Salinas restaurant and live music venue Giovane's doesn't survive the economy.

Last Sunday evening, just three days into the new year, a brief, gracious email was sent by Randy and Sarah Young, proprietors of Giovane's, signaling a sore change in the county's music scene:

"Hi, Just wanted to let all of you know that Giovane's has officially closed. Thank you for all your support. We do appreciate it. Sincerely, Randy and Sarah Young."

Giovane's—pronounced "geo vane's" in Italian (meaning "young") but commonly pronounced "geo vahn-ees" by locals—offered up its stage to a wide range of local bands, including Jonah and the Whale Watchers, Dubwize, OMANI and Cheeky Spanks, and celebrated artists like former Black Uhuru member Don Carlos, and the eccentric Eek-A-Mouse.

"I wasn't 100 percent sure we could keep it going," says Randy. "We were trying to work with two individuals to work as a partnership. One backed out. One said 'Why should I pay for it when I can get it for free?' I want to find someone musically inclined to keep it going."

Randy and his wife, Sarah, bought the restaurant in June 2007, opened it in November of that year, and started "doing a little music in the corner" about March 2008, he says.

"By May or June [2008], Nina Sanchez brought in some rockabilly. She brought in a portable stage. We didn't have a sound system yet. I think she borrowed [the sound system] from Pete Wise [of Salinas' Wise Music store]—he's been very helpful to us. Someone else brought in a car show. In the beginning, we had bands like Souvenir and Terry Shehorn, who played twice a month. Six months later we put in lights. We got mostly local acts, then Nina brought bands from Hawaii and Seattle."

Randy lived in the Caribbean for eight years and worked with Andre and Pam Smith, organizers of Monterey Bay Reggae Fest, in the hospitality industry, and so brought his love of reggae to Giovane's.

"I never heard s reggae band I didn't like," he says jovially. But Giovane's was financially always "on the cusp of really making it," he says.

"The next owners I would like to be musically inclined. Our lease is available. The stage is there, the building is there, the reputation is there, parking is there. The sound system isn't there anymore, but the vibe is still there. We never had problems. We abided by the rules."

But the economy wasn't there. In November he lost money on some acts—people simply didn't show up.

Though he had been in the culinary industry 38 years, Randy's first love was music. He recalls how his love for music started, in the '60s, when he would surreptitiously listen to his older brothers 45s.

"He had three cases of [records]. He would lay a cat hair [on his three cases] and he knew if I messed with it. He would kick my ass. But I would do it anyway. He was into Motown, Ohio Players, the British Invasion—whatever was current. We lived in Cleveland and would get a station at midnight, when FM just came out."

Randy gravitated to bands like Deep Purple, The Rascals and Blue Oyster Cult. Influences that would follow him thereafter, and into the future.

"What a great group of people," he says of the countless musicians he booked. "We've had maybe a couple hundred [music acts] and only a couple have been sticks in the mud. During our Uncle Jam's jam sessions, [all the musicians] had smiles on their faces. They would excite the crowd."

He knows that the reach and influence of Giovane's spread far and wide, recounting how during a recent trip to Home Depot, to catch up on some needed home repair, he helped a young man load furniture into a vehicle.

"You look familiar," said the young man. Noting the Metallica T-shirt, Randy told him it was probably through Giovane's.

"You can't buy that," he says. "We had two and a half years [of meeting] great people. We showed other restaurants that they could do music and food. We had a lot of young talent. We gave the youth an all-ages venue. People wanted to play Giovane's."

And all that is over, at least in the incarnation of Giovane's. He's looking for something culinary, though he says that "music is my first choice."

For now, Randy and Sarah are taking a much needed break. Sarah, for instance, did the bookkeeping and worked behind the scenes and up front, while working full-time as a special education teacher. He says they will check out some of the venues they never had the time to go to before. But he also hints that he's not ready to part with music entirely.

"At some point I wouldn't mind taking on a partner and kicking it up again," he says.