\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThese days, it can feel like music exists only online or at arenas with a $500 entry fee. But there are still plenty of small, independent clubs building IRL scenes and fostering community.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt Permanent Records Roadhouse in Los Angeles<\/a>, a record store and a 100-cap venue are connected by a large outdoor patio. During the day, patrons sip beer outside while chatting with friends or searching through crates of music. At night, the venue hosts an early show and a late show, packing in six bands or more. The location is a little out of the way, but they rarely have trouble keeping the schedule full. \u201cWe provide a place for people who are motivated to play, without having to have a massive following already,\u201d\u00a0 says owner Lance Barresi.<\/p>\n \n\tBefore opening the Roadhouse in 2019, Barresi was no stranger to the music scene. He\u2019d played in bands growing up in Missouri, and spent almost 20 years as the owner of record stores in Chicago and L.A. Those connections have helped bring a fair number of bigger names to the Roadhouse: In just one week in August, Osees\u2019 John Dwyer premiered a new psych-noise project, post-hardcore outfit Sparta came through on their summer tour, and Conan O\u2019Brien premiered his new band, the Vigodas. But the venue\u2019s bread and butter are smaller local acts that are actively building a following. \u201cWithout spaces like this, there is no breeding ground, no community space for local musicians to try new things,\u201d Barresi says.<\/p>\n \n\tA couple miles away, Zebulon draws slightly larger crowds \u2014 their venue can hold up to 300 \u2014 but their mission is similar. This venue has been open in a warehouse district in L.A. since 2017, when they relocated here after a decade in Williamsburg, Brooklyn<\/a>. Back in New York<\/a>, their shows had been free, drawing in fans and musicians for an eclectic array of performances \u2014 come for the punk show, stay for the jazz. \u201cThe fact that it was free [made] the people interact together,\u201d explains co-owner Jef Soubiran, who grew up in the south of France. Artists playing larger clubs nearby would stop in after their gigs. \u201cThey were coming for a drink, coming [with their] instrument, and it became some amazing jam at the end of the night.\u201d In L.A., they started occasionally charging a cover \u2014 usually $20 to $30 \u2014 and got a space big enough to separate the venue from a caf\u00e9 in the front, so people can come and hang out even if they aren\u2019t going to the show. \u201cWe like the idea of people meet in a caf\u00e9 and talk about what\u2019s going on, or just, after the show, be able to hang out and talk,\u201d Soubiran says. \u201cIt\u2019s very community.\u201d<\/p>\n