There’s no overstating how amazing a basement show can be. Even the worst are memorable because every concert intentionally booked for a small cramped space forces music’s intimacy on you. There’s no middleman between you and the sound; no one eager to police how it hits you deep down. Next thing you know, the person next to you feels like family. You could both be anywhere else, but you’re here instead. There’s a sort of magic in that.
I’ve had an absence of basement gigs since moving away from Burlington, Vermont. There, I used to help fill a beloved space accurately named “Jim’s Basement”. One of the best yet most chaotic summers of my life all but kicked off with a bonfire and punk show there. It’s also where my former band performed one of our few shows outside of our practice space.
DIY basement venues will always have a special place in my heart
— Jackson Balling (@blanktapes.co) Jan 4, 2025 at 7:27 PM
As you might expect, I was hyped to learn about a local backyard and basement venue during my interview with cuffing season. I went to see (and chat with) Charlotte’s blankstate. and immediately fell in love with the space. There was cozy seating, heating, and nice drinks from the bar beside the stage. That’s where I first met Josh Glasson, the owner of Huron Stage Music Venue, and realized that I had to learn about what brought him to this point. Also that he doesn’t skimp when mixing up a Coke with bourbon.
Two weeks later, I was back at Josh’s house for an interview, catching him just as he went out the door with his dog Glacier for a quick beer run. We started our chat in his truck and wrapped up in the basement — “indoor dive bar,” as he calls it — until Cool Cool Mountain showed up to load-in and prep for their set that night.
What is your personal connection or origin story that set you down the path to run a DIY backyard and basement venue?
Josh: My dad was a single father and he would take me to parties on the weekends. That was my first time hearing music, seeing people dance to live music, and just experiencing that vibe. I was really amazed from a young age and fell in love with that party music, which was a lot of ‘70s and ‘80s rock or whatever my dad was playing. The Cars, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles were probably the most influential from that time.
From there, I grew up listening to the radio, watching MTV back when music videos were the thing. In high school, I started going to rock concerts like Lollapalooza. ‘90s grunge left a real impression on me, back when Nirvana and Soundgarden were blowing up. I remember going to a lot of concerts and parties in college, where I was always introduced to new music.
I was also encouraged to play guitar by my cousin, so I bought and fell in love with the acoustic guitar.
Do you remember the first artist that felt like yours? Like you discovered them or saw them perform and you were like, “Oh man, I want to show this to my dad, but he doesn’t know who they are.”
Oh, that’s an easy question. That would have been Pearl Jam. I was a big-time cross-country track runner in high school and their album Ten had songs on it that pumped me up. The same can be said about Nirvana’s Nevermind, but Pearl Jam is the one that my dad instantly fell in love with. I remember “Jeremy”, “Oceans”, “Even Flow”, and “Black” were some of his favorites. He fell in love with that album and was thankful I introduced him to something.
What led you to start Huron Stage?
The idea for the venue came from local musicians who happened to be walking by. I was building a shelter in my backyard to get some shade from the sun when I did my woodworking. They pitched the idea of using it as a stage for live music. This was in the fall of 2020, during a time where musicians weren’t playing indoors. No one in our neighborhood was socializing, except with very close family.
I was like, “This sounds like the perfect time in my life to host live music.” So I pitched the idea to a couple of my neighbors. We also had two non-COVID deaths on our street at that time, which shook our community. The neighborhood was wanting to come together and support each other. Having the backyard stage worked with COVID restrictions, and at a time where musicians needed outdoor spaces to perform safely.
Originally it was not my idea, I just executed it, but it’s obviously grown a lot since then. We were originally going to do one every four months, but we had one the very next month because everyone had so much fun. Then it turned into one a month, then one a week, and now it’s an average of six a month.
How has the space evolved from a stage in your backyard to a fully-stocked dive bar in your basement?
The first upgrade was the basement bar. We had inconsistent attendance so I thought it’d be a game-changer to keep up with commercial venues if I could provide alcohol for free [as part of the suggested donation]. At the very least, it would help get people out to support musicians at their shows here. And I saw a spike in attendance immediately from that.
Did this start as a bar for the outside space before it was an inside basement?
It sure did. I made a walk-up window for people to order drinks, which worked for a while. But then I started having to cancel concerts because of rain or weather. After the third cancellation, I had to do something. Too much work was going into planning, for me and the musicians.
Originally, the basement was my workshop. I had a circular table saw, a bandsaw, a big router joiner table, and a workbench. I was like, “You know what? I’m going to sell all this. I’ll do all my carpentry with hand tools. And I’ll build boards between the rafters to store my tools. [points up] If you look for them, you can see where I’ve gotten crafty with storage.
Since that has been done, we haven’t had to cancel due to rain. It also has enabled us to have shows all year round, even when it’s too cold outside.
I imagine that feeds into the “now we’re having six a month” instead of “one every four months.”
Exactly. The bar brought the venue up a level to where I could kind of compete with other commercial venues. But then when I had the indoor dive bar, it just kept evolving. I did a second window for people [next to the bar window] and built the covered back deck. That way, people that might not be able to fit all in here can be on the back deck looking in. It’s also a great space for musicians to sell their merch.
Not every venue can go indoor, and vice versa. That’s made the venue very personal at both spaces.
There’s a clear vibe to the basement space, from the blue walls and yellow pipes to the seating and newly finished floors. What was the process for shaping this into a true “indoor dive bar?”
This is an old house, so I started installing all these temporary — well, now they’re permanent — tiger jacks. They can hold up to 10,000 pounds each because I wanted to make sure it was safe in here.
Then I was like, “We need to add to the vibe in here. I need to go with the color that’s going to set a tone.” And I was thinking yellow because it’s happy, bright, and it stands out for safety purposes.. People ended up liking it. For the walls, I just had some leftover paint that I decided to use that worked.
After a while, I wanted to get the speakers off the floor and consolidate space. So I built the speaker stands and shelving, which has been a hit for the musicians. A lot of folks think brick and cinder block wouldn’t work. But it has. The surround sound speaker setup has been huge as far as the acoustics go.
Did you always have seating or was that another addition over time?
That evolved because more people started coming. I was like, “I have to provide seating somehow,” and set up as much as I could. I noticed some shorter people are having a hard time hopping up to the cushions in the back, so I built some footstools to make it easier to get up. Last night, the whole backside was full with 10 people on the ledge sitting together.
How have you navigated the relationship with the community, especially as the space has grown? Is there really good communication or is everybody really good, big music fans?
Most of the neighborhood signed on in the beginning when it originated. I’ve had a few people either text me or email me saying that they liked a certain musician or where they thought it was too loud.
A good example is April 2022. There was a three-band punk/metal concert scheduled for The Fruit that got cancelled at the last minute. The agent called me up and asked if I could host them. This was a moment’s notice for a Thursday night show, but I said yes. It was the earlier days of running the venue, before the basement was finished, and I wasn’t as experienced. We had 84 people show up and the bands put on a hell of a show.
Problem was, it was way too loud. So that was my first and only outdoor metal show. I promise the neighborhood I’ll never have metal on the outdoor stage. It pissed off about half a dozen neighbors who went to the show because they loved it. But I had to keep the whole community in mind. I’ve done carpentry and landscaping projects for most of my neighbors, so it’s important to maintain those relationships.
What did you say in the last year that things have been pretty smooth in terms of continuing to grow?
Yeah. I had to compromise with this one next-door neighbor because gets the most of the noise. I told him I would start closing that door and that’s made a big difference. I tend to have heavier music in here — whether it’s rap, metal, hard rock — with overpowered amps. And so closing that door has helped. I still open these two windows, which seems to be okay, but the door is closest to his yard.
What’s your process for booking shows, both from scheduling the talent to promoting it, and how has that evolved?
That’s been very challenging because I do have volunteers who help prep the shows, pay for some materials, or donate. Beyond that, I do everything to book and promote the shows. Mostly using Instagram, sometimes the venue Facebook page, and then email. Sometimes I get calls.
I have to keep in mind several things when booking now because I get such a high demand:
- Are they skilled musicians?
- Do they have a following that will bring people here? Because my built-in crowd is inconsistent and you just never know how many will show up.
- How do they treat people? Do they communicate well?
Do you have any advice for aspiring DIY backyard/basement dive bar owners?
It’s a lot of work. If anyone’s considering going into it, you better enjoy it because it’ll be a job. Fortunately, my love and passion for it outweighs the sacrifice of the work that I have to do in my free time.
Before those musicians pitched the idea, if someone had told me that I was going to be hosting concerts, I would have said, “You’re crazy. There’s no way someone like me would be doing this.” I was more introverted. I’m not someone that would just want to take on this much responsibility. But if someone’s thinking about it who might be scared of that aspect: just go for it. You can do it if you love the idea and live music.
As for community relationships, don’t burn any bridges. Be willing to listen to criticism. Enjoy the encouragement or like what you’re doing well. You want to be at peace with those around you, take that in mind, and be willing to compromise. And that would be my advice.
Do you have any goals for 2025 as a venue?
I like the way things are going at this moment. I do know that it’s possible at some point we might see an even larger spike in attendance. And if that happens, then I’ll have to start selling tickets and maybe raising the price a little bit. I don’t make any money off these concerts. If we get a lot of donations, like a big amount, I’ve always saved them for the next show. But I’ll cross that bridge when it gets here.
Legally I can have up to 200 people on a residential property inside Durham city limits. I don’t think I’d want to manage over 125 because our record is 114 and that was close to my threshold. Especially as someone that relies on volunteers who may or may not be here on any given concert.
Have your volunteers been another evolution of the venue over time?
Definitely. Most are people who happened to come and fall in love with it. They saw all the work I was doing and said, “Hey, can I do anything? Is there anything I can help you with?” All of my volunteers naturally wanted to help out because they believed in the venue and they love DIY music.
Who have been some of your favorite acts?
One of the things I’ve loved about the music here, it’s just introduced me to a lot of different genres and sounds that I would have never known about. Cloutchaser was my intro to math rock and I was blown away.
If you’re not familiar with Sofar Sounds, they seek out and pay venues to host concerts, and then they pay for the musicians to perform there. Admiral Radio and Emanuel Wynter were two of my favorite Sofar acts that I’ve seen. Emanuel is an R&B soul vocalist out of Charlotte who can play the electric violin and acoustic guitar. Be on the lookout for him. I feel like he’s kind of under the radar, but he’s going to get big.
Alice Gerard, who is in the North Carolina Bluegrass Hall of Fame, lives nearby and has performed here. She played a 90th birthday concert and is still as sharp as a tack.
What’s the best way for folks to donate to Huron Stage?
We have Venmo: @huronstagemusicvenue. The funds I get goes directly to the musician; I don’t make any profit off of it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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