The Anchor in Everett transforms into classy music venue

EVERETT — You won’t find a TV at The Anchor Pub.

However, if you like music, meeting up with friends, good coffee, beer, cocktails and food served late, The Anchor could be your new favorite place.

With an open microphone on Thursdays, then rock, blues, pop, reggae, hip hop, ukulele punk and other indie bands play on Fridays and Saturdays, followed by jazz on Sundays, The Anchor Pub has the corner on a well-rounded variety of live music.

A 100-year-old establishment with a sorta seedy, blue-collar, beer-joint past, The Anchor Pub has been run for more than a year by partners Christian Sayre, Andrew Lange and Khristina Riedel.

At The Anchor owners’ anniversary party in early August, the bands performing included David Callaway, Raj James, Spencer Carlson, the Lady Grace Band, Farrah Nuff, Keylin Mayfield, Often Rottin, Fighting Maniacs, Sphyramid and DJ Swade.

“Music is the emphasis here,” Sayre said. “Everybody has played at The Anchor at some point. It has a cool feeling and a lot of history. People have a lot of loyalty to the place.”

Adding sophistication to The Anchor’s music lineup is the Sunday jazz program.

Louise Uriu, the bass player in the local combo called the Jazz Pearls, performs at The Anchor with her group from 7 p.m. to closing on the fourth Sundays of each month. The rest of the band includes pianist Ashley Webster, trumpet player Eric Jellison and drummer Davy Nefos.

“I never had a home pub before because I was raising kids,” said Uriu, of Everett. “The Anchor has evolved into a community-oriented pub. I’ll go down there and run into all sorts of people, including city council members.”

Indeed, Snohomish County Executive John Lovick had his primary election-night gathering at The Anchor.

“What I like is that whether the music is rock, reggae, blues or jazz, it’s always excellent quality,” Uriu said. “I think people are figuring out that The Anchor is special.”

Everett’s Bob Strickland agrees.

Strickland’s Jazz Couriers play traditional jazz at The Anchor from 5 to 8 p.m. on the third Sundays of each month.

Located at the west end of Hewitt Avenue near the waterfront in Everett, The Anchor also hosts the Rafael Tranquilino Band playing blues, funk, jazz and more from 2 to 5 p.m. on second Sundays and the Gary Evans Collective playing contemporary jazz at 6 p.m. on first Sundays. Evans, a retired longtime Everett High School music teacher, includes friends and former students in his group.

No cover is charged at The Anchor, but people are encouraged to order food and beverages. The bands are paid a percentage of the take for the evening, Sayre said.

“It works out well,” he said. “The fans are growing and helping to support this endeavor. Jazz on Sundays has a nice following and it’s a really cool thing.”

Strickland, who plays trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn, spent his early years performing in such places as the Athens, Georgia, country club. He led a big band (playing music from the swing years) in Dallas, Texas, before moving to Snohomish County.

In 2005, he put the Couriers together. The current “crew” includes tenor sax player Brian Kent, jazz guitarist Al Lindbom, bassist Tim Koss, drummer Ben St. John, trombonist Dave Loomis, Scott Bachler on alto sax and Jim Knodle on trumpet.

“Our time at The Anchor started off slowly last November, but with a concerted effort on our part we now have a nice, stable audience of nearly 60 on our Sundays. People are spreading the word,” Strickland said. “We call our sessions a hosted jam and we enjoy having good players sit in with us. One night a fellow wanted to play the spoons with us, but we had to turn him down.”

The Anchor owners treat the musicians professionally, he said.

“We take the tack that we’re in a jazz club. We want people to talk with each other,” Strickland said. “The beauty of The Anchor is that it is lined in wood and the acoustics are good. The folks at The Anchor are doing good things. It’s working.”

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.