NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Chris Blair founded The Listening Room Cafe 20 years ago with a vision for a new music venue in Middle Tennessee.
This month, the venue celebrates two decades of providing an intimate setting where audiences can hear the stories behind the songs.
To mark the milestone, the venue hosted a celebration at The Ryman featuring performances by Brett Young, Old Dominion, Jo Dee Messina, and dozens of other artists.
"The Ryman? Let’s just go all in and celebrate at The Ryman," Blair said.
"It wasn’t about The Listening Room celebrating 20 years as much," Blair added. "Wasn’t about me. It was just a magical night of music and the fact that everyone said yes. Jo Dee Messina, like, everyone said yes!"
The Listening Room Cafe has changed locations over the years, but the core concept remains the same.
"Our whole concept is that you’re gonna have that intimate setting and hear the stories behind the songs," Blair previously told NewsChannel 5 earlier this decade.
"You could walk into the room and you could hear multiple number one songs that you know very well on the radio," Blair added. "And then you could have those special moments where it’s like hey we just wrote this song today," Blair said.
Creating a music venue in Music City did not happen overnight. Blair did everything to keep the business going in the early days.
"I couldn’t afford to pay rent," Blair recalls. "Therefore, I couldn’t afford to pay employees. So I was the bartender, the cook, the sound engineer, the booking manager, the janitor."
"There’s been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into building it, but that’s what makes it fun and it’s nice to have your hands in it when it’s all done," Blair said during a venue renovation years back.
When the world went quiet earlier this decade, the venue faced challenges. During an interview with Hannah McDonald a few years back, Blair noted the financial strain of the shutdown.
"We’re not yet to a point where we’re making money. We’re just losing less than we were when we were completely shut down," Blair said.
Now, 20 years since the beginning, the crowds are still singing along.
"I’d love to say this was the goal, I think it was the goal? But no, I never expected this," Blair said in 2022.
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