Welcome to the Tiny Room
Crossroads Music, the Amagansett shop offering musical instrument sales and repairs as well as lessons, has once again expanded its event offerings with the introduction of the Tiny Room Show, an intimate concert in which an audience of 30 can see and hear a celebrated musician up close and extremely personal.
Andy Aledort, a guitarist who performs with Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, will inaugurate the concert series on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Mr. Aledort, who is also a senior editor of Guitar World magazine and the creator of popular instructional books, CDs, and DVDs including “Jimi Hendrix Signature Licks: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of His Guitar Styles and Techniques,” previously led several workshops at Crossroads.
The series will continue on April 28 with Kerry Kearney, a blues guitarist who will perform with a small band. Mr. Kearney was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. Jeff Allegue, a member of New Life Crisis and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, will perform instrumental acoustic music with his son, Grant, on May 19.
Michael Clark, the owner of Crossroads and, earlier this month, grand marshal of the Am O’Gansett Parade, said that National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concert series was an inspiration for these events. With chairs provided by Bermuda Parties of East Hampton, which is sponsoring the series, just four rows of seating will accommodate the audience. Performers will be “barely miked, because you’re right there,” Mr. Clark said.
Mr. Aledort will perform for 60 minutes, or perhaps 90. “Andy will play all night,” Mr. Clark said, adding that he hopes for feedback from the audience, the better to craft an engaging event that people will want to experience again.
From its founding, on North Main Street in East Hampton, Crossroads has served as a meeting place for both player and listener. The store, now at Amagansett Square, has hosted many informal jam sessions and, for a time, a concert series called “On the Air at Crossroads” that was hosted by Cynthia Daniels, the music producer who owns and operates MonkMusic Studios in East Hampton. Ms. Daniels recorded and mixed the performances for later broadcast on WPPB/Peconic Public Broadcasting. Musicians, especially, appreciated the “On the Air” format, Mr. Clark said. Audiences “were coming to listen to the music — this is what it’s about.”
“I just want this to be different,” Mr. Clark said of the Tiny Room Shows. “There’s so much good music going on all over the place. I picked Tuesday because I don’t want to compete with anything. We just think it will just be a different thing for the community.”
Tickets for Tuesday’s Tiny Room Show featuring Andy Aledort cost $20 and are available at Crossroads Music. Reservations are required for seating, and standing-room tickets will be available on Tuesday evening.