In what is beginning to be a theme around San Diego, the Ruby Room has announced that it is closing its doors this week. The closing follows in the footsteps of now-defunct venues like 4th & B and Anthology, further diminishing the number of places to see live music in San Diego.

“This isn’t goodbye,” co-owner Sean Cute stated in a press release. “This is reincarnation. The body is still there, but the soul of the Ruby Room is moving on to take new form.”

The Ruby Room name will stay with Sean Cute and co-owner Brittni Cute, who plan to open a new venue elsewhere. The current Ruby Room location should reopen as the Merrow sometime in mid-July. But unlike Bar Eleven, which reopened as the Void earlier this year but kept the live-music focus, the Ruby Room’s replacement will reportedly have “less of an art and music orientation, and more focus on being a local tavern.”

With luck, San Diego’s music balance will be restored soon. The Cutes are already shopping for new locations for their next “project.”

“Live music and art is who we are,” Brittni Cute said. “And you will be sure to find a bigger and better version of this with our new project. The talent in San Diego is vast and we feel so fortunate to be a part of it.”

The Ruby Room enjoyed a five-year run in Hillcrest and hosted over 1500 shows. The Cutes are expressing their thanks to the “community of San Diego, the fabulous neighborhood of Hillcrest, the Hillcrest Business Association, all the artists, musicians, non-profits, promoters, patrons, journalists, friends, neighbors, and staff that have passed through the doors of the Ruby Room.”