On Aug. 22, 2023, local music venue New Brookland Tavern announced on social media that its building was up for sale. Almost immediately, the announcement was met with surprise and worry from musicians who had gotten their start at the venue and see it as a rite of passage for any Columbia artist.
"I was shocked," University of South Carolina alumnus Blake Hunter said. "I was super surprised. I just couldn’t believe it."
Hunter is the drummer for Homemade Haircuts, a Charleston-based indie-pop rock band with roots in Columbia. Hunter played his first official gig at New Brookland Tavern when he was a teenager.
"I started playing there when I was 15, and it was just cool to have," Hunter said. "It felt like a real live rock and roll place because I played in a friend’s backyard once before that, but that wasn’t a real real gig. And it was cool that they let a few 15-year-olds hop on stage at this place, where I’d already seen a few bands."
Bob Magee, the co-frontman of Homemade Haircuts and another USC alumnus, said the band has performed at the bar several times over the last two years and even held the release party for its album "Sun Showers" there.
"We played there earlier this year in 2023 with Daddy's Beamer, which was maybe the first time we played a sold-out show at New Brookland, or close to it," Magee said. "A lot of our important shows in Columbia, like in the history of the band, have been at New Brookland."
Magee is not the only musician that feels like some of his band's most important shows have been at New Brookland Tavern. Tony "Opus" Williams, the lead singer and founder of the Columbia-based band Opus and the Frequencies, credits much of his group's success to shows there.
According to Opus, New Brookland is a staple of the Columbia arts scene because it emphasizes local and original artistry.
"New Brookland has been there for a very long time, championing a lot of the local bands — not even just the local bands, (but) anyone that’s come through," Opus said. "This showcases that this place has been ... the pinnacle of where you want to start in Columbia if you really want your name to be known."
Without New Brookland Tavern, Opus said there would not be many places for artists to premiere and workshop their original music as a stepping stone towards bigger Columbia venues, such as The Senate. Third-year marketing student Logan Cory said the staff at New Brookland Tavern are helpful in boosting young performers and even provided sound mixing for his band at one point.
“It’s a good place to get gigs," Cory said. "As artists, you always need places to go, and that’s why you practice as much as you do, so that you can go and perform, and this is a cool place to perform.”
Paisley Marie, the bassist of Homemade Haircuts, said the venue is also unique because it is open for all ages, and that type of space is rare in Columbia. Other venues, such as Art Bar, are strictly 21 and up.
"As somebody growing up playing music in Columbia, New Brookland is the only place that you could (not only play) but also go to see live original music and have your friends come," Marie said. "The importance of a space like that really can’t be underestimated. I grew up in New Brookland. I was there all the time."
Evelyn Atkins, the bassist of the band Sweet Spine and a second-year mechanical engineering student, said New Brookland Tavern has a stronghold with students, sitting less than 10 minutes away from campus. If it were to move, she said she hopes for a more affordable and updated space, but the current location is a best-case scenario.
"Ideally, if they were able to stay in the location they're at and just do some remodeling, that would be really cool," Atkins said. "But I definitely understand rent and everything and having to move, so I just hope that we can help raise awareness and funds for them to be able to do what they want instead of being forced into something that is not gonna work out for them."
According to Magee, the announcement in August was a wake-up call for the longtime performers about how important it is to have a venue in Columbia like New Brookland Tavern that is for all ages and can host a variety of shows.
"New Brookland has every type of music for every type of crowd," Magee said. "When the news broke, everyone that I know through music was sharing the GoFundMe and bringing attention to it because we need it, Columbia needs something ... it was a reminder, 'This can go away.'"
All things considered, Marie said she does not see the venue disappearing anytime soon.
"There’s a lot of people in this community that are going to work really hard to make sure that New Brookland doesn’t go anywhere as a business, even if it’s not that building," Marie said.
In a statement to The Daily Gamecock, Carlin Thompson of New Brookland Tavern said the business hopes to announce more information in the coming days. In the meantime, Thompson and the staff have organized a GoFundMe to help facilitate a next step.