A Blues Show Inside a Legendary San Francisco Recording Studio

What do Tupac, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kesha, CSNY, George Clinton, Green Day, Willie Nelson, Santana, Dead Kennedys, the Pointer Sisters and Kanye West have in common?

They’ve all recorded music behind the unassuming door at 245 Hyde Street, aka Hyde Street Studios. From 1969 to 1980, the Tenderloin building was home to Wally Heider Recording, a rule-breaking studio that was instrumental in creating the now-famous San Francisco Sound. In the ’80s and ’90s, Hyde Street — known for a setup that encourages live full-band recording — became a go-to spot for the Bay Area’s punk and hip-hop scenes.

What the studio has rarely been, over the course of 54 years, is open to the public. Which makes the upcoming tour and concert on Nov. 30, the first of what’s being dubbed the Hyde Street Studio Sessions, all the more special. A subset of the Tenderloin Museum’s ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin program, the evening will feature two sets from Oakland’s Lady Bianca — a veteran, Grammy-nominated blues singer — at its kickoff event.

Hyde Street’s homey feel has always been a major draw for musicians, beginning back in ’69 — especially compared to the cold, corporate LA studios the major labels were using at the time. This series will, accordingly, be intimate, with room for just 20 audience members per performance inside Hyde Street’s flagship recording room, Studio A. (For gear heads, that’s the one with the vintage Neve 8038 console, made in London in the 1970s. It also has a B-3 Hammond organ and a white Yamaha grand piano rumored to have once belonged to Frank Sinatra.)

Regardless of your level of audio nerdery, this evening offers a chance to see (and hear) a piece of San Francisco music history — and to celebrate the Tenderloin’s many cultural contributions at a time when the neighborhood could use some championing.

“The Tenderloin gets a bad rap,” acknowledges Hyde Street Studios manager Jack Kertzman. That’s why it was a no-brainer to host “an event like this, which gives everyone a little hope and optimism.”

“I get a ton of requests from people wanting to do events here — album release parties, corporate events. And we rarely do any of that,” says Kertzman. “But when the Tenderloin Museum came to us with this idea, it just sounded like a chance to do something really positive for the neighborhood, and a great way to highlight the history of the studio and the history of music in San Francisco.”

Kertzman, an audio engineer himself, says staff will lead a brief tour around the studio, then attendees can settle in for a performance by Lady Bianca, who has a long history of recording at Hyde Street over the course of her career. (Her discography includes several critically acclaimed solo records, as well as backing vocals for Sylvester, Merle Haggard, Sly and the Family Stone, Taj Mahal, Frank Zappa and John Lee Hooker.)

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If all goes well on Nov. 30, Kertzman says, fans can expect more of these sessions in the coming months. So go, walk the halls where Grace Slick once stumbled, learn some priceless Bay Area cultural history, take in a unique show — and please, nobody spill anything on the sound board.

The Hyde Street Studio Sessions featuring Lady Bianca takes place Nov. 30, with performances at 6 and 7:30 p.m., at Hyde Street Studios (245 Hyde St., San Francisco). Tickets ($25) and more info here.