Listening lounge and cafe Good Medicine Apothecary opens in downtown Spokane, serving up lattes, beats and a splash of culture

The smell of sage, sweetgrass and incense is the first thing that hits visitors when they open the door to the newly opened Good Medicine Apothecary in downtown Spokane.

Sounds rush out alongside the smells - sometimes it's R&B music streamed through the high-fidelity sound system, other times a carefully selected vinyl making its way from cover to cover.

After ordering a latte, matcha or seltzer, visitors can take a seat at the apothecary, 301 W. Second Ave., and admire the velvet curtains hanging over deep teal walls, or maybe the potted plants hanging from the gold-painted ceiling. They might stay awhile and see others stop in to purchase a book or personalized tea blend from the business' retail section.

"When people come in, the first thing they say is like, 'Whoa, this is - I love the vibe,' " owner Rickey "Deekon" Jones said. "And that's the best. I was really trying to create a vibe more than sell anything."

The concept of the apothecary draws heavily from Japanese "jazz kissas," or jazz cafes, which have historically functioned as an intentional music-listening space outside the home. The concept appealed to Jones, a self-described "music nerd," so after the 5 o'clock hour the cafe environment switches to what he calls a "culture lounge" every other week or so.

"It's like a book club, basically," Jones said. "So we'll listen to (a record) from front to back and then we'll talk about the album afterwards."

On Friday, the featured piece will be Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon." Tickets cost $23.18 on the website Eventbrite.

The goal of the business was to make a "third space for people to come and be comfortable and get experiences that we don't typically get in Spokane."

While everyone is welcome in the apothecary, Jones holds folks on "the outskirts of society" especially in mind.

"I'm Afro-Indigenous, so my father's Black and my mother's Indigenous," he said. "And learning about both cultures my entire life was really important for me. And so, in everything I do, I involve culture."

Born and raised in Lapwai, Idaho, on the Nez Perce Reservation, he grew up with the concept of "good medicine," referring roughly to the good that one puts out into the world. In the Good Medicine Apothecary, Jones personally picked out every book, candle and tarot deck for sale.

"I want everything to be intentional, whether you know it or not, it's in it when you buy it," he said. "So you're going to have some good intentions behind whatever you buy here, and that's good medicine, literally."

Brittany Trambitas, Jones' partner of 20 years, co-owns the apothecary. She pioneered a custom tea mixing station in the space to "encourage people to make their own blends."

"If you have personal needs, like maybe you're not sleeping well or maybe you have asthma or, you know, any of the things that it could help you with," she said. "It's what we do - it's one of the things that we love - so that's why it's in our shop as well."

Though only officially opening in March, Jones has wanted to create something like Good Medicine Apothecary for around a decade. He moved to Spokane 20 years ago at age 17, allured by the "big city."

"I was houseless, and so I lived in my car for a while. And music is what kind of pulled me out of that," he said of the time. "I started making music at a local studio, and then I started helping out with taking sessions when the audio engineer was busy."

He went on to enroll in Spokane Falls Community College's audio engineering program.

"In turn, music is what really saved me," he said.

But even before coming to Spokane, Jones felt a connection to music. As a teenager in Lapwai, he developed a hip-hop based therapy practice. Today, Jones and a team of licensed mental health therapists provide wraparound services for drug and alcohol dependent or at-risk youth in the Spokane area through the nonprofit New Developed Nations.

"I opened the behavioral health agency so I haven't really had time," he said. "And finally, I asked (everybody) if I was crazy if I just opened it, and they're like, 'yes,' and I did it anyways."

Jones looks forward to hosting all kinds of events at the apothecary as it finds its people, including sober parties, house music brunches, tea-mixing workshops and tarot readings.

"When you're gonna come here, I want it to feel like my home," he said. "We want everybody that feels like they don't have a space to come and be comfortable, to come and be comfortable."

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 8:08 AM.