Humboldt Today with John Kennedy O'Connor

When Will Humboldt Enjoy Live Music Again? Longtime HumBrews Booker Laurel Weston Weighs In

It’s awfully quiet around here these days. Despite our remoteness and relatively low population, Humboldt has historically overachieved with regards to the number of quality touring musical acts we’ve been able to seduce behind the Redwood Curtain. Maybe it’s due to our being a halfway point between Portland and the Bay Area. Maybe it’s our reputation as a whimsical artist’s escape. Maybe it’s our famous music-enhancing products. Either way, over the years we’ve been spoiled by a high-caliber soundtrack.

Of course, our ample concert supplies were wiped out in March when COVID-19 silenced sound systems countywide. And few people have had to wrestle with that reality as much as Laurel Weston. For over a decade, Weston booked shows for Humboldt Brews in Arcata, inarguably one of the county’s most coveted stages. On this week’s episode of Humboldt Holding Up, LoCO speaks with Weston about losing the community role she’d built for herself to a global pandemic and also asks her what the odds are of rekindling our musical mojo. (Spoiler: It’s complicated.)

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When Will Humboldt Enjoy Live Music Again? Longtime HumBrews Booker Laurel Weston Weighs In