In the opening pages of the new zine, Under the Table and Screaming: Volume 1, musician Gina Sobel says, “If you run into a friend who just left the Tea Bazaar, you ask them, ‘Oh, were you just at the Tea Bazaar?’” This is a reference to the distinctive smell of the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, a second-floor venue that has been hosting performers since 2002. Its mixture of loose leaf tea, vegetarian fare, and hookah provide a sensory effect that is a critical aspect of time spent sidled up to the bar or watching a band on the tiny stage. It permeates the air and defines the unique venue.
For those new to “the tea house,” as it’s often known, the zine details the physical space (smells and all), setting the scene for what it’s like to see live music performed there—or to be a band lugging gear upstairs, “a band’s worst nightmare … But oh, is it worth it.” Under the Table and Screaming: Volume 1, written by Erin O’Hare, marks the first in a series of zines published by WTJU that celebrates local music venues, past and present.
WTJU General Manager Nathan Moore says, “For years, I toyed with the idea that WTJU ought to literally write the book on Charlottesville music. It’s a way for us to celebrate the DIY and independent venues and artists we love.” Early in the pandemic, Moore reached out to O’Hare, a WTJU D.J. and Visible Records music booker, to see if she was interested in writing that book. As a former C-VILLE Weekly writer who covered the local music scene, O’Hare dove in, interviewing more than 60 people and writing a manuscript to submit to a local publisher. She recalls, “I knew that I wanted a diverse set of voices. … And, as always, people will lead you on the path, like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to talk to so and so.’”
When book publication plans didn’t work out as planned, O’Hare and Moore adjusted course, deciding to format the material as a series of zines, which could be more playful in format and content. “I wanted it to be approachable, fun, and have a ton of personality, because the places I’ve chosen to write about have a lot of personality,” says O’Hare.
In the decision to launch the series with a volume dedicated to the tea house, O’Hare had plenty to play with. “Because of the open-mindedness of Tea Bazaar and the people who’ve booked it, it has welcomed everything from avant-garde jazz to electronic music, from local folk to hip-hop and raucous indie rock. They’ve also held poetry readings, haiku slams, and country Christmas concerts complete with homemade cookies,” she writes.
Tea Bazaar founders Matteus Frankovich and Jason Andrews envisioned it as a place to celebrate tea traditions and host bands. “The energy [behind it] was to create a public living room and open it up to folks and whatever energy they brought in there that kind of resonated,” Frankovich says in the zine. The rest is history, captured by O’Hare through no-holds-barred interview excerpts alongside canonized menu highlights (when was the last time you enjoyed a matcha cooler?) and bands that have taken (and shaken) the venue’s small stage.
For those who rattled their cups and saucers dancing at Tea Bazaar shows in the aughts, sidebars about Borrowed Beams of Light, Dark Meat, Bucks and Gallants, Left and Right, and others, will spark plenty of memories. The zine also features an archive of selected show posters designed by (former C-VILLE Weekly columnist) James Ford, along with photos of live performances and celebrations at the venue. Still, O’Hare does not narrow her focus too tightly on any specific tea house epoch, acknowledging that, “in every music scene everywhere, the ‘best era’ is the one the person you’re talking to was involved in.”
Using this as a guiding principle, her work highlights a range of voices from the tea house’s past and present. Though O’Hare is open about the limitations to how much history she was able to include in the zine, the far-ranging perspectives she features are also a nod to the hundreds of others who have booked shows, worked behind the bar, hauled gear up those stairs, and cleaned up the afterparties, as well as the thousands who have attended shows over the years. “Honoring the work that people have put in to make these spaces is what I’m most proud of,” says O’Hare. “That was one of the best things about working on this: So many people talking about what they love and why they love it.”
WTJU plans to publish four more issues in the zine series, “highlighting 10 more venues and sharing a bunch of anecdotes about past venues,” according to Moore. In other words, if you’re interested in taking a deeper dive into the history of the Pudhouse, The Bridge, The Front Porch, or Fellini’s, to name but a few, stay tuned.
