The Palms Playhouse Documentary Project

 

The Closing of the Palms Playhouse

all photos courtesy of Paul Luscher,
   LPL Photography - used by permission

The Project :

Urbanization
California's great Central Valley, referred to with pride and genuine awe, is yielding to the pressures of population and growth. "In a state that leads the nation both in agricultural production and numbers of new residents added annually, urbanization steadily nibbles away at farmland resources. The problem of farmland conversion is especially pronounced in the Central Valley, California's premier agricultural region….About 15,000 acres of farmland in the 18 counties were converted per year in the 10 years between 1984 and 1994." (Alvin D. Sokolow. Farmland Policy in California's Central Valley: State, County, and City Roles)
This loss is more than impersonal statistics juxtaposed over deed transfers and a changing landscape. It is a loss of the most non-renewable resource we have - prime agricultural farmland - in the relentless urbanization of the Central Valley that is expanding its already significant metropolitan areas of Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Sacramento, and Stockton. Agricultural land and wildlife habitat continue to be in peril as increasing population creates increasing demands for development.
Since 1990, Yolo County, perhaps the most environmentally progressive and proactive of counties, has lost more than 22,000 acres of some of the richest agricultural lands and wildlife habitats in California and established over 3,500 acres of new urban areas. Urbanization and destruction of open space reflect the dramatic 50% increase in the Central Valley's urban population over a 15-year period between 1980 and 1995. A vivid example of such loss and resulting change can be seen through the lives of real people and events accompanying the closure of The Palms Playhouse of Davis in Yolo County.

The Palms Playhouse
The Palms Playhouse in Davis was really just a barn, rather young as barns go, but the rough and honest demeanor of its early years was the perfect setting for what was to become a cultural icon for California. It had modest, corrugated metal roofing and sides, a bare concrete floor, and old wooden walls whose acoustic virtues were extolled by guest performers. Its structural flaws were easily overlooked by loyal fans who viewed them as part of its inimitable charm.
But, the Palms was more than a mere physical structure. It started out as a theatre in the rough in the early l970s, but, musical performances, initially added to fill in the vacant weekdays and augment its income, soon became its primary focus. It was a place where musicians and listeners held an intimate rapport within the rustic and unpretentious farm structure. It became both a family and a community for even the most casual visitor.

Consummate Performers
The Palms Playhouse presented literally hundreds of critically renowned and Grammy-winning entertainers over the span of its lifetime. Some of the performers who appeared there include Steven Stills of "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young," Etta James; Mose Allison; John Lee Hooker; Maria Muldaur; ; NRBQ; Big Mama Thornton; folk stars Dave Van Ronk and ; Tom Rush; bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. Queen Ida; John Hiatt; Tom Russell; blues legend Willie Dixon; Dar Williams; and Laura Love.
All kinds of music worked in its magical confines. In just its final six months of performances, the Palms presented artists ranging from legendary folksinger Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, to a standing room only crowd with world-acclaimed classical music cellist Matt Haimovitz, who has performed with such distinguished artists as Zubin Mehta, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman and Yo-Yo Ma.
The breadth of music included folksinger John McCutcheon, who counts Pete Seegar and Studs Terkel among his biggest fans, to the 12-piece Western Swing group "Lost Weekend"; the blues guitar wunderkind Corby Yates to fast-rising Irish music supergroup Solas; from country/blues/roots-rock avatar Dave Alvin to the world-renowned Cajun band "BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet," from chart-topping country singer/songwriter Steve Seskin to blues harmonica greats Charlie Musselwhite and Norton Buffalo. Many of these bands and performers have appeared on such national showcases as Garrison Keiller's "Prairie Home Companion" on National Public Radio and on "Austin City Limits" on PBS. The Palms presented artists who needed the intimacy of a small environment to effectively convey the messages that they brought, as well as artists who routinely played much larger venues.
From Alejandro Escovedo to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Chris Hillman, considered the father of progressive country/country rock, to the a cappella of "The Bobs" and the quirkiness of "Those Darn Accordions", from Texas-bred music to San Francisco eclecticism, there was always something to satiate every cultural taste. And there were a hundred more artists, of equal caliber and equal stature in the music world, who would remind their booking agents to “be sure to include the Palms on our West Coast swing."
The Palms, for such an understated facility, drew its audience from a vast geographic area. Far from a “local” club, the Palms truly was a regional treasure. Its musically-knowledgeable patrons regularly drove from places like Nevada City, Placerville, Stockton, Napa, Walnut Creek and even Santa Cruz to sit on dilapidated, uncomfortable folding chairs without complaint in this revered barn.

This remarkable place of music closed its doors in late August 2002, when its 2-acre site was finally sold.

A Significant Loss
As both tribute and recognition of a highly significant loss of something unique and irreplaceable, reporters and photographers from San Francisco to Sacramento told the story of the Palms: its humble beginnings, its colorful 27 years of life, and its poignant end.
Such a story, worthy of telling in itself, masks a bigger story that is often difficult to tell with passion and humanity. The Palms lost the fight for economic survival as it became surrounded, as an anachronistic island, in the midst of an urban sea. The advancing edge of urbanization did not occur suddenly. The Palms, once surrounded by open farmland, was gradually surrounded by houses and eventually succumbed to the relentless, perhaps inevitable, move toward higher density urban society.
The site has been transformed into new apartments built over the dust of the old barn and the faded spirits of those who sang and played there.