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Music venue brings artists to Buckhannon

BUCKHANNON — Described as a “hidden gem,” the McNemar House has literally opened its doors for community members to enjoy live music in an intimate setting.

Since April 2016, musicians from all over the state, and even some from Canada and Maine, have been shredding riffs and singing tunes for Upshur County music lovers.

“Last year, we kind of decided that we were missing a live music venue that wasn’t so much a social environment, (but) more like a listening room environment, where you’re going to see a show,” explained Heather McNemar about how she and her husband, Bronson, started the venue. “So we kind of decided to try out a couple shows in the house.”

At the beginning, the events had a jam-session vibe — the house had no sound equipment, seating, lighting, or even a stage; however, that quickly changed when word got out about the McNemar House. Today, the house’s environment is set up like a well-equipped venue, seating roughly 50 to 60 attendees and featuring proper lighting, a permanent stage and a sound technician, Stephen Holmes II.

“Over the past year, we’ve really grown, and we continue to try to step it up,” she said, explaining they have a goal of offering community members a place to thoroughly enjoy featured artists, as well as the ability to meet and chat with the bands.

“You get talk to these musicians that you’re coming to see, and you kind of get to know them a little bit, which is neat,” noted McNemar.

Not only do the McNemars and Holmes value the experience of listeners, they are also sensitive to musicians and their sound.

“With my relationship with a lot of the bands that have come through the house already, I know a lot of the bands already, I’ve played with some of them … it makes it easy because I know their style and their sound,” said Holmes. “And if there’s a band that comes through the house that I haven’t heard of or I don’t know very well, Heather will send me a link and I’ll give them a really good listen, so I can feel confident about portraying what they want portrayed with their sound.”

With a variety of genres being played at the venue — from spoken word to jazz and everything in between — the house invites a large range of musicians.

“We have a goal of featuring West Virginia musicians, as well as traveling musicians …,” Heather McNemar said. “We try to feature all kinds of genres. We try to be as broad as we can.”

With live music being played on the weekends in a packed house, the McNemars are often asked if they actually live in the house. The answer is yes.

“It comes as a surprise to a lot of people,” she said with a laugh.

After each show, the chairs go down in the basement, the stage can be taken down, and the dining room table and chairs are placed back in position.

“You would never know there was a show there at all,” Holmes said.

As a person who naturally likes to share and open up her home, McNemar said she had no problem with having the venue at the house. However, her husband had some qualms at the beginning.

“He’s got the head on the shoulders and I’m the dreamer, and we make a good team because of it, but he’s always been supportive with anything that we do,” she said. “And now that he sees the community coming in and appreciating what we’re doing, he loves it now.”

For the future, Heather McNemar said they’re in the processing of getting a food permit and beer and wine license, with the hope to serve West Virginia craft beers.

“It’s kind of another one of those steps where we’re growing,” she said.

For the upcoming year, McNemar said they plan to host two shows a month. However, February already has three booked shows.

“In our small community, we noticed that attendance was getting low. … It’s hard to get people to come out, and we’re 10 minutes from downtown, so we’ve kind of found that our tickets sales are little bit better when we (stagger) shows up a bit,” she said.

As the music venue continues to go, Holmes and Heather McNemar said they are proud to be part of the budding art and music scene in Buckhannon.

“I’m glad to see that art scene is growing here. It’s just a really awesome thing for our community,” she said.

More information is available online at www.mcnemarhouse.com.

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