DIY October: Pt. 3 Erynn McLeod and Lucas Rhondeau at Buck Naked Hunt Camp.

Video and still photography by JB Fitts.

You can file this one under P for “Put your money where your mouth is”.

In early September, the decision was made that if this blog was gonna run its mouth on how important the DIY scene is to the health of our local musical culture, then we should put on a show to prove it can be done pretty easily by just about anyone.

Against all common sense, we did and you know what? It went pretty well (largely thanks to the super talented Indie Folk artists Erynn McLeod and Lucas Rhondeau). The sound equipment worked. No one puked on the Facebook Marketplace couch. No one had a bad trip and wandered off into the woods never to be seen again. The parking team got fans in and out safely. Cameras rolled. Weenies were roasted. Most importantly, the weather Gods cooperated.

And friends, Erynn and Lucus were on point. (Check out Erynn’s music here and keep your ears and eyes peeled for her new record.)

Let’s back up and talk about how it went down, and how that might provide a blueprint for you potential DIY’ers out there.

The germ of an idea for a month-long series highlighting our local DIY scene took shape over the summer. When Bazz texted that he had just seen a movie about a famous DIY house in Harrisonburg that was gonna make it into the Virginia Film Festival, October became the obvious month.

And putting on a show at Buck Naked Hunt Camp became a real possiblity.

I dm’d one of my dear surrogate daughters, Erynn McLeod, whose own career has blossomed since she won the WNRN Tiny Desk Competition in 2025. I knew that she had been doing some DIY shows this year. Knew that she was working on a new record. And needed to check in anyway because she had just announced her wedding to Lucus Rhondeau—also a teacher at the Front Porch. Full disclosure, Erynn was my vocal teacher at the Front Porch and literally held my hand while I got the nerve to open my mouth in song in front of another human about 3-4 years ago.

We met for coffee at Buck Naked Hunt Camp, formed a plan and committed to it. Full disclosure, BNHC is my beloved hunting property near Schuyler, and just so happens to be a pretty good place to try this the first time.

We set a date of October 4 and got busy.

One of the first things you’ll need to host a DIY show is a location—somewhere that has some kind of spot that can pass for a stage. That has an area close enough to that stage for fans to sit or stand or dance and listen. Somewhere 5-0 won’t be up your ass (or a good line of bullshit if they are). Where the neighbors won’t cause a ruckus (I don’t have any). Where cars can park if folks are driving. Somewhere there isn’t heavy machinery where people can hurt themselves (oops, but no one got hurt). Somewhere for folks to take a squirt (the woods for the guys and the bathroom for the gals).

In terms of gear, you’re gonna need a PA. Full disclosure, my own band the 10-4 Good Buddies rehearses at BNHC and we have a workable PA in place with the bonus of simple multi track live recording. If you don’t have a PA, luckily many of the bands that you would work with do since so many of the smaller venues in the area require bands to bring their own amplification set up.

Mics, stands, cables, a small mixer or digital interface, a stage monitor of some kind and self powered PA speakers will get it done.

You’re also gonna need someone handy with a camera because these days if it’s not shot and uploaded to social media, it didn’t happen (debatable). Full disclosure, one of my dear friends is @JBFitts who just so happens to have studied photography at Design Center in LA and is the area’s best architectural and real estate photographer (my superlative not his). His work is pristine and speaks for itself. Thanks JB.

If you have any disposable or non-disposable wealth at all for lawyers to take (like a car or a pot to piss in and a window to throw it out of) you should have some kind of liability insurance in case someone does something stupid (punk houses will argue this fact and God love them for rolling the dice).

You’ll need some friends who dig the DIY music scene and want to help. @russbazz and @eric_lewis1130 were more than happy to help with grilling weenies, directing traffic, providing muscle and setup / cleanup. Thanks Bazz and Eric.

All that was left was to just do it.

Erynn and Lucas planned their show, created materials and decided to make the event by-invitation-only for their VIP fans.

I reconfigured the studio and the space slightly for a live performance.

Fans brought their own chairs and drinks.

We provided a campfire and a weenie roast because it’s fall in Virginia.

People came. Erynn and Lucas played (and played really well—the new Duo setup is really gonna work). C Burrows did a fantastic job of kicking things off with a tasty set of his own.

Content was created. People got home safely. Mixed audio was sunk to video.

Success.

Now the degree of difficulty was not high. Indie Folk artists and their guests are about the most well behaved group you could work with. But the equation solves for any kind of music from rock to punk to metal to electronica to Americana to Dark Country (10-4).

I’d be remiss if I didn’t name check the local small buisnesses, dot orgs and artists that host DIY shows, doing God’s work and providing inspiration for us all. They are:

Infinite Repeats, Daedalus Books, Book Club, Tea Bazaar, Visible Records, Community Bikes, JBird Warehouse, RAQC and the Crayola House team. If I forgot you, dm me, we’ll give you a personal shout out for your efforts and get your events in the show calendar.

Net-Net? This is very, very doable. If you’re thinking you can pull it off, you can. Please invite me, I won’t puke on your coach.

And thanks Erynn and Lucas for being such talented test pilots!