Concert series’ novel idea: music for listening

Connor Burke
Contributing Writer

There is nothing more frustrating than paying a decent amount of money to see a band play live only so you can listen to the crowd talk over the musician and hecklers crack jokes between songs.

Luckily, there is now a solution to this problem; it’s an event called The Listening Room, held by Jonathan Vassar with the help of a few other passionate local musicians on the third Tuesday of every month at the Firehouse Theatre Project on West Broad Street.

According to Rob Jefferson, a co-founder of the event, the whole concept of The Listening Room is to create a place that “while performers are performing, there is no talking.”

Many musicians in Richmond, he said, end up playing in bars which “aren’t great for singer/songwriters because they don’t get heard.”

Started in collaboration with The Richmond Scene, The Listening Room was created so that musicians that make music not built for a bar could share their music with people.  Starting in late 2009, the event has grown from being held in the basement of a church to now being held at the Firehouse Theatre, with a typical crowd of about 100 people.

Listening Rooms are free to attend, and free baked goods and coffee are provided at every show.

With a wide variety in the audience at The Listening Room, the type of music generally caters to an array of people. Jonathan Vassar, co-founder of The Listening Room, said the series has included “pretty much all types of indie music – we’ve even had jazz installments. Any music where the performers want people to listen to what they’re doing, which is most types of music.”

The Listening Room held this past Tuesday, featured a group singer-songwriter sets with a country influence, including Eric Hunter soloing on acoustic guitar, The Dimmer Twins and James West and The Vendors.

The Dimmer Twins, a country duo, played the acoustic guitar and steel lap guitar. At one point, the lead singer had the audience join in with humming so his wife at home could hear the song as well.

The Vendors, a full four-part band of roommates, played tragic folk songs while sipping on Pabst Blue Ribbon.

“I like folk music, and they play primarily folk music,” Helen Stoddard, a VCU sophomore photography major, said. “I like local things and local music.

Amin Chaoui, a junior English major, added that the series has helped “build good relationships with people” in the music-making and music-enjoying community.

The Listening Room takes place once a month at the Firehouse Theatre.  The next event is on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.