A new music series in Church Hill is giving new meaning to the term garage band.
For the last three years, the Bellwether Garage has hosted a monthly neighborhood concert series in a four-bay garage at the corner of E. Clay and N. 31st Streets.
Owners and Church Hill residents Grant Mathews and Lauren Albee knew they wanted to do something special with the space, which was a deciding factor when purchasing their next door New Orleans-inspired terrace house during a move back to Richmond from Los Angeles in 2019.
“I said that if the whole garage comes with the house, then we have to buy that house right now,” says Mathews, an avid motorcycle and vintage car enthusiast, laughing.
Inspired by their time hanging out with the Venice Vintage Motorcycle Club in L.A. as well as Charlottesville’s small event space The Garage, the two decided, after a few renovations, to host a small concert in 2023 with a visiting musician friend who had gotten his old band back together. Then a neighbor heard about the show and also asked to play, which sparked more interest.
“The next thing you know, we had four acts performing in our garage,” Albee says, adding that around 50 concertgoers from around the neighborhood showed up with folding chairs. “We were like, ‘Okay, this went well. Let’s try this again next month.’”
With word about the “Bellwether Sessions” spreading quickly spreading around Richmond’s music community, artists began reaching out to play and the series developed a huge backlog of possible performers across various genres.
“We’ve had a harpist, we’ve had brand new performers, we’ve had electronic musicians,” Mathews says. “It’s an embarrassment of riches that we have so many artists wanting to play here.”
At first, he says they were just grateful people wanted to play there.
“I think it’s a bonus that we’ve gotten a lot of different kinds of artists because we don’t want to be known for having only one type of music here,” he says.
Attendance steadily grew with every show, which eventually required the need to shut down the street to accommodate the crowds. But despite initial worries about noise and road closures, the couple says the response from their surrounding neighbors has been overwhelmingly positive.
“There was always a concern starting something like this that there would be pushback. We’ve found it’s been the complete opposite for us,” Mathews says, adding that neighbors even helped chip in for the street permit costs. “Before the first show of each year, I go around to canvas for signatures for the road closure and everyone I talk to enthusiastically supports it.”
“We’ve met so many great people because of it,” Albee adds. “It just feels like the neighborhood’s really embraced it.”
One such performance included a set from Jonathan Russell of The Head and the Heart last year, where attendance exploded to nearly 500 people that night.
“That one was special,” Mathews says. “Not just because of his popularity, but he was also interacting with the crowd really well. At one point, he asked if anyone knew how to play one of his songs. This young girl went up and she played [The Head and the Heart song] ‘Every Shade of Blue’ on his guitar while he sang. The whole crowd was completely transfixed.”
“Richmond needs more places that provide artists an opportunity for an attentive audience,” says musician and Church Hill resident Jim Ivins, who will be performing at the Bellwether Garage later this month. “It really helps us connect with listeners. Plus, it’s a really awesome looking space.”
This season, the Bellwether Sessions brought on music production company Overcoast Music as a sponsor to help with permit costs, allowing any audience donations to go directly to the artists, something that Mathews and Albee feel is just as important as the show itself. And while the series continues to grow, the organizers say they want it to stay as simple as possible and not grow too fast.
“We want to maintain this grassroots feel for the series,” Albee says. “There’s something really special about the form that it’s in right now.”
The Bellwether Sessions’ next show takes place July 19 with The Fan, Jon Tyler Wiley & His Virginia Choir, Sam Valentine and Shapes in the Water. For more information on the Bellwether Garage, follow them on Instagram at @bellwether_garage.
