Lee and Dani Bacon are committed to telling people “side one” of the story about the late-Kurt Cobain with respect, sharing his Grays Harbor roots and relying on facts to show his pre-Seattle days.

The couple knows the Seattle part of Cobain’s story, the massive fame he earned, and so on, and have been told so much there really isn’t much that’s new to tell. But in the small town of Aberdeen — where Cobain still pops up in positive and negative conversations alike, where debates about whether he liked living in Aberdeen or he didn’t, where there is a bridge some are ardently defending because of its connection to Cobain and Nirvana — there is still more to tell.

So far, the Bacons, who lead The Pacific Northwest Music Project — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization — have bought Cobain’s house at 1210 E. First St., in North Aberdeen. They’ve fixed it up and restored the interior to the way it looked in the 1970s. And they succeeded in getting it on the state’s historical registry. But they have more to showcase.

‘Here we are now, entertain us’ — Nirvana

On Friday, the Bacons will be able to share a bit more of that story with a preview of the interior parts of The Music Project building, which has the grunge mural affixed to the building’s north side. Dani can’t wait to show off The Green Room and the Unplugged area inside the urban moss green-colored building on the corner of South K and West Wishkah streets. Visitors will be able to walk through the door marked with the 121 W. Wishkah address from 12:15 to 5 p.m.

“I think all in all, everything has really come together in just a beautiful way,” Dani said. “There were a lot of things I didn’t think were gonna come together at the last minute, but everything’s falling into place. We only have one issue — that’s our exterior sign, (which) isn’t probably going to be up but we’ll figure that one out. So, we’ll get a banner or something (else) made to be put up in time. But it’ll be ready for the grand opening.”

One element that should excite people is the much talked about highway sign that Washington State Department of Transportation removed on Jan. 13, 2022. The sign will be a prominent stop on the tour. Cobain and Krist Novoselic made it famous with a photo of Novoselic giving Cobain a boost. In the photo, Cobain covered part of the sign that showed 6 miles to Elma, 16 miles to Montesano and 26 miles to Aberdeen. People have also known it, because of the photo, as the “666” sign.

More opinion

Bill Leach, a local musician who also builds his own guitars and ukuleles, has been aiding the Bacons’ efforts to finish the project.

“The spaces are amazing,” Leach said. “As you walk in, it’s like its own little world. There is a lot to see and absorb. Lee and Dani really put a lot of thought, blood, sweat, and I’m sure a few tears into this.”

Leach, who said he is retired, said “being able to volunteer for these folks has been a dream come true” and that he loves to help wherever he can. He also detailed how he has helped.

“The work varies,” Leach said. “I trimmed down a door yesterday and helped Lee route some cables for the TV wall and a bunch of ‘honey dos.’ It never gets old and I really enjoy whatever task they might have for me.”

As of Friday, The Green Room will be “completely finished,” but the other aspects of the overall space still need some work.

“Unplugged is still under construction,” Dani said. “We’ve had a couple of delays and things that were out of our control. (Unplugged) will be open for everybody to come in and see, but it is just still kind of in progress. It’ll probably be open maybe two weeks later. And then The Tribute Gallery’s gonna be a year out. The actual construction of that really hasn’t ignited yet.”

One phase at a time

“The house is done, The Green Room is done, Unplugged will be done in the next couple of weeks,” Dani said. “I’m hoping here in the next month (the) home tours, the reservations will open online and those’ll kick off as well.”

The “goal” for Unplugged’s official opening is “right around there in the Fourth of July weekend (range).”

“We’ll probably do a little bit of a soft opening for those first couple of days,” Dani said. “And then probably over the Fourth of July weekend we’ll have like an official ‘spotlights and stuff’ kind of opening.”

The Bacons’ public preview of The Green Room back in February 2023 received hundreds of guests. The point of the preview was to illuminate the building with exterior lights. The Bacons did it in fine style as they synched up a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to the timing of the lighting. The cover singer’s voice morphed into Cobain’s iconic voice. Once Cobain sang “with the lights out,” Lee shut off the lights. And then after a brief pause, the song continued, “it’s less dangerous” and the lights came back on. It may have been cold and wet, but it seemed to warm the hearts of the music lovers standing on both sides of the 100 block of West Wishkah Street. To see Rick Moyer’s video, head to YouTube — search Side One Building —to see a preview of the fanfare from that night and the unique presentation.

“I was surprised (by) how many people came out just to see the lights come on,” Dani said. “But I’ll tell ya, we’ve really gotten a lot of support. It energizes us every time somebody comes by and says ‘thank you,’ or ‘this is amazing’ or ‘this is just what we needed.’ It’s been nice.”

A million little things

And the Bacons are doing much of the work themselves. Dani said they’ve been “hands-on.”

“We have been very lucky to have those essential people (who) can execute some of the work with us, (they’re) around and available and really participating in it,” Dani said. “But we’re very hands-on. Every single detail is touched by us, modified by us, dreamed up. Every single little thing is, there’s nothing that happens where it hasn’t been a long, thought-out plan of how this will be taken care of and executed.”

Working with her love

Dani said there have been a lot of “long days,” but it doesn’t sound like she’d change a thing.

“But it’s honestly been just the funnest journey together,” Dani said. “To be able to work on a project like this with Lee is just an amazing journey. There are so many people who don’t get to have that kind of experience with their spouse. Every single little thing it’s like ‘hey babe, what do you think of this?’ Or whatever. It’s something that has just been so fulfilling. I can’t imagine doing it with anybody else.”

Rick Moyer of Moyer Multi Media LLC. Lee and Dani Bacon, the owners of The Music Project building, are as Dani said “hands-on,” with their project. “Every single detail is touched by us, modified by us, dreamed up. Every single little thing is, there’s nothing that happens where it hasn’t been a long, thought-out plan of how this will be taken care of and executed.”