Music still Brad Zeffren's moment

Brad Zeffren is about to have the kind of Saturday night that most music folks can only hope for.

Zeffren will be at the Tractor Tavern as Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs launch their new CD, "The Only Thing That Matters," which he produced.

Then he'll watch another talent, Kristen Ward, take the stage with her band to play songs from her 2008 album, "Drive Away," which Zeffren also produced.

And, at some point, Zeffren will gear up with his own band, Hurricane Chaser, and play songs from their new album, "The Map is Not the Territory." Kind of goes without saying that Zeffren produced that one, too.

"I've been dreaming about a night like this for a while," Zeffren, 34, said the other day. "I have worked with so many talented people, and to be able to get a few of them in one room It... 's how you hope it will go."

For a while there, he wasn't sure it was going to go at all.

Last fall, Zeffren had to close Chroma Sound, a studio he co-owned for five years and where artists like Robyn Hitchcock and The Presidents recorded.

He loved the place, but keeping it going was draining. So Zeffren packed up — but not without his own band's CD under his arm.

"If I had run a studio for five years and not made a record?" he asked. "That would have been the great tragedy."

It's been a long road, but worth it for all of us. You need only to walk through Guitar Center, or lean against the wall of any club in town to see that Seattle continues to create, and thrive.

In 2006 alone, the arts generated some $330 million in economic activity here, including $119 million in audience spending, and $12.3 million in tax revenue, according to a study by Americans for the Arts.

Still, the struggle to shine is relentless.

But Zeffren's name continues to pop up as the hand that has guided some of the best new sounds around. His success feels like a great fable we're dying to hear. (Consider the joy over Susan Boyle, who became a global star this week after wowing the judges on "Britain's Got Talent.")

When he moved to Seattle in 1999, Zeffren had already been working in studios for 17 years, inspired by producers like Daniel Lanois (Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" is a favorite) and Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams' "Gold").

For Zeffren, producing a good record means ensuring the artists are comfortable with everything from lighting to the balance of their headphones.

"But a lot of it is finding when and how much direction is useful," he said. "I like being able to capture moments, as opposed to manufacturing moments."

It worked for Ward: "He was a great conduit who allowed me to express a lot of what was inside of me," she said.

Same with Star Anna's recording of "Tripping Wire," which she first tried out acoustically and alone. She finished and Zeffren knew: Leave it.

"It's possible to get too fussy about stuff," he said. "The things that people are stoked about when the record is finished are the things that happen without much effort."

Since closing Chroma Sound, Zeffren has been busy with Web design and freelance producing, and is writing more songs for a new Hurricane Chaser record.

"The records are a snapshot of where you are at this moment."

Not a bad moment for Zeffren. May it last beyond one smile of a Saturday night at the Tractor.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

It's not dark yet.