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The Living Room was a music venue on 
This music venue has been called "an incubator of talent," and has been described as "a much mellower and tidier successor to 
Additionally, The Living Room had a smaller more intimate upstairs area known as Googies Lounge. Live artists used to perform every night of the week.
Gelber, Linus, "Room With a Few: The Living Room Plays Favorites
, 2000-09-26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Living Room 1988 establishments in New York City Music venues completed in 1988 Drinking establishments in Manhattan Music venues in Manhattan Nightclubs in New York City Lower East Side
Metropolitan Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn, New York City. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The avenue was construct ...
in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, which was originally established on Stanton Street
Stanton Street is a west-to-east street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the neighborhood of the Lower East Side. The street begins at the Bowery in the west and runs east to a dead end past Pitt Street, adjacent to Hamilton Fish Pa ...
of the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1988. The Living Room was co-owned by Steve Rosenthal and Jennifer Gilson. The Living Room has showcased some of the best of New York City’s singer/songwriter
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...
, alt-country
Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style f ...
, and rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. It moved to Brooklyn in 2015 before closing in December of the same year. This music venue has been called "an incubator of talent," and has been described as "a much mellower and tidier successor to CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...
." Some considered The Living Room as The Bottom Line of the "small bankroll" live rock venues.Sisario, Ben. (2007, December 14). Live rock on a small bankroll. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', p. E1. Other comparable venues include The Saint
The Saint may refer to:
Fiction
* Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations:
** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...
in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and The Cellar Door
The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows.
One of the premie ...
in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The Living Room's line-up featured four or five singer-songwriters a night, yet the club did not typically charge a cover. It did have a one drink minimum and a recommended $5 donation for the bands.
Some of The Living Room's sessions were recorded. In 2002 a CD, ''The Living Room - Live in NYC - Vol.1'' (Stanton St. Records), featuring live recordings from The Living Room was released. The CD included performances by Norah Jones
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...
, Jesse Harris
Jesse Harris (born October 24, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist. He has worked with Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright.
Early life and education
Harris and his twin sist ...
, Malcolm Holcombe
Malcolm Holcombe (born September 2, 1955, in Asheville, North Carolina) is a singer, songwriter, and performer.
Biography Early history
Holcombe was born in Asheville, N.C. and raised in Weaverville, N.C. in his teen years, he played in local ba ...
, Rachel Loshak, and Chris Moore.Bessman, J. (2003, March 15). Words & Music: The Big Winner. ''Billboard,'' p. 36.
The Living Room's patrons and performers have been characterized as a "close-knit family..." Those who have performed there include Joseph Arthur
Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through c ...
, Colbie Caillat
Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre.
After signing with Universal Republic R ...
, Minnie Driver
Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's '' Circle of Friends''. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic ''Grosse ...
, David Ford, Jesse Harris
Jesse Harris (born October 24, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist. He has worked with Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright.
Early life and education
Harris and his twin sist ...
, Beatie Wolfe
Beatie Wolfe is an Anglo-American award-winning, multimedia artist and musician described as a "musical weirdo and visionary" known for seeing music differently and creating new formats for music and art in the digital era. These projects inclu ...
, Ari Hest
Ari Hest (born 16 June 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from the Bronx borough of New York.
Biography
Early life and education
Hest's father is a college music professor and his mother a cantor. His older brother, Danny, is Hest's forme ...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...
, Jesse Malin
Jesse Malin (born January 26, 1967) is an American rock musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Starting his performing career in the New York hardcore band Heart Attack, and rising to prominence as vocalist of D Generation, a solo recording artis ...
, Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...
, Jason Reeves, Ron Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has ...
, The Little Willies
The Little Willies is an American alternative country supergroup formed in 2003. It features Norah Jones on piano keyboards and vocals, Richard Julian on guitar keyboards and vocals, Jim Campilongo on guitar, Lee Alexander on bass, and Dan Rie ...
, Ane Brun
Ane Brun (; born Ane Brunvoll on 10 March 1976) is a Norwegian songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist of Sami people, Sami origin. Since 2003, she has recorded ten albums, eight of which are studio albums of original material (including a collecti ...
, The Shells
The Shells were an American doo wop ensemble formed in Brooklyn, New York, United States, in 1957.
The group scored a US pop hit in 1957 with the song "Baby Oh Baby", released on Johnson Records; the song cracked the Top 30. Further singles p ...
, Chris Thile
Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...
, Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...
and Lizzy Grant (now known as Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
).
Additionally, The Living Room had a smaller more intimate upstairs area known as Googies Lounge. Live artists used to perform every night of the week.
History
Gilson, who is married to Rosenthal, first opened The Living Room in a formerfried chicken
Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...
joint a few blocks from the latter location. In 2003, the club moved from Stanton Street
Stanton Street is a west-to-east street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the neighborhood of the Lower East Side. The street begins at the Bowery in the west and runs east to a dead end past Pitt Street, adjacent to Hamilton Fish Pa ...
to its second location on Ludlow Street
Ludlow Street runs between Houston and Division Streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Vehicular traffic runs south on this one-way street.
Name
Ludlow Street was named after Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow, the naval of ...
, which had a main music room, front bar area, and upstairs lounge. The venue closed on December 21, 2015.
References
External links
Gelber, Linus, "Room With a Few: The Living Room Plays Favorites
, 2000-09-26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Living Room 1988 establishments in New York City Music venues completed in 1988 Drinking establishments in Manhattan Music venues in Manhattan Nightclubs in New York City Lower East Side