The Lantern Has Big Ambition For Music In Blacksburg

By Noha El-Shall
December 15, 2008 

Live music is once again becoming a crucial component in the lives of Blacksburg residents due to the new locally-owned-and-operated venue the Lantern. 

"All people need to do is realize music is one of the best things in the world," said co-owner of the Lantern Brain Turner. "It's universal.  Everyone can enjoy it ... what we're really doing here is reviving the local music scene."

The Lantern is a music venue committed to bringing live music to downtown Blacksburg seven nights a week.  The Lantern opened in July 2008 and is co-owned by Turner and Daniel Chastain, former Raleigh, N.C., residents who relocated to Blacksburg. 

Though the Lantern primarily serves Blacksburg as a musical outlet it is also a restaurant and bar. The owners offered a lunch menu for a time, then shut down lunch, and have now re-opened for lunch. They also hope to grow their dinner business. 

The Lantern is located at 211-B Draper St. and holds roughly 200 people.  Shows are usually open to all ages and cover charges are generally around $5, although bigger shows cost more and some shows are free.  

Turner and Chastain say they have always been involved in music and very passionate about it.  The co-owners were former roommates in Raleigh and often discussed how cool it would be to own a music venue instead of holding an ordinary job. 

"It just kind of sank in one day that maybe being a rock star isn't going to work, out so how else can I be involved in music for a job?" said Turner. "This is a great way to do it." 

Chastain moved to Blacksburg after his wife was hired by Virginia Tech. He scoped out the area and told Turner that Blacksburg was a huge college town with no music venues.

"We both got a little baffled and got to thinking that we could really, actually have a shot here," Turner said, "whereas if we wanted to do it in Raleigh or Chapel Hill, N.C., it would be way harder because they're so saturated with music."

Turner said he has talked with local bands and people in Blacksburg who are all interested in rebuilding a music scene that has come and gone over recent decades.

"There is a lot of lost interest especially from certain segments of the student population, because there has been no music venue for them to go out and enjoy and get into live music," said Turner.

The venue has shown signs of capturing the interest of Tech students with an eclectic mix of music and underground atmosphere.

"At every show I have been to at the Lantern I have been accompanied by only the coolest kids in Blacksburg," said Virginia Tech freshman James Wallace, when asked about experiences at the Lantern.  "Every one in there seems to be getting down and having a blast."

The energy of the Lantern was inspired by Turner's favorite venue, Cats Cradle in Chapel Hill, and Chastain's favorite venue, the Pour House in Raleigh.  "This place is kind of a mesh of the two different ideas and two different vibes we wanted to create," said Turner.

"The small size, cool decorations and awesome light shows are the best part of the Lantern," said Wallace.

All types of musical genres are welcome at the Lantern.  "We try to do a good mix of incorporating all the local acts and every type of music ... anything we can really," Turner said. 

Due to different musical tastes, the co-owners each book certain types of music.  Though they sometimes cross over, Chastain books mostly jam bands, funk bands or bluegrass bands, while Turner sticks with the indie, hardcore, punk and experimental bands. 

Turner said the Lantern has recently booked a variety of great shows including the bluegrass band The Hackensaw Boys, the old-school funk group Yo Mamma's Big Fat Booty Band, and the local positive hip-hop band HopeHop.

Turner and Chastain are currently working out details to work with a new Roanoke booking agency that has begun booking bigger acts, such as Lotus and Boombox, into Roanoke and Blacksburg. 

"They book big bands and they know how to promote and negotiate,"  Turner said of the Roanoke firm. "It would be a huge help for us."

A huge challenge the Lantern struggles with is publicity; support from Virginia Tech students is desperately needed. The venue has done much of its marketing via the Internet with its website.

Turner said if the Lantern could draw one out of every 1,000 Tech students to the Lantern every night they would be in great shape.  "And not just the hippies and the punk kids," he said. "Everyone can come down here from time to time, hear what they want to hear, and have a good time.

"There's a group of people in this town that really want this place to work," he said of Blacksburg's music fans. "There are people that come here almost every show even if they don't really like the music ... We love them to death. Unfortunately there's not enough of them."

The owners said one of their big challenges is to make more Tech students aware of the Lantern's presence.

"Some nights it's one in one out, where it's totally packed. It depends on the night, on the band, if all the students are gone, and stuff of that nature," said Lantern kitchen manager Jesse Watt.

Turner hopes to eventually make the Lantern a permanent place and to bring in bands every night that are known by name.

Though they are still struggling with getting food sales high enough to be allowed to sell liquor, the Lantern is finally starting to break even financially, the owners said. 

As the owners have been learning what works and what doesn't, Turner and Chastain are very optimistic towards the future of the Lantern. 

"Come next year I think everyone will know about the Lantern," said Watt.