Arts Listings

The Freight & Salvage Coffee House celebrates its 38th anniversary this Friday with a show that reflects the musical heritage and diversity that has long been its hallmark.  

Friday’s lineup will feature Phil Marsh as host. Marsh will also perform as part of the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, the first act to play at the Freight & Salvage when it opened nearly four decades ago. Sharing the stage with Marsh will be local country blues singer David Jacobs-Strain, known for his bottleneck guitar prowess, Audrey Auld Mezera, who prefers to describe her country-tinged folk style as “music with the dirt left on,” and clown/violinist and Cirque du Soliel veteran Geoff Hoyle. 

The diverse range of styles in the show reflects the wide variety of music that can be heard nightly at the Freight. Executive Director Steve Baker said his aim is “just try to put on a good show that people will enjoy.”  

In 1968 the Freight was the only club of its kind in the Bay Area and has been instrumental in the cultivation of the now flourishing local traditional music scene, Baker said. Its influence can be seen in the proliferation of folk music venues in the greater Bay Area, including San Francisco’s ever-growing Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival.  

The City of Berkeley is helping the club to purchase a new home in the downtown Arts District, which Baker hopes to move into by 2009. 

With the inclusion of the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, the venue’s first performers, and more recent favorites such as Jacobs-Strain and Mezera, the Freight & Salvage Coffee House is celebrating its 38th anniversary with a nod to its past and a look towards its future. 

FREIGHT & SALVAGE  

38TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW 

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $16.50 in advance and $18.50 at the door and are available through TicketWeb at 866 468 3399 or at the Freight box office from noon to 7 p.m. at 1111 Addison Street. www.thefreight.org.