Many things can happen in a year.
For Chronic Town, though, it's been even less than that. On Dec. 15 of last year, the institution formerly known as Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge, 224 W. College Ave., came under new ownership and was reborn with the title of R.E.M.'s 1982 EP Chronic Town. Since then, the lounge has proven itself as a legitimate music venue in State College, making several identifying changes within the establishment itself -- and according to management, more are definitely on the way.
The Changes They've Made
Since Jesse Ruegg and Jeff Van Fossan came into tenure, the lounge's main change has been its shift in focus to music, whether it be the live shows and DJ nights that they host or the continuous tunes playing over the speakers every day.
"Even with the music that we just play normally in the lounge, we want to make sure that what we're playing is good, and that maybe it's something people haven't heard before," Ruegg said.
One of the first modifications made was the installation of a new stage and sound system, which was put in during the spring of this year. Ruegg noted that the top-quality equipment attracts larger acts.
"We wanted to become a legitimate venue for international touring bands, so they could come and play here," Ruegg said.
Chronic Town employee Cameron Scott (junior-english and art history) agreed.
"The sound system is great, far better than anything you've ever heard," Scott said. "The stage is now conducive to good-sounding shows."
Starting this fall, the lounge has also begun selling new and used vinyl records, which are mostly acquired from record conventions across the state. A rack near the rear of the store now holds a couple hundred records, featuring a wide range of 1960 to 1980s rock and pop, with an emphasis on garage rock and punk.
"We also have a lot of '80s hip hop, classic rock and new wave records," Scott said. "A lot of it is stuff that we thought was cool and stuff we thought people in the college town would be interested in."
Ruegg said that while their record collection may be limited, there are definitely hopes of expanding it in the future. Their first goal was to just put records out and set up the basis for a record store, especially because State College has lost similar stores as a consequence of the Internet-downloading culture.
"It wouldn't be a traditional record store ... more like a gathering place to talk about music and hear new things," Ruegg said. "I learn a lot about music just being here all the time, and I definitely want that to be an aspect of Chronic Town."
These central changes aren't just limited to the audio aspect of the venue, either, as Chronic Town has been recently expanding upon its culinary services. Besides a wider selection of drink and coffee choices, the lounge is now selling products that appeal to the inner child of every college student -- cereal. Although Ruegg said they made the decision to sell cereal on a whim, the initiative has been relatively successful.
"Cereality gave us the idea, but we are of the belief that we do it better," Scott said.
The Changes They've Made In the Scene
Many know the venue as a host for weekly Roustabout! concerts, which have attracted either well-known or international names in the past such as Tally Hall, The Spinto Band, Oppenheimer from Ireland, and Loney, Dear from Sweden.
What many don't know is that Chronic Town also hosts various DJ nights, with its most popular being "Soulution."
"On the last Saturday of every month, we have a live DJ spin records of '60s soul and funk music, like Motown," Ruegg said. He noted that he would love to establish other permanent DJ nights of various genres, but just like anything else, the planning takes time.
"We're still ramping up and getting used to ourselves as owners," Ruegg said. "It's frustrating because we want to do so much more, but you have to take baby steps."
What they have done so far, though, is establish the lounge as a solid all-ages venue for indie-based music. In fact, one of the biggest differences between Chronic Town and other local venues lies solely in the fact that it's not a bar, so it can easily host underage shows, Ruegg said.
"Aside from SoZo, and the State Theatre, we're the only all-ages venue in the area," Scott said. "This is a drinking town, dominated by the 21-plus crowd. Us minors are left out in the cold.
"We cater to an audience that is largely ignored in the State College area. I mean, freshmen and sophomores are under 21 -- that's half the student population that's desperate for things to do," he said. "You can't go to LateNight or drink more Natty Ice, so we provide an alternative. I mean you can do those things, but not all the time."
Ruegg said their ability to hold underage shows really broadens their audience because they can have high school students and grad students attending the same concert. He explained that one band in particular, Tally Hall, has a mostly underage fanbase, so Chronic Town provides an ideal forum for that type of musical group.
Andrew Horowitz, the keyboardist and vocalist for Tally Hall, said he loves playing at Chronic Town.
"Chronic Town is one of my favorite venues, actually," Horowitz said. "It's really laid-back, and we get to communicate more with the audience than some larger venues."
Although many believe State College has seen a lack of original music since last May's closing of the Crowbar, formerly at 420 E. College Ave., the employees at Chronic Town believe they're slowly filling that void.
"Every local booking agent is talking about saving the music scene from its poor self," Ruegg said. "We just want to put on shows that we would like to listen to."
Ruegg did praise the work of several local booking agents that he believes are filling other niches throughout the area, like Cherry Darling Productions, Students Organizing the Multiple Arts (SOMA), and local show promoter Ted Swanson.
Not all of the local booking agencies are on the same page, however.
"Roustabout! is more of a 'lets chill on the couch and listen to Matt Pond,' " Garrett Bogden (junior-marking) of Nittany Booking said. "They just don't bring in the type of music that I'd personally listen to."
Ruegg said if that's how Nittany Booking feels, they're missing a lot of what Chronic Town is trying to do.
"They can do their thing, we'll do our thing," Ruegg said. "We're going after different subsets of people, so I don't really feel like we have a competition. There's 50,000 people here, everyone has their own niche."
Overall, Ruegg said, there is live local music for a variety of genres.
"If you look, there is stuff going on, especially recently," Ruegg said. "We've booked bands that are just as good as the bands you see in Spin [magazine] and hear on the radio. For the people who are into original music, there is definitely cool stuff out there if you look."
