If you’re visiting Walla Walla for the weekend, wineries, nature walks, and trendy California-style brunch spots will probably be at the top of your itinerary. Driving up on a breezy fall day might get you in the mood for a bed & breakfast, a glass of pinot, and a midday nap as you float by serene views of birch trees shedding their leaves for the season while the Columbia River rushes rhythmically beside your car like a soothing drum. As you arrive in town, a crisp white wine on an all-day brunch bar patio might be beckoning you. However, if you’re like me, you’re probably more interested in what’s happening underneath the surface– what’s the underground up to? Where’s the punk at?
If you know a local, you might’ve heard that nestled in the heart of this winery town, you’ll find a youthful burgeoning art, music, and culture scene at The Grove Walla Walla. The Grove is a small venue with a capacity of about 150 that caters to underground, up-and-coming artists. Run by locals, Enrique Dela Cruz, Joseph Ruchert, and Sam Garnica, The Grove is an all-ages, non-profit, donation-based space with monthly shows. The three founders wear many hats, but generally, Enrique runs the booking, marketing, and event space management. Joseph runs the bookkeeping and security. Sam is the self-described dad of the group; he’s the old head who runs production, equipment, sound, logistics, and lights while running around and ensuring everyone is having a good time. You can expect to see a myriad of local performers, from the chill indie riffs of local mainstay Sugar Pill to the punky, primal pulsations of EVA. You never know who you’ll see at The Grove’s poster on any given night. If you’re lucky, Joseph and Enrique might even come out with their project Antimxb, a brutal DIY-sounding alt-punk project.
“There’s always been some kind of punk energy” ~Joseph Ruchert
Despite the three moving around throughout their childhoods, Sam, Joseph, and Enrique’s lives have always orbited Walla Walla, becoming increasingly involved in the local arts, music, and culture scene. In their high school years, involvement in the scene was mostly going to other kids’ house shows– there weren’t a lot of established venues in Walla Walla outside of wineries and bars, which weren’t accessible in their youth and weren’t the punky dives that they were looking for.
Joseph got involved in the music scene by growing up on these underground punk and rap house shows. With what he absorbed at these shows, Joseph eventually formed Antimxb as a solo project when he was 16, initially creating a raw rap project similar to OG Lil Ugly Mane. He got Enrique involved in 2020 to start DJing for his live sets, and their energy metamorphosed into the Antimxb that we know and love today. Now, Enrique is half of the iconic duo, and it has more of an electronic-punk DIY feel but still retains that raw, rap-inspired vigor.
Since 2014, before The Grove came to fruition, the live space was a venue called Urban Grow Systems. Urban Grow Systems is where Sam and his team would throw live shows before The Grove was created (notably including a Slug Christ show). These shows were often hosted through Bass in the Blues, a local production, sound engineering, and event management company that Sam co-owns. That’s how Sam, Enrique, and Joseph originally met up. Enrique and Joseph (as Antimxb) did a handful of shows at Urban Grow Systems. From there, it was just figuring out how the partnership would function. To this day, The Grove borrows a lot of production and sound equipment from Bass in the Blues. Further still, Sam utilizes his own business, Walla Walla Green Growers Garden Center (WWGG for short, it’s essentially a rebrand of Urban Grow Systems), to ensure sustainable funding for a permanent venue space, with The Grove’s space leased out through WWGG. This explains the previous name (Urban Grow Systems, the prior name of WWGG) and the current one (The Grove)– it’s all connected to plant shop and garden imagery.
On June 15, 2024, Joseph, Enrique, and Sam put their heads together and threw the first show at The Grove. Enrique explained where the inspiration to create The Grove initially came from. “There’s been a lack of spaces in Walla Walla to accommodate original music. The places that did exist mostly consisted of wineries and bars. Maybe they don’t want a punk band; there wasn’t really any place to play. When we came into contact with Sam, it was like a revelation. We could have a place for original music for all our local bands and bring some people in from out of town. The goal is to provide original art, and provide a place for that to take place. We want to do some cool shit and show people in Walla Walla some cool shit.”
Looking Backward and Going Forward
Enrique, Joseph, and Sam have seen many venues come and go in their time in Walla Walla, and they’re doing everything they can to ensure that The Grove doesn’t become one of them. The trio explained the hardship of creating a long-term venue in Walla Walla: It’s a small town, so the turnouts could be minuscule if a few key social groups decide they don’t want to come on any given night, cutting into funding sustainability. Additionally, there have historically been issues with drug use and safety due to the lack of security and some venues choosing to turn a blind eye to those things. The Grove expects to buck this trend with Sam’s powerful philosophy, “If you’re breaking the rules, you’re breaking the fucking rules. Doesn’t matter if you’re my friend. If you were my friend, you’d respect the space and would not be breaking the rules.” Aside from Joseph, Enrique, and Sam working at any given show, there’ll be a handful of volunteers helping at the door, security, setup/takedown, and with production, helping them keep eyes all over the venue to ensure everyone is having a safe, good time.
The Grove doesn’t solely focus on any particular genre, Sam stated, “We’re open to any and everything, but the shows will be curated to a genre, so that way it’s not like you’re going to come and get a free-for-all. You know, like, the punk nights are definitely going to be punk-themed. But the event space is not a goth bar or a punk bar or EDM club [...] I think that’s what makes it so special because we all come from different places and have different musical tastes, and [we’re] able to have all that all accumulate into one musical space, that creates a synergy.” That synergy and openness, in my opinion, will take The Grove far; that attitude will attract unique talent and diverse groups of people across multiple age groups.
The boys also recognize that it’s not only the live space that matters for musicians but access to high-quality equipment so the performers can sound their best and feel confident going forward. Speaking from his experience with Bass in The Blues, Sam stated, “I find that struggling artists don’t have access to higher-end equipment, and that’s kind of the difference between being a professional and just being a street artist. Putting somebody on a professional system changes how a person’s perspective or outlook is on the craft and can push them a few leagues further than they might’ve already been.”
Overall, the goal is to keep the Grove as a permanent fixture in Walla Walla’s youthful art scene so that everyone has access to a space like this. Joseph explained, “The goal I’d love to see is have [the Grove] go past my lifetime [...] Almost every venue that’s existed in Walla Walla has failed at some point, and that usually kills off the scene with it. So I hope that this can sustain itself to the point where it will go beyond and keep the scene going.” Looking forward, the trio is hopeful about the future of The Grove. Sam explained that, “In the next five years, it would be nice to have [The Grove] as a sustainable non-profit organization that is able to fuel itself through grant funds; that way, we are able to keep it all ages and donation-based. That way, people can donate to the cause if they can, but it’s not something that’s necessarily a necessity to the patron because all three of us believe that this is a civil service to the community.” I think that the conception of making their music venue a civil service to the community is an important way to frame what they’re doing: it’s not just for them, it’s for the artists, their community, and any music lover. I believe this attitude will be key in keeping the creative scene alive at The Grove for decades to come. If you’re still on the fence about coming out to The Grove, Enrique promises, “You’re going to see some different shit.” That’s all I need to hear.
The Market at The Grove Walla Walla
One of the first things that I noticed visiting The Grove was The Market. Outside, next to The Grove in a little alley, there are a handful of pop-up booths that sell locally created clothes, jewelry, crafts, and accessories while shows are going on inside. The market was initially Sam’s idea; he used to do similar pop-ups outside of Urban Grow Systems shows. The inspiration for the market came from Shakedown Street, the bazaar that used to pop up around Grateful Dead shows. After some initial logistical uncertainty, The Market has become a staple at Grove shows, with some of the clothing artists becoming the headliners of the shows themselves! I was immensely impressed with @dykemint‘s line, often with loud colors and anime or Cartoon Network characters stitched or printed on all kinds of pieces (the Ed, Edd n Eddy overalls caught my eye)– it’s over-the-top but makes sense, hype-beasty but balanced– it’s truly one of the most incredible lines of clothing I’ve ever seen (plus, they have a rockin’ website). If you’re looking for something completely different, @pinsxneedles is the new go-to local goth clothing and merch store that just opened its first retail store in Walla Walla in May 2024. And, of course, I’ve got to mention @hookercorner, another completely different style of clothes: crochet tops, hats, pants– everything crochet! There are a handful more vendors that may show up at any Grove event, so be sure to get there early and check out The Market at The Grove.
“Get Rid of the Fear And Start Screaming Into A Microphone” ~Sam Garnica
Now that they have a space, the boys hope to see new bands coming out of Eastern Washington and into The Grove. Sam put it bluntly, “Get rid of the fear and start screaming into a microphone,” referring to people debating starting a band. That’s the very philosophy that The Grove and the boys seem to live by. Just do it to the best of your ability and be consistent; whatever you’re doing, people will come.
The Grove's next show will be on March 29th at The Grove, 1605 E Isaacs Ave. Fish Narc, Badvril, Laminate, and Heel Klick will be performing at a price of $12 advance or $15 at the door.
If you’re interested in potentially booking a show at the Grove, you can contact them through this form. You can also find it on The Grove’s Instagram.
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