommodate it."

Though most of the bands to perform at Bluebird have been touring bands, Reynolds does hope it becomes a comfortable space for the local music community.

"Everything about this place should be about the community," Reynolds says. "I don't want to draw name recognition, but I want it to be for the community members."

Primarily, the stage has thus far been used for music to accompany Bluebird's monthly art openings, part of the Capitol Hill Blitz art walk. Recently, the shop has also been hosting Thursday open mic nights to make up for the closure of the Chai House, where weekly open mic nights were a fixture.

Although the intent to host other shows was always there, a regular schedule of shows fell low on the list of priorities amid the other stresses of a newborn business.

"I've just been very bad about curating shows," Reynolds admits. "The reason [Birgy and Manning] stepped up is because they wanted to."

After losing her job, Birgy heard from other friends in the local music community about Reynolds' interest in hosting shows at the shop and e-mailed him about setting up some.

"We had our first show and it was a really big turnout. He was really happy with it so we kept doing it," she says.

Not to mention, the attendance for music performances boosts Bluebird's visibility as a business.

"It increases foot traffic to his store," Manning says.

But ultimately, the idea was just born out of sheer interest.

"Myself and some other people who work here have a love of music," Reynolds says. "And we saw a public space where music can happen."

Bluebird Ice Cream will be hosting a show on March 15 at 7 p.m. featuring Elephant Micah, Lougow, Jason Clackley and Hooves and Beak. Suggested donation is $5.

Mary Pauline may be reached at entertainment@su-spectator.com