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When, as a young man in 1981, Sam Rudin moved from his native Philadelphia to the East Bay, he quickly fell in love with the Freight & Salvage, Berkeley’s quirky little 87-seat concert hall.

Filled with comfortable thrift store furniture and an informal ambience of appreciative attentiveness, the Freight was a perfect fit for performers of modest renown and acoustically-based music.

As a solo (albeit high-energy) pianist, Sam’s music fit the bill, and the Freight became Sam’s home base. In the absence of other Freight-like rooms, Sam turned his solo performer attention to the outdoor fair and festival circuit, and later started the jazz/blues band Hurricane Sam & the Hotshots.

Now, maybe it’s all the energy he put into becoming a master piano teacher,  or maybe the fair and festival circuit just doesn’t have the right ingredients to nurture a high-profile career. Whatever the reason, despite critical acclaim, four CD’s, and a whole bunch of happy audiences, years later Sam was still a performer of modest renown, and he missed that great little room.

As the Freight grew and expanded, ultimately arriving at the gorgeous 420 seat theater that it occupies today, Sam started to feel that maybe it was up to him to recreate that wonderful small space. No longer a young man, it would be his late-life adventure.

Eventually, he found the perfect spot: a beautiful space with brick walls and vaulted wood ceilings right by the Arts District in downtown Berkeley. As of April 2016, it is open for business, complete with the requisite thrift store furniture.

The space is actually the back room of a larger building, so of course it is called The Back Room, and the tag line on its logo says it all – “an intimate place for music.”

The site, at 1984 Bonita Ave., also functions as Sam’s teaching studio, so if you’re looking for “The Piano Lessons You’ve Always Wanted,” now you know where to find them.

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Events

Andrea Prichett and Friends
Sun, Sep 7, 7pm - 9pm PDT 
Andrea Prichett and Friends
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Sheva Elliot - "Wild West Coast Summer Tour"
Wed, Sep 10, 8pm - 10pm PDT 
Sheva Elliot - "Wild West Coast Summer Tour"
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Scott Amendola’s SticklerPhonics
Thu, Sep 11, 8pm - 10pm PDT 
Scott Amendola’s SticklerPhonics
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
The Carmen Ratti Band featuring Jill Dineen
Fri, Sep 12, 8pm - 10pm PDT 
The Carmen Ratti Band featuring Jill Dineen
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Magic for Everyone!
Sat, Sep 13, 3pm - 5pm PDT 
Magic for Everyone!
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Blues & Jazz Singer's Jam Session with Sam Rudin & Pamela Rose
Sun, Sep 14, 3pm - 5:30pm PDT 
Blues & Jazz Singer's Jam Session with Sam Rudin & Pamela Rose
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Mamadou Sidibe - Eliyahu Sills - Kele Nitoto and special guest AshEL SeaSunz
Sun, Sep 14, 7pm - 9pm PDT 
Mamadou Sidibe - Eliyahu Sills - Kele Nitoto and special guest AshEL SeaSunz
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Insect Life with Myra Melford and Hamir Atwal
Thu, Sep 18, 7:30pm - 9:30pm PDT 
Insect Life with Myra Melford and Hamir Atwal
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Brass Ackwards: Brass with Sass!
Fri, Sep 19, 8pm - 10pm PDT 
Brass Ackwards: Brass with Sass!
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Sam's Corner
Sat, Sep 20, 8pm - 10pm PDT 
Sam's Corner
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Key Elements
Sun, Sep 21, 3pm - 5pm PDT 
Key Elements
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States
Pretty Good Stories
Wed, Sep 24, 7:30pm - 9:30pm PDT 
Pretty Good Stories
The Back Room, Berkeley CA, United States

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