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Emily Bartell on the life and death of Navajo Live
Her Bar None booking business lives on
Former Brick By Brick, Kadan, and Radio Room owner Chris Heaney (and two of his ice-hockey buddies) purchased the old Second Wind bar in San Carlos circa 2015. Their new venue, Navajo Live, focused on local bands and artists in a cozy bar space not too far removed from venues such as Soda Bar and The Casbah. Emily Bartell, who would play a pivotal role in the venue's operations, first visited Navajo Live in March 2016. She was going through a divorce at the time and a friend of hers, local musician Ted Stern (Hatfield Rain), encouraged her to stop by.
According to Bartell, Stern said, “Emily, you really need to go out and check out some music and be yourself. They do an open mic there. Just come out and just listen to some music.” After the initial visit, Bartell started to come out regularly, and to make connections with the musicians — man of whom were locals — at the bar. “I see a bunch of these musicians who are in pain,” she explains. “They have medical issues, and they don't have any coverage, and they don't know how to fill out an application. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is way too easy. I've got to help these people.’ So, I started doing fundraisers for different people at Navajo Live.”
Heaney and Bartell initially connected via this shared interest in helping aging musicians navigate the tricky waters of healthcare expenses. But by 2018, he had brought her on to do all the promotions for the venue. “Here's numbers for you,” she says. “The day that I started working at Navajo Live, promotion-wise, there were 1438 people following us on Facebook. I took a picture of it on my phone. The day I left, I took another picture: 7.2 thousand followers.” One successful tactic: targeting Facebook groups. “It does work, depending on what you do,” she explains. “I took on the task of being an administrator and moderator on a number of the groups in order to be able to do my promo without it being a problem — until Facebook decided it was a problem for them. It was another in for free, because that's the other thing about Navajo Live — there was no budget.”
The next step for Bartell was starting her own booking operation (Bar None Productions) and programming talent for Navajo Live. She tailored the bar’s schedule so that it became more “music all the time.” Low-attendance karaoke and goth nights were jettisoned to make way for multiple “band showcase” nights that featured new talent. “It would be two different bands each week, so that they were helping each other — or three bands, depending on how it looked,” she says. “And if you're talking about a metal night, you're talking four bands. It helped give them a chance besides the open-mic to build a following.” She also created a Nashville-style singer-songwriter round (a live music performance where multiple songwriters share songs and stories in a round-robin format) that ran for about four years.
Then came Covid. “I think it might have been four months that we were closed down,” she says. “Chris Heaney is a stickler for the law, so unlike the other places in town that stayed open, he refused. He would not open up until he had the official notice that his place was allowed to be open. So, it was a hard time for all of us. Then we opened back up and we were doing everything, but he also had gotten sick during the pandemic. I think he did a lot of thinking back during that time, and he's in a wonderful relationship. I think he just decided that it was time. He just didn't want to do music anymore, at least that's what he says. I've got a feeling he's going to start itching really soon.” But Navajo Live is no more.
Bartell is soldiering on with Bar None and booking shows at various venues around town for locals such as Daring Greatly, Mike Keneally, Totally 80s Band and Jeff Ousley’s monthly five-band showcase at Humphreys Backstage. Meanwhile, the old Navajo Live and Second Wind space will continue to host live music under new ownership and a new name, McGuffie’s Live. Among the shows scheduled for June are Fountain of Youth (6/7), Rotten Cabal (6/13) and Nemesis (6/20).
Here's something you might be interested in.
Emily Bartell on the life and death of Navajo Live
Her Bar None booking business lives on
Emily Bartell on the life and death of Navajo Live
Her Bar None booking business lives on
Former Brick By Brick, Kadan, and Radio Room owner Chris Heaney (and two of his ice-hockey buddies) purchased the old Second Wind bar in San Carlos circa 2015. Their new venue, Navajo Live, focused on local bands and artists in a cozy bar space not too far removed from venues such as Soda Bar and The Casbah. Emily Bartell, who would play a pivotal role in the venue's operations, first visited Navajo Live in March 2016. She was going through a divorce at the time and a friend of hers, local musician Ted Stern (Hatfield Rain), encouraged her to stop by.
According to Bartell, Stern said, “Emily, you really need to go out and check out some music and be yourself. They do an open mic there. Just come out and just listen to some music.” After the initial visit, Bartell started to come out regularly, and to make connections with the musicians — man of whom were locals — at the bar. “I see a bunch of these musicians who are in pain,” she explains. “They have medical issues, and they don't have any coverage, and they don't know how to fill out an application. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is way too easy. I've got to help these people.’ So, I started doing fundraisers for different people at Navajo Live.”
Heaney and Bartell initially connected via this shared interest in helping aging musicians navigate the tricky waters of healthcare expenses. But by 2018, he had brought her on to do all the promotions for the venue. “Here's numbers for you,” she says. “The day that I started working at Navajo Live, promotion-wise, there were 1438 people following us on Facebook. I took a picture of it on my phone. The day I left, I took another picture: 7.2 thousand followers.” One successful tactic: targeting Facebook groups. “It does work, depending on what you do,” she explains. “I took on the task of being an administrator and moderator on a number of the groups in order to be able to do my promo without it being a problem — until Facebook decided it was a problem for them. It was another in for free, because that's the other thing about Navajo Live — there was no budget.”
The next step for Bartell was starting her own booking operation (Bar None Productions) and programming talent for Navajo Live. She tailored the bar’s schedule so that it became more “music all the time.” Low-attendance karaoke and goth nights were jettisoned to make way for multiple “band showcase” nights that featured new talent. “It would be two different bands each week, so that they were helping each other — or three bands, depending on how it looked,” she says. “And if you're talking about a metal night, you're talking four bands. It helped give them a chance besides the open-mic to build a following.” She also created a Nashville-style singer-songwriter round (a live music performance where multiple songwriters share songs and stories in a round-robin format) that ran for about four years.
Then came Covid. “I think it might have been four months that we were closed down,” she says. “Chris Heaney is a stickler for the law, so unlike the other places in town that stayed open, he refused. He would not open up until he had the official notice that his place was allowed to be open. So, it was a hard time for all of us. Then we opened back up and we were doing everything, but he also had gotten sick during the pandemic. I think he did a lot of thinking back during that time, and he's in a wonderful relationship. I think he just decided that it was time. He just didn't want to do music anymore, at least that's what he says. I've got a feeling he's going to start itching really soon.” But Navajo Live is no more.
Bartell is soldiering on with Bar None and booking shows at various venues around town for locals such as Daring Greatly, Mike Keneally, Totally 80s Band and Jeff Ousley’s monthly five-band showcase at Humphreys Backstage. Meanwhile, the old Navajo Live and Second Wind space will continue to host live music under new ownership and a new name, McGuffie’s Live. Among the shows scheduled for June are Fountain of Youth (6/7), Rotten Cabal (6/13) and Nemesis (6/20).
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