How to book a show at the Cypress Lounge
If you hear opportunity knocking, it’s probably the Cypress Lounge at the door. Recently bestowed the coveted full entertainment permit from our fair city, the growing venue is poised to start hitting its live music stride.
Committed to booking local bands first, the Cypress Lounge can help bands crack the eternal Catch-22 of needing a track record to play more established venues, but not having anywhere to establish a track record in the first place.
Owner Ashton Hodge has been calling 120 Union Street home for the past eight years, working with different owners and various formulas for the space (from the Jahva House to Coastline Brewery Restaurant) before opening as its latest incarnation, the Cypress Lounge, in 2007. The main room of the lounge is a former machine shop with vaulted ceilings, concrete floors and exposed brick. Large floor-to-ceiling curtains now separate the main room from the side room and outside patio to create a space to “get away” from the music and have a conversation.
True to its name, the Cypress Lounge is most interested in booking bands that keep it social, think reggae, deejays, light rock, funk and blues. The space borders a downtown neighborhood and nothing kills the vibe faster than a pissed off neighbor.
Thursday is a designated reggae night but Tuesday and Wednesday nights are wide open for the right hungry local band to become the next big thing. If you can bring the noise and 40 of your friends, everyone wins. Fridays and Saturdays are reserved for acts with the elusive “track record,” but it only takes a few killer weeknight shows before you join the ranks.
To get booked at the Cypress Lounge you can create the perfect e-mail or drop off a press kit and CD in person after 4 p.m. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, be ready to sell your band and convince Hodge that you have what it takes to get the job done.
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