Witch Coast bassist Jordan Sanders on stage at Songbyrd in October 2015. (Sam Segal)
When Alisha Edmonson and Joe Lapan opened Songbyrd Music House & Record Café in Adams Morgan last May, they quickly saw that their part-café, part-record store possessed unique appeal. The establishment became a go-to spot for music lovers to share a meal or hear a new vinyl release. Plenty of praise followed the opening of the bar and kitchen in July.
But it wasn’t until Songbyrd opened a new venue space in October that the business partners really began realizing their vision to create an accessible space that would cater to diverse music tastes. Since their first show, Songbyrd’s clientele has blossomed and the venue has started to develop a growing sense of community.
“There’s a lot of people in the neighborhood and in the music community who meet each other here for the first time,” said Edmonson.
The kickoff show for Songbyrd’s lower-level stage on Oct. 15, 2015, featured Welsh and American alternative rock quintet No Devotion. In the four months since, DJs, jazz artists, and touring alternative and indie rock groups have played shows there, some traveling from nearby Baltimore and Philadelphia and others from as far as Ohio.
The basement level contains a stage and standing room for up to 200 guests, which has allowed Songbyrd to bring in artists who can play to larger crowds than could previously fit in the smaller upstairs music house section. The space has also helped to diversify Songbyrd’s programming by allowing for simultaneous shows on both floors.
Peter Lillis, Songbyrd’s media director who joined in September, points to a show lineup from December as an example of the space’s versatility. That evening, local DJ 2 Tone Jones spun records that were curated to videos on the main floor to a younger audience while a slightly older crowd watched blues artist Jonny Grave play downstairs. The crowds eventually mingled as listeners dropped in to each room to hear the other performing artists.
These nights are some of Lillis’ favorites. “I really like to see different people come together in one space,” he said.
In addition to scheduling simultaneous shows, Songbyrd’s managers encourage creative freedom and collaboration among performers. On some nights, guests can watch DJs and live musicians play shows curated with performances by visual artists. “We want to help creators do what they want to do rather than direct it ourselves,” said Lillis.
Varied programming, rather than an insular or single scene, was a key priority for Lapan and Edmonson from the beginning. Roughly five years ago, the pair began traveling the country, visiting cities like New York, Portland, and New Orleans—the latter two in which Edmonson had lived—with highly diverse, music-centric cultures. They sought to learn how small, adaptable venues catered to their clientele with not only shows, but listening parties and other “music experiences”. Lapan says he saw a “gap” for such a space in D.C.
“I’ve used the crude analogy of what a sports bar is to sports, and I didn’t necessarily see a place like that in the [local] music market,” he said.
Lapan and Edmonson found a space that fit their needs at 2477 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan. The address once served as the Showboat Lounge, a hub for guitarist and pioneer Charlie Byrd and other D.C. jazz legends in the late 1950s and 1960s. While the pair didn’t love the space at first—“it seemed like it had a lot of work to be done,” says Edmonson—the building’s history made it a good match for their vision.
Edmonson’s biggest lesson from operating the venue space for the last four months has been learning to juggle transitioning between different genres on the same night.
“We’re trying to carry a lot of different styles” at once, she said, including DJs playing vinyl leading into live rock bands, which requires rapid production changes. Having multiple rooms with live programming can also be confusing for guests, some of whom get confused about which door to enter, she explained.
Lillis feels as though they are getting better at managing so many moving parts. Achieving that desired consistency is a priority for Lapan, given that Songbyrd plans to offer more alternative programming, including listening parties and artist panel events.
“Those times when it’s firing on all cylinders is quite an experience, and we’re getting more and more of those days,” he said.
Concertgoers can mark their calendars for upcoming live performances at Songbyrd from Maryland rapper Ace Cosgrove on Feb. 27 and chillwave artist Astronauts, etc., on March 25. Songbyrd will also be hosting D.C.’s inaugural Breakin’ Even Fest on March 4-5, featuring 13 punk artists mostly from the D.C. area, as well as New York and Pennsylvania.
