July 5, 2023 By Zack Ruskin SF Chronicle
On a typical Monday night, downtown Healdsburg is usually a sleepy place. But earlier this month, the sidewalk in front of vegan restaurant Little Saint was hopping, transformed into a makeshift tailgate party for indie rock supergroup Boygenius.
Among those in attendance was Anjie Scheuren, who flew up from San Diego. Though she’d never been to Healdsburg before, the chance to see Boygenius play an intimate venue in Wine Country was simply too incredible to pass up.
“Little Saint was exactly the type of venue I had hoped to see them play,” Scheuren said following the concert. “I’ve been to so many shows over the years, and this just felt so personal and comfortable. I feel like everyone knew how special it was and how lucky we were to be there.”
Booking the trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker to play for a crowd of 200 people on June 5 above a restaurant dining room a day after their sold-out show at Re:SET festival at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater is unquestionably the biggest coup yet for Jonny Fritz and Laurie Ubben.
And it certainly didn’t happen by accident.
The origins of Monday night’s landmark show stretch back a decade to when Little Saint owner Ubben and Fritz first met during a rain delay at the Newport Folk Festival. As Fritz tells it, Ubben introduced herself moments after he had tackled his bass player into the mud, which incited a minor riot on the field.
“I figured, if somebody was willing to greet you and welcome you in while you’re getting kicked out of a benefit festival covered in mud, you’ll pretty much be able to survive anything with that person,” he said with a laugh.
Together, Fritz and Ubben have not only survived, but thrived. With Fritz as Little Saint’s music director, word has spread about their unique venue, where fans often choose to sit on the floor during performances and where the artist always comes first. Having spent 15 years on the road as a full-time touring musician, Fritz knows what sets a venue apart from an artist’s standpoint.
It means free meals for performers, compensation even when the show is free for attendees, and the chance to play in a tiny room with a world-class sound system and top-notch acoustics. It’s all part of a philosophy that Fritz is certain will pay substantial dividends down the road.
“I believe that if you make it nice for the artists, they’ll be your biggest promoters,” Fritz, who presents shows under the moniker Dad Country, explained. “That’s really been my approach: sticking true to what Laurie and I love, music-wise, and treating the artists better than anybody else.”
Launched in April 2022, Little Saint’s music program already has managed to snag a slew of high-profile acts with this tactic, including Rufus Wainwright and separate solo shows from Dacus and Bridgers. Bridgers’ first concert at Little Saint, which took place last August prior to her appearance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands music festival, would garner national attention for the venue.
“It was such an unbelievably big jolt for us,” Fritz said of Bridgers’ solo set at Little Saint. “I thought it would take us three years to get to the point where people would be reaching out to me because their artists are specifically asking to play this venue, but it’s already happened.”
As for what drew Bridgers, and then Boygenius, to make the trek to Healdsburg, Fritz bestows the credit chiefly to Ubben. “Had it not been for Laurie’s personal connection to Phoebe from the get-go, it never would have happened,” he said.
The pair’s relationship is so close that Bridgers and her Boygenius bandmates spent time at Ubben’s home in Healdsburg to write some of the material for the band’s 2023 release, “The Record.”
But Little Saint’s appeal is not limited to the occasional appearance of a band that has recently graced the cover of Rolling Stone. The venue has also welcomed a steady stream of local talent, including Napa native Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams and Oakland transplants like Seattle singer-songwriter Madeline Kenney and the introspective pop of New York native Hand Habits. The venue also notably hosted queer country icons Lavender Country for what would serve as their second-to-last show following Patrick Haggerty’s death last October.
As Fritz sees it, Little Saint is a place to catch the Phoebe Bridgers of today and tomorrow.
“The Phoebe Bridgers stuff has been incredible, but the rest of the calendar has been incredible too,” Fritz said. “You may not have heard of all these people, but it’s that kind of stuff that really gets my bubble blowing. … I’ve always been an advocate for artists who are lesser known.”
To that end, Little Saint hosts free Thursday night concerts to showcase rising artists. June’s offerings concluded with evenings featuring Los Angeles singer-songwriters Jamie Drake and Jenny O. Fritz also encouraged people not to miss an Aug. 7 appearance from a performer who might be playing arenas on his next tour — balladeer Sam Burton.
It’s all part of Little Saint’s plan to support and invest in a new generation of stars who will help grow a fan base for the venue.
“We could make a couple hundred bucks after expenses,” he explained, “or we can really build someone’s career by getting as many people as possible to the show for free. Then, maybe when they’re a megastar like Phoebe Bridgers, they’ll come back and say, ‘I remember when you guys put on that free show and paid me anyway.’ That’s what we want.”