New coffee shop offers Citrus Heights musicians space to play — and have a drink
Family is at the heart of a new coffee-shop-slash-music-space in a Citrus Heights strip mall.
Evelyn Guizar has seen a revolving door of teens and young adults — all aspiring musicians — come through her house in search of help to access equipment and practice space. Her son, Daniel, was who they were looking for.
A promising musician and current student at American River College, he has played a wide variety of instruments for years and even started his own band, Tastes Like TV Static, in the ninth grade.
That experience ignited Guizar’s inspiration, and she quickly discovered how she wanted to fulfill her dream of opening her own business.
“What I wanted to do is have a space for local artists, musicians to coexist, to come together and really just to build a community,” Guizar said.
Her lifelong goal is being realized in the form of Sweet Music Studio Cafe, a coffee shop with a focus on providing a space for up-and-coming artists in the Citrus Heights community.
A grand piano, drum set, amplifiers and recording equipment — all brought from the Guizar family home — take center stage at the front of the coffee shop, and are available for musicians to use at no cost.
Guizar said she plans to have 30-minute time slots for musicians to reserve equipment and practice space, as well as regular performance nights and open mics. Already, Guizar said her email inbox is flooded with bands and artists who want to perform at the 8040 Greenback Lane, Suite G coffee shop.
“If I was able to do anything with my life, it would be to serve,” she said. “If I can serve by offering a space where people come together and feel belonged and welcome, then that’s what I want.”
Sweet Music Studio Cafe is set to open on Friday at 10 a.m., with an official ribbon cutting alongside the City of Citrus Heights. The cafe will be open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays. On Mondays, it will be closed to the public and reserved for musicians who signed up for a practice slot.
A third space for the Citrus Heights community
Though the coffee aspect is not at the forefront of Sweet Music Studio Cafe, Guizar is not making it an afterthought.
The cafe plans to serve coffee from The Mill out of midtown Sacramento, and chai from North Fork Chai Co. in Newcastle. Baked goods will come from Citrus Heights’s own Pastry Heaven Bakery and Guizar said she plans to offer a basic menu with “classic” sandwiches and salads, as well as a selection of beer and wine.
“Who doesn’t love coffee?” she said. “I felt that it would be a nice twist to offer that as well as beer and wine ... You come together through drinking a cup of coffee, sharing a glass of wine and even enjoying a pint of beer.”
More than anything, Guizar said she hopes Sweet Music Studio Cafe can be a third space for the Citrus Heights music and art lovers.
Though the cafe’s walls were still mostly bare on the Wednesday leading up to its grand opening, Guizar is planning to source artwork from people throughout the Sacramento area, with no fees for artists looking to display their work.
Despite music being Guizar’s focus, she said the business will be “open to all.” If dancers or other live performance artists were interested in performing at the cafe, Guizar said she is able to accommodate them. She said she hopes all artists and hobbyists feel welcomed to use the space as well.
“(Sweet Music Studio Cafe is) just available for everything,” she said.
A family affair
Not only is Guizar launching a business inspired by her son, she is also doing it with her whole family right next to her. Guizar’s family has owned Valencia’s Carniceria & Taqueria, a Mexican eatery just four doors down from the cafe, for decades.
“We all grew up here,” Guizar said. The beauty salon that used to reside in Sweet Music Studio Cafe’s unit gave her son’s first haircut, she said. On Wednesday, Guizar’s nephew and his friend came to the cafe after school, where they relaxed on the couch in the corner, greeted other family members at the taqueria steps away and played soccer in the sloped parking lot.
Guizar said her son plans to work at the shop part-time, and he was very excited about the entire music cafe concept.
“He’s always been around music, so having something like this ... really just molds (our family), like a finished mold,” she said. “I felt like it was always going to happen, only I didn’t know how, but it’s nice that it’s happening with (Daniel) involved in it.”
Guizar said her son’s next major goal is to pursue further music education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
“I’m just excited to have everyone here and share the space with them,” Guizar said. “It was definitely a labor of love for sure from my family to everyone else’s family.”
