Where the Music’s Finger-Pickin’ Good : Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like McCabe’s guitar shop

Concerts held at McCabe’s guitar shop in Santa Monica have always been fairly whole-grain affairs: mostly acoustic, folk-oriented shows with apple spice tea and oatmeal cookies at intermission.

So what were Evelyn and Alois Smrz doing eating McDonald’s fare while standing near the front of the line out on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica 45 minutes before show time on a recent Friday?

“I play guitar and I like to see what the guys on stage are doing,” explained Alois, somewhat sheepishly, as he licked French fry grease from his fingers. “And since I wear glasses I have to be close, so we had to get something we could eat quick so we could be near the front of the line.”

The concerts at McCabe’s are held in a space about the size of a large living room, holding only about 150 people. It’s all but impossible to get a bad view of the stage. Yet for more than 20 years people have lined up early and raced for the front rows to study the techniques and grimaces of the finest pickers and singers in the folk world.

And that’s true for more than just the folk-based music most often associated with the club. Though John Chelew, who produces the McCabe’s concert series, acknowledges that folk music is the night spot’s “bread and butter,” he is quick to point out that the menu is quite varied, that McDonald’s food isn’t so out of place next to the cookies.

It was in fact traditional music--the venerable bluegrass band Seldom Scene--that brought the Smrzes to McCabe’s that night and generally brings them to shows once a month. But the previous night a whole different set of regular McCabe’s patrons came to see L.A. troubadour and former rock scene mainstay Peter Case, while the night before that the club was invaded by a crowd dominated by McCabe’s first-timers to see a touted newcomer, English singer-songwriter Felicity Biurski. The only things common to those three shows were the setting and its intimacy--and, of course, the tea and cookies.

“I want it so people don’t get bored, but there’s consistency,” Chelew said. “If one night you have (bluegrass pioneer) Bill Monroe and the next night you have a spoken-word show with (punk figure) Henry Rollins, that’s good. There were two old women who came to see Bob Forrest of Thelonious Monster and thought he was great, and then there were leather mini-skirted girls coming to see Camper Van Beethoven who saw the notice about Bill Monroe and thought it sounded cool.”

Yet somehow, it’s always McCabe’s no matter who’s playing.

“It was exactly what I expected,” said Rob Beckert, an artist from San Diego who’s made his first trip to McCabe’s to see Peter Case. “I liked the warmth of the show.”

While the Smrzes and about 50 others waited outside, there was an impatient knock on McCabe’s door. The door was opened and in rushed Phranc, the self-described “all-American Jewish lesbian folk singer” who has been an acoustic mainstay in Los Angeles, spanning the old punk and new folk worlds. She made a beeline to a rack of music books.

“I need to find the words to ‘Union Maid,’ ” she explained. She’d just been told she was expected to perform the old organizing standard at a coal miners’ benefit being held up the street at the Music Machine that night. Soon Phranc found a book with the lyrics, realized she had a copy at home and was on her way out as suddenly as she arrived.

The list of musicians who have considered McCabe’s something of a second home is long, impressive and varied. Photos line the walls in the spaces not taken up by instruments: Ry Cooder and Van Dyke Parks presenting bluesman Roosevelt Sykes; Bonnie Raitt with blues influence Sippie Wallace; pre-superstardom Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris; and shots of a spectacular 1984 anniversary show featuring Richard Thompson, T Bone Burnett, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, David Lindley and surprise guest Elvis Costello.

There are few other places where performers of that stature can or will play in such a small setting. And even seasoned artists find that McCabe’s--as cozy as it is--can be a bit unsettling.

“People really do listen to the point of distracting the artist,” said Chelew, who has run the McCabe’s concert series since 1984. “Exene (Cervenka) said to me that it’s the best room in the world and the worst room. People aren’t drinking and smoking. There’s not much for them to do but look at the stage.”

Bob Riskin is not a regular McCabe’s concert-goer, though he’s certainly aware of its international reputation as a live music center. After all, he’s the owner.

“Putting on concerts is more fun than buying advertising,” said Riskin, explaining that the way he sees it, the concerts serve to promote McCabe’s “first” functions as a music store, repair shop and music school. “It keeps the name out there, and also gives you a place where you can buy a guitar, get it repaired, get lessons on it and come see someone perform who is very skilled on it.”

Riskin, 47, the son of actress Fay Wray and screenwriter Robert Riskin (“It Happened One Night”) hasn’t even attended one of the McCabe’s concerts in more than a year. The Cowboy Junkies was the last one; “I wanted to see what all the talk was bout,” he said.

“Sometimes we feel that the tail is wagging the dog, but the dog certainly pays for the tail,” Riskin said. “We do lose money on the concerts. Without a bar you can’t make money at this scale and pay the artists a a decent amount.”

The first McCabe’s concert, when the store was in a smaller building down the street, took place in 1968 when folk singer and guitarist Elizabeth Cotton had another L.A. show cancelled.

“We called our students and put a concert on to raise some money for her,” Riskin recalled. “It was an enchanting evening.”

At most clubs and concert halls you’ll find fans hanging out after the show hoping to meet the performers. At McCabe’s you’ll often find the performers hanging out hoping to meet fans.

Seldom Scene bassist T. Michael Coleman, who’s been playing at McCabe’s at least once a year since he started working with Doc Watson in 1973, made his way downstairs to mingle with the crowd after the show. Of course, he also had a few records to sell.

“You find this more in bluegrass,” he said. “Meeting people and coming down and selling records is what you do. And the audience wants to feel more like they know the performers.”

Among buyers were Gail and Kim Turett of Hermosa Beach, admitted “die-hard folkies” who have attended McCabe’s concerts at least once every two months for the past 15 years. Keeping that up was on their minds after they bought their Seldom Scene recording and had Coleman sign it.

“We gotta buy tickets for Tom Paxton,” Gail said, eyeing the sales counter. “That’s the next one.”