Arizona was the second-to-last stop on our fundraising road trip. The Rebel Lounge owner, Stephen Chilton, took the time to speak with us.
The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix resides in the building that used to be home to The Mason Jar, a club founded in 1979 that played host to some of rock, alt-rock, and indie’s biggest names as they were emerging.
After taking over the space in 2015, Stephen was keen for The Rebel Lounge to continue in the same vein, hosting musical acts/artists on their way up. The Rebel Lounge has hosted The Maine, Beach Bunny, Shooter Jennings, This Wild Life, and The Lone Bellow amongst many others. It has also won numerous awards from The Phoenix Times in their “Best of Phoenix Awards.” As well as owning The Rebel Lounge, Stephen also runs his concert promotion and production company, Psyko Steve Presents, which produces over 700 concerts per year.
As part of our cross-country fundraising trip for Musicians On Call and National Independent Venue Foundation, we were able to catch up with Stephen when we stopped in Phoenix. During the interview, we talked about the importance of independently owned venues, Stephen’s role as a founding board member of NIVA, and his passion for providing a platform to emerging artists.
This was a great chat with someone who is steeped in the live music scene and is a great advocate for emerging artists and independent venues. We are extremely grateful to him for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with us.
You can see our interview with Stephen here, and when you’re finished watching, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch future content:
To read more about our cross-country fundraising trip for the National Independent Venue Foundation and Musicians On Call, click here. All donations go directly to your chosen organization. To donate to NIVF, click here. To donate to Musicians On Call, click here.
