The downtown music venue also plans renovations and adding a new "speakeasy" bar area

The Hi-Fi Music Hall is now Sessions Music Hall. The name change and renovation plans were announced Tuesday by current owner Danny Kime.

After a protracted legal dispute between Hi-Fi Music Hall’s original founders, the facility has a new ownership group that plans to update the inside of the venue — it will continue to operate as a music venue and bar, just under its new business name. The grand opening date of Sessions Music Hall will be announced soon, Kime said.

“We have established new company partnerships to operate the business moving forward,” Kime said in the press release. “I’m excited to close the door on Hi-Fi and open another door to Sessions Music Hall."

Previously scheduled shows on Friday and Saturday will proceed as planned.

The owners plan to book a full slate of concerts for the venue. Kime said that their goal is to offer almost daily concert choices at what now will be three of Sessions’ music venues — adding a new "speakeasy" bar in the back end of the building, joining the existing Main Hall and Lounge.

Kime plans to have the Speakeasy open seven days a week accompanied by jazz and acoustic sets.

In the Hall, he hopes to increase the number of shows from the previous 80 to 100 shows to 150 to 250 shows a year. In the Lounge, he hopes for entertainment six days a week.

The entertainment updates will align with significant interior renovations intended to spruce up the venue and give each section a distinct feel. The main entrance box office will move across the lobby to make room for a merchandise area.

“There will be a bigger, better box office and then you’ll go by the merch area for all the artists,” Kime said. “This means artists won’t have to set up (their merchandise) in the Hall, and the area will flow much better than before.”

Sessions’ Lounge area will retain its funky, eccentric style, indicative of jam bands and regular Soul Tribe nights held there.

Eventually, the Main Hall will get significant updates. The back bar will move from behind the stage on the west end of the room to the east wall with the addition of a 17-foot piece of redwood that will serve as a new bar top. This will allow an ADA-approved ramp to be added to the stage and permit entering the back bar from hall on both sides instead of walking into a bottleneck where the bar used to be.

Behind the stage will be the new Speakeasy section serving craft cocktails to accompany a jazzy aesthetic with new tables, chairs and booth seating to serve what will probably be a capacity of 75 to 100 people.

“We’re trying to appeal to all of Eugene,” Kime said. “It’s a big space right downtown so, if we can be something for everybody, that’s what we’re going for.”

The name change is already listed on the venue's website, now www.sessionsmusichall.com, and Kime said hopes to have new signage up this weekend.

Hi-Fi Music Hall has been closed since Dec. 6, while the new ownership group applies for a state liquor license. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission allowed for six concerts, including Friday's Twiddle and SoDown shows, to proceed during the closure. The new venue hopes to fully open as soon as possible, according to Sessions Hall publicist Doug Fuchs, but the OLCC is currently swamped with applications for cannabis. The process could take up to and over 60 days, Fuchs said.

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