Free online archive contains decades of Sacramento music history

UNDERGROUND MUSIC HISTORY FREE FOR EVERYONE. ALL THANKS TO A NONPROFIT HERE IN SACRAMENTO. NEARLY 20,000 VHS TAPES, CASSETTES, LIVE SHOWS, DEMO RECORDINGS, AND MORE, INCLUDING RARE EARLY FOOTAGE OF NIRVANA, METALLICA AND GREEN DAY. KCRA 3’S PHOTOJOURNALIST ROBERT WELLINGTON INTRODUCES US TO THE SACRAMENTO MUSIC ARCHIVE. I JUST BROKE UP WITH SOMEBODY IN BOSTON, GOT ME THROUGH IT. MY BEST FRIEND. HOW DID I GET INTO THIS? BACK IN THE MID 80S, I WAS A HUGE MUSIC FAN AND AT THE TIME A LOT OF MATERIAL FROM MY FAVORITE BANDS THAT WASN’T AVAILABLE. I’M SHANE STACY, I’M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SACRAMENTO MUSIC ARCHIVE. A LOT OF THE BANDS THAT I LIKED DIDN’T REALLY HAVE ANY RECORDED OUTPUT AVAILABLE, AND SO REALLY, THE ONLY WAY TO ENJOY SOME OF THESE BANDS WAS TO GO OUT AND TAKE A TAPE RECORDER AND RECORD THE SHOW. AND SO I STARTED TO DO THAT. MY FIRST ONE WAS IN JUNE OF 1985, SAW A BAND CALLED OPERATION IVY PLAY, AND I SAW THE ENERGY OF THE PERFORMANCE THAT I RIGHT THEN AND THERE. I SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? I NEED TO START DOCUMENTING THIS ON VIDEO. TY THIS WAS A HOBBY FOR ME. A LOT OF US AROUND THE THE COUNTRY, IN THE WORLD, INTERNATIONALLY, WE WERE PART OF A TAPE TRADING NETWORK WHERE PEOPLE WOULD I WOULD TAPE A SHOW, MAKE A COPY, SEND IT TO MY FRIEND, MY SON. MY FRIEND WOULD SEND ME SOMETHING BACK IN RETURN FOR THAT. AND THAT THERE’S A HUGE NETWORK OF OF THESE TRADERS WORLDWIDE. I WAS FILMING BANDS WHEN THEY WERE SMALL, AND THEN EVERYTHING GOT BIG AND MONEY GOT INVOLVED. MY VIDEOS WERE BEING SOLD WITHOUT MY CONSENT OR ANY TYPE OF PERMISSION, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, I QUIT. IT JUST IT WASN’T FUN ANYMORE. I WASN’T DOING THIS TO MAKE MONEY. AND SO I QUIT FOR TEN YEARS UNTIL ONE OF MY FRIENDS PULLED ME BACK IN AND SAID, HEY, THAT PROBLEM’S BEEN FIXED WITH YOUTUBE. THEY FIGURE IT OUT AND THEY PAY THE PEOPLE. I’M LIKE, OKAY, SURE, YEAH, LET’S LET’S START THIS UP AGAIN. THEY ARE HERE TO STAY. THE SACRAMENTO MUSIC ARCHIVE IS THE PLACE TO DOCUMENT SACRAMENTO MUSIC HISTORY. WE’RE DEDICATED TO IT FOR THE NEXT 20 PLUS YEARS, AND WE’RE MAKING IT AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY FOR FREE. PEOPLE LIKE FREE. YOU CAN FIND THEM AT SACRAMENTO MUSIC ARCHIVE.COM. THE SITE INCLUDES WEEKLY VIDEOS, A WAY TO BUY VINTAGE CONCERT SHIRTS, C

Documenting Sacramento music history: Free online archive contains decades of melodic memories

Updated: 8:38 PM PDT Sep 5, 2025

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A nonprofit in Sacramento is making shelves of decades-old underground music history available for free. The Sacramento Music Archive has nearly 20,000 cassettes, VHS tapes, demo recordings, live shows and more online. This includes rare footage of bands like Nirvana, Metallica and Green Day. Shayne Stacy is the archive’s executive director and has been documenting musical performances since 1985. “I was filming bands when they were small, and then everything got big and money got involved and my videos were being sold without my consent,” Stacy said. “It wasn’t fun anymore.” After giving up for 10 years, a friend convinced Stacy to get back into documenting and collecting music. Now he’s reinvigorated and happy to share the story of Sacramento’s music through the online archive. To learn more about how the archive came to be, watch the video player above. To access the Sacramento Music Archive, click here. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

A nonprofit in Sacramento is making shelves of decades-old underground music history available for free.

The Sacramento Music Archive has nearly 20,000 cassettes, VHS tapes, demo recordings, live shows and more online. This includes rare footage of bands like Nirvana, Metallica and Green Day.

Shayne Stacy is the archive’s executive director and has been documenting musical performances since 1985.

“I was filming bands when they were small, and then everything got big and money got involved and my videos were being sold without my consent,” Stacy said. “It wasn’t fun anymore.” After giving up for 10 years, a friend convinced Stacy to get back into documenting and collecting music.

Now he’s reinvigorated and happy to share the story of Sacramento’s music through the online archive.

To learn more about how the archive came to be, watch the video player above.

To access the Sacramento Music Archive, click here.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel