New Era at New Brookland — Soda Citizen - Photo Stories from the South

Photos and words by Sean Rayford

Deborah Adedokun wanted to buy a house in West Columbia. That is, until she learned about the sale of the building housing New Brookland Tavern. She panicked.

“All of a sudden, I was like, why am I gonna? There's no point. You know, I didn't realize how big of a deal New Brookland was to my whole psyche until it was threatened,” says Adedokun.

Deborah first came to the venue with her brother, David, when she was 14. “That’s where all of my brother's bands and where my friend’s bands played. So it was like Courage Riley and Doc Summers Band and [Adam Cullum].” As years passed, the space became a social and creative meeting spot for Adedokun - and her siblings. It was more than just a space to see music. It was a community hub. It was also a place for her youngest brother, Daniel, to stage dive in a dinosaur costume.

After a whirlwind autumn of final shows at the original location and a month-long push to prep the new spot in Five Points, the 39 year-old now finds herself tending bar inside the new New Brookland Tavern.

When she walked into the new place for the first time at the beginning of December she wasn’t sure if they could get the place operational for dive bar live music venue standards, for the first show in thirty days.

“It was just really, really trashed. We probably cleaned out a good three to four years worth of dance club nonsense off those floors,” says Adedokun, “The amount of built up trash in corners and behind things and right out in front of things was wild. The amount of dried liquor, beer, sodas and syrup over everything. The amount of things that just didn't work. Lights that didn't turn on. Bathrooms that weren't fully functional - was mind-blowing.”

Now in the heart of the college bar district neighboring the University of South Carolina, in a former theatre with the neighborhood marquee, New Brookland Tavern has moved into a new era. “If we’re gonna leave [West Columbia], this was the place to do it,” says Adedokun.

NBT owner, Mike Lyons WUSC alumni, and a host of the Friday Night Skarmageddon radio show on 90.5 at the turn of the century, operates New Brookland with a similar mindset: educating people about music. “I felt that was always an important thing,” says Lyons.

He is excited about the prospects of foot traffic that wasn’t in West Columbia and that the move will strengthen the Columbia music scene - making live music more accessible to those living downtown, including university students. Lyons wants to introduce live music to those who aren’t actively looking for it. “I know as a business, you're just looking to bring in bands to bring in people and make money. But having the ability to help grow bands as well…?"

When Carlin Thompson moved from Augusta to Columbia in late 2017, he started working at New Brookland as a door staffer and sound engineer. He soon began booking shows at the club and by 2020, he had taken over most of those responsibilities.

“The Cotton Gin was actually the first place we walked through,” says Thompson, “It just made sense. We weighed the options if we stayed. What is the future in [West Columbia]?”

Despite being a good fit for their new home, the Cotton Gin location presented a host of challenges preparing for the first night. Not just the clean-up, including a carpet of dried chewing gum under tables and bar counters, new lights and sound system components, but basic electrical systems. “I don't think we'll be at our full potential for at least another year. It's gonna be such a long term project,” says Thompson.

For Justin Osborne, a 36 year-old full-time musician from Florence, SC — known for his bands Susto and Sequoyah Prep School — New Brookland Tavern was the catalyst. It was the first place he saw live bands that he liked. It was the first place he saw bands visiting South Carolina on national tours and it was the first place he saw local bands playing original music and creating fanbases.

Primarily connected to the state capital with NBT in West Columbia, Osbourne had never stepped foot into the building Cotton Gin occupied until his band’s inauguration of the new New Brookland.

“I was immediately blown away at the potential that exists in that building for New Brookland Tavern — the spirit of New Brookland Tavern,” says Osbourne, “The main stage room is a step up. As much as I love the old New Brookland Tavern stage, it definitely left a few things to be desired. I feel like the new stage is really great size. The room is a really cool size. It's got this really cool, exposed roof infrastructure that reminds me of other cool venues.”

*Booking agent / sound engineer Carlin Thompson (right)*

For Osborne, New Brookland Tavern has been a place he could go and be himself with friends and make art — and see art. “You know, it's a place this is very special to me.”He looks at the venue’s move as not only a new chapter for NBT but also a new chapter for the local, state, and regional music scenes.

About the author: Sean Rayford worked as a bartender for more than ten years at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia before becoming a full-time photographer in 2014. He is primarily a photojournalist and documentary photographer, but also working with commercial clients on projects that fund the photo stories that you encounter here.

Video: Doors at New Brookland Tavern open for the first time in Five Points