King Street's musical café gains popularity as ideal acoustic venue.

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Matt Carter

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Music venues come in all shapes and sizes, the most common of which are those where musicians are forced to perform over conversations and often overpowering room noise. While this may be the environment most touring performers are accustomed to, having the option of playing to a room of attentive ears interested in lyrics and musicianship can be a very appealing alternative for bands and solo acts alike.

Crumbs Café on King Street in Fredericton is quickly becoming known as one such venue. Over the past year, this unassuming café has grown into a great place to hear live music uninterrupted.

Dirk Dillinger oversees the entertainment bookings at Crumbs and has seen the interest from both the performers and the audience grow over the last several months.

"There had been a running open mic at Crumbs for a while and back then I really thought they should do more music because it really is a great room for playing and listening," said Dillinger. "We started off by adding some guitar workshops with Alex Bailey and Chris Mercer on Sunday afternoons and it really just started to grow from there. Shortly after that local musicians started to walk through the door to see if there was a night they could play."

Initially, the café decided to just leave their performance stage open most evenings for anyone interested in sharing a tune or two. With a small P.A. and a few instruments always on hand, word of this new city stage spread quickly through online forums and word of mouth.

Shortly after making music a part of their regular venue, the phone began to ring with more and more interested performers looking to take the stage.

"Word got out to musicians passing through town looking for a place to play," said Dillinger. "From there, managers and agents got to know Crumbs and things spread from there. After that, agents started phoning and before long, we started getting lots of calls on a regular basis."

A number of local and regional promoters specializing in acoustic acts soon got word of the Crumbs stage and have since developed a working relationship with Dillinger that has helped place the artist at the forefront of the evening.

"We're all working in conjunction with each other now and I really think this type of collaboration is the secret to keeping the entertainment industry rolling around," he said. "On the other side of that there are also a lot of the indie artists who come out and sell themselves. They just send down a copy of their CD so I can review it and decide if they'd be suited to the venue."

One of the café's defining features is their ability to offer live music to an all-ages crowd even though they are a licensed establishment.

"Crumbs is a licensed café," said Dillinger. "It doesn't have a full fledged nightclub license so there are a few differences that come with that. Patrons have to be served at their tables as opposed to getting their drink at the bar and being able to wander around. We don't have that type of a permit and we want to try and keep it that way be

cause we want to be able to provide shows for everyone from high school bands to touring acts."

Size is a major part of this café's charm. Crumbs can easily accommodate 90 patrons with a maximum standing crown of just over one hundred. This past summer, world renowned Nova Scotian singer/song writer Garnet Rogers played two sold out shows at Crumbs and fell in love with its intimate atmosphere.

"He thought it was great," said Dillinger. "He especially liked the fact that passersbys could see in from the street and get a sense of what they were missing."

While sold-out shows are now a common occurrence, Dillinger feels the room is at its best when it's just under the limit.

"We really don't ever want to have more than a hundred people in there because it would take away from the atmosphere and the comfortable part of the café," he said. "People really like the small closed-in room. From the outside it's kind of deceiving. It looks a bit stale or sterile because it's in an office building, but once people walk in their perception changes pretty quickly. It's a real cozy room. Our stage is pretty small but we can shuffle the room around to accommodate just about anything.

"Ninety per cent of the time it's a sit down, listening atmosphere, except for those occasional nights when we have multiple rock bands in. On those nights we clear away most of the seating and open the room right up so folks can get up and dance or stand right in front of the group. Those are fun nights too."

Artists from all over the world have performed on the Crumbs stage over the past year, including South African guitarist Tony Cox, Toronto blues mainstay Doc MacLean and Juno nominated singer/songwriter Joel Fafard. Upcoming acts in October include Ontario's The Good Loveilies, Coco Love Alcorn and Emm Gryner.

St. Andrews-based artist manager for Periwinkle Productions Jamie Steel said he feels there is a definite need for a good sit-down music venue in every city, as many of the artists he represents are not suited for the standard bar room stage.

"It has always been a little bit difficult to find places where the focus is on listening to music," said Steel. "I don't mean to say that there aren't great venues around where the audience is appreciative of stuff but because I deal with mainly acoustic solo or duo artists it's a little bit different than finding a spot for a band to play. Bands often are more into that kind of party mode, wanting people to be up and moving around but there are some people who's music doesn't really lend itself to that."

Halifax recently became home to a couple of similar venues where the focus is directed on the entertainer first and foremost. Both The Carleton and The Company House offer musicians an alternative to the noisy stage.

As an experienced promoter, Steel is pleased to welcome Crumbs to his own list of potential venues but feels that simply having a stage to play on is only half the battle.

"There is a whole process involved in building an awareness, building a culture, and getting people out to these venues," he said. "Everyone's not going to come out to every show but it is possible to build a strong base of regulars. I believe it can be done anywhere. It just requires perseverance and commitment to do it and I also believe that a venue has to view it as an important thing by putting that artist first."

From all accounts, it would appear Crumbs Café is on the right path. While they may not have a website of their own, they do have a Facebook page listing upcoming acts and ticket information, and through word of mouth and good old fashioned posters, the good news of this little-venue-that-could will surely continue to spread in the coming months.