Club Seven, inside 7 Cedars Casino, is one of the coveted venues on the Olympic Peninsula. It is an impressive facility, with a great sound system and audio techs standing by. It is Jeff Crumb’s job to fill that stage seven nights a week. Crumb has the privilege of previewing and displaying bands he deems worthy and entertaining for the patrons of Club Seven.

“I’ve got a unique title,” says Crumb, the food and beverage as well as entertainment manager for Club Seven. Crumb took over the job of booking bands for Club Seven about two and a half years ago. Understandably, Crumb has a hard time trying to please everyone. “Club Seven is one of the nicest clubs in the state. We have great equipment, awesome audio technicians and tons of speakers. So most of the bands we hire send me their CDs, demos and promotional packets.”

The majority of musicians he hires are from the Peninsula or the greater Seattle area. Crumb rotates a variety of different bands through the club.

“A lot of times I listen to a group’s CD half a dozen times. I try to pay attention to whether or not the band has complicated songs or if it’s just three-chord melodies and who their influences are.” Crumb said he sometimes uses Sunday nights as a type of audition night for the bands he thinks will be a hit. He then selects a variety of musical styles and presents them throughout the week. Monday night is jazz night.

“It’s a little more like swing than jazz. There’s a great older crowd that comes in on Mondays. Most of them are between 70 and 90 years old and they’re amazing dancers.” A significant sector of the Sequim population is being catered to by Club Seven through the different music genres played at the club.

Crumb said that the majority of local musicians play Thursday nights. Thursday night is blues night at Club Seven. “The nice thing about blues is that it can go in so many different directions. There is some really amazing talent here on Thursday nights.”

Crumb said that there has been a great demand from staff and patrons for Club Seven to bring hip-hop into their rotation. One Club Seven employee said, “It’s always classic rock on the weekends. It’s like that movie ‘Groundhog Day.’ I just think we could step it up.”

However, Crumb says there are concerns over safety and the somewhat violent reputation hip-hop has. Crumb did mention his interest in a local hip-hop group comprised of Iraqi war vets but his main concern is, “How do we ease ‘em in?” Crumb shared he has been thinking about trying out a disc jockey, playing some hip-hop after the comedy night on Wednesdays. He says the event is pretty popular with a younger crowd and while they are already at the club, it might be a good time to try something different. “Maybe it could be a closed door event as to avoid offending disturbing folks at the slots.”

The weekends are almost completely dominated by top 40 cover bands. “They seem to satisfy the most people,” said Crumb. When asked why he doesn’t just hire a disc jockey to play the top 40 hits instead of having mid-level cover bands give their best shot at tracks like Fergie’s “Clumsy,” Crumb replied that the disc jockeys hadn’t done well in the past. The stage is really quite large for just a disc jockey, and the live bands tend to bring more energy. “It’s definitely a juggling act,” said Crumb. “This is the big place for everyone to go, and it’s hard to make everyone happy. I mean the AC/DC cover band from last year was a little much for some folks.”

Crumb said he likes to bring in the local country musicians on Sundays because they bring their own fans and they are another music style that customers request, but it isn’t a guaranteed hit for the weekends.

Overall, Crumb said it is very important to the club and the tribe to have local musicians playing the venue. “And, often, the local guys have their own followings and friends who come out to support them — their own fan base.”

Crumb does his best to please all the patrons at Club Seven and is challenged by trying to satisfy the musical tastes of so many different generations all in one club. From the foxtrot to BB King, from Credence to Justin Timberlake, it’s all playing some night this week at Club Seven.