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Long live rock 'n' roll: Campaign to save iconic Seattle music space

SEATTLE — The Seattle music scene has seen more than its fair share of highs and lows.

The recent death of Chris Cornell was certainly a low point, but the scene also boasts a fair share of recent peaks, from U2 choosing the Emerald City to kick off its 30th anniversary leg of its U.S. tour for Joshua Tree to the debut of the city's first industry event, The Upstream Music Festival.

Weathering all these highs and lows has been the basement of Black Dog Forge, an iconic music space that certainly played a role in supporting some of the city's most well-known acts.

Music fans from across the world also come to visit the 30' x 30' space that was inhabited by the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Presidents of the United States of America, Green Apple Quick Step and others.

The practice space has been immortalized by Eddie Vedder on more than one occasion. In Pearl Jam 20 as he reminisced about descending the space's stairs for the first time and he called out the space in the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

As high-density development continues to alter the city's landscape and new condos seem to sprout up quicker than scotchbroom, the growth often jeopardizes some the city's most beloved jewels. The beloved music space is the latest to be on the chopping block as the blacksmith shop above the iconic rehearsal space is for sale.

In an effort to save the space, Charity Drewery has launched a GoFundMe campaign to purchase the building. It's a steep price tag -- $4 million -- but Drewery says that if every music fan in the city simply donated $1, the building could be saved from being torn down.