When R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe was just a lowly art student at the University of Georgia in 1980, the college town of Athens, Ga., had yet to emerge as a thriving music town.

But after scoring a hit on college radio, R.E.M. was ready to release its first EP upon the world in 1982. That EP, Chronic Town, introduced the band to the college rock underground. Five years later, the band's albums were going platinum, and Athens suddenly had a name to hang its hat on. Now the town boasts a

musical pedigree including the B-52's, Widespread Panic and newer acts such as Danger Mouse and Of Montreal.

But no one seems to remember that first EP that put R.E.M. on the map, the one that transformed a college town into a musical mecca. No one except Jeff Van Fossan, who recently became the owner of the downtown establishment formerly known as Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge, 224 W. College Ave. Not only that, but he decided to pay tribute to R.E.M. by naming it Chronic Town, after the band's debut.

"It's in reference to R.E.M. and the music scene that existed in what I thought the music scene was like in every college town when I was a kid," Van Fossan said. He also quoted former R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry, who said Chronic Town was "a city in the state of mind."

Van Fossan, who is also the organizer of the weekly indie-rock concert series Roustabout!, said while the establishment will still have hookahs and hand-blown glass, the main focus would be on music.

Chronic Town's change of management is just the most recent development in the changing face of the State College music scene. Since Crowbar, formally at 420 E. College Ave., closed in May, many have worried about the lack of a small music venues to balance the large-arena atmosphere of the Bryce Jordan Center. But with the emergence of Chronic Town and Lulu's Nightspot, 129 1/2 Pugh St., as legitimate music venues, at least a part of the gap has been filled.

Ted Swanson, who promotes shows for Lulu's Nightspot, said the venue is also looking to increase the number of touring acts to play in State College, which is evident from last week's Lemonheads show and next month's Hold Steady show.

"We're only booked up through the third week in March," Swanson said. "There's still more to come. It looks like April's going to be the busiest month."

Tony Sapia, owner of Lulu's Nightspot, said booking a national act is not a simple task.

"The whole idea is to grab national acts when they're coming through the area and to provide a local outlet or venue," Sapia said. "Really to try and get the national acts it's not as easy as just calling up. You have to get them right when they're coming through."

While that struggle in booking national acts also holds true for Van Fossan, the addition of Chronic Town as a music venue has given him more versatility in booking, he said. The normal Roust schedule only permits one Wednesday show at the Darkhorse Tavern, but Van Fossan said he no longer has to worry about finding artists that only have Wednesdays open on their tour schedules.

"Chronic Town allows Roustabout! to have a much wider selection of days," Van Fossan said.

He added that the benefit of an all-ages venue allows for more benefit shows and other events, such as DJ battles pitting the music from two "rival" bands such as The Beatles and Rolling Stones against each other.

Van Fossan said the name was an extension of the lounge's new focus on music and is unrelated to the drug connotations that "chronic" carries. He alluded to U2's live cover of "Helter Skelter," in which Bono proclaimed, "Charles Manson stole this song from the Beatles; we're stealing it back."

"We're repossessing the word," Van Fossan said. "I'm hoping people will know it as a music venue."

That attitude became important in the early stages of Chronic Town. In light of a rave at the lounge in 2001 at which a Penn State alumna died from a drug overdose, Van Fossan was set on asserting that Chronic Town is more about rock than reefer.

Jesse Ruegg, who has worked with Van Fossan as the promoter of Roustabout! and will manage Chronic Town, said the lounge's focus on music won't just be limited to live shows.

"When we're not having shows, we're trying to play good music all the time," Ruegg said. "Hopefully that'll branch out into selling records, selling T-shirts, perhaps having a record label at some point. We have to take everything in kind of baby steps. Probably a lot of the bigger changes are going to happen over this summer."

Those goals are lofty considering Van Fossan had no intention of buying the place when he found out it was up for sale last summer. But after gaining support from Ruegg as well as friends and family members, he went headfirst into the operation.

Ruegg said the interest gradually progressed until mid-December, when the transaction was made official.

"It was more of an idea more than anything, like, 'Well, that would be cool,' " Ruegg said of the beginnings. "But we didn't think it would actually happen. The more we talked with the previous owner, the more we realized it would be feasible to do."

Ruegg, who just last fall was growing fruit flies in a research lab on campus, will run the business on a day-to-day basis.

"It was, and it has been, and it continues to be a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it," Ruegg added.

Two of the friends helping out with the financial end of the bargain were Nick Krill and Jon Eaton, members of the Roust veteran, indie-pop hit-making Spinto Band.

"We just helped out with getting it started up," Krill said. "We like that place as a venue. A lot of stuff could happen there -- concerts, a record store. It could be an umbrella for a lot of different things."

Besides the business plans for Chronic Town, Ruegg said the venue will be "green," using all-natural products and serving vegan and vegetarian food.

"We're trying to use cleaning products and things like that that are eco-friendly," Ruegg said. "We're recycling everything we can, minimizing waste. And also that carries over into how we treat people that work here."

While there's no guarantee that State College will be producing an artist of the same caliber as R.E.M., if the burgeoning music scene continues to grow, it's not out of the question.

With the addition of Chronic Town's new stage and sound system, there are now a number of music venues in State College available for up-and-coming local bands, including Dragon Chaser's Emporium, 209 W. Calder Way and SoZo, 256 E. Beaver Ave.

Van Fossan put his take on the current state of the scene bluntly.

"Anyone who bitches about not having a place to play, it's because their band sucks or they can't draw a crowd."