Interdependent Existence
How guitar communities around CKHS build Silverdale cohesiveness.
Guitar Cafe, 3381 NW Bucklin Hill Rd Silverdale, WA98383
Just down the street from Central Kitsap High School (CKHS), students and community alike have been able to rely on the Guitar Cafe for the past five years. Guitar Cafe is a music focused cafe that has had exponential influence on the Silverdale community beyond the environment it provides for local artists to flourish.
Guitar Cafe was co-founded five years by Paola Rutledge and her husband, Rutledge was born and raised in northern Italy and has since moved here she said. Before COVID, Guitar Cafe was a place where live music was frequent, and the focus of the cafe’s lively heart, said Rutledge, “music is the primary thing.”
Rutledge also said that the Cafe became a meeting place for people in music and the arts in the community.
For Rutledge and company, this Cafe was a project with a specific design from the start, Rutledge said, “this is supposed to be fun.”
Guitar Cafe is intentionally not a bar, said Rutledge, they limit their alcohol options and ensure that the focus of the cafe is the local artists performing at the cafe, and the relationships they build together.
The business has also donated to many community projects, including providing some meals to customers who were unable to afford it.
“We do work with disabled vets, we donate guitars to them,” Rutledge said. “We’ve done a lot of fundraising events, providing gift baskets and certificates and all that to everything from swim clubs to music… you name it. We’ve been active in that respect.”
The response the Cafe has to individual and community needs proves how interwoven their existence is with the community surrounding them.
“So we had two gentlemen that [music over the decades] was their passion in life, so we designed a program around them,” Rutledge said.
This interdependency was felt by the cafe when COVID-19 hit, and live performances had to stop. Since then, the Cafe’s main revenue has shifted to their retail business.
For Nathan Van Boven, junior and the CKHS Guitar Club President, this is an attractive feature to the Cafe.
“I’ve been wanting to go to the Guitar Cafe to honestly just see the guitars,” he said.
According to the consensus of five CKHS students, COVID-19 has greatly affected their high school experience, but the effects of COVID-19 have reached past age boundaries and into many communities beyond.
Rutledge said, “It’s unfortunate that the pandemic has such an effect on all businesses and people so it’s really put a damper for everybody, and for us.”
Some days, the Cafe has close to no traffic, while other days still have a steady stream.
For the next few weeks, you can go to the Cafe on Saturdays from 1-3pm and enjoy or join a music jam session. All levels of experience are accepted and the intent is to develop their skills, said Rutledge.
The revival of some jam sessions have been of exponential significance around Silverdale, and any amount of community building has meant a lot to the people involved.
David Tracewell, the CKHS Guitar Club Advisor, recognized this in his discussion and said, “I try to make this club like my college days.” These days were of a lot of value to his younger self, Tracewell said.
The club’s vice president, Aavery Andrews calls the club “all chilled out” and clearly expressed an invitation to anyone who wants to come hang out in Tracewell’s room, 1204, after school every Monday to participate in any of the many facets of the club.
The interdependence of the musical soul of Silverdale and the opportunities to collaborate and share proves the significant effects of clubs and businesses like these to bring people together to nourish the constructive, shared passions.
