On Friday, March 4, an Upstate neo-soul singer who calls herself Riibread took the stage at Swanson’s Warehouse in downtown Greenville. She performed solo — just her, a microphone and some pedals triggering her background music. Surrounded by hundreds of classic Greenville street and business signs as décor, her low-key but mesmerizing set was actually the start of a new concert series at the venue.
Riibread was followed by the local folk duo Mourning Dove, then a full rock band, Aunt Vicki. Around 60 people paid the $7 cover at the door and enjoyed the space as event organizers Ash Lennox and David Stone looked on.
Stone is the co-owner of Swanson’s Warehouse, located next to Fireforge Crafted Beer on the corner of Washington and Irvine streets. Lennox is the co-owner of TPP Events, which has spent the last few years putting on concerts around town, most notably at Eighth State Brewing. The adventurous series runs through April and includes dives into electronic music (Florecita), alternative rock (Curly Blue), psychedelia (Orange Doors), art folk (Wolfgang Wallace) and much more.
Lennox and Stone actually met last summer at Modal, a combination hostel, coffee shop and art gallery in Greater Sullivan near downtown Greenville. Lennox was looking for a new place to put on shows, and Stone was looking for a recovery after the pandemic shut down Swanson’s previous attempts at hosting concerts.
“The timing couldn’t have been any better,” Stone says.
“We talked for a couple of hours about what our ideas were,” Lennox says, “and what we wanted to do personally and what we wanted to do for the city and found that we had a lot of shared vision and the tools that the other needed.”
Stone and Lennox both agreed to start slow, planning concerts just two nights a week and seeing how that worked out before expanding.
“I gave Ash the freedom to go ahead and create the spring lineup,” Stone says, “and with that we’ll be able to come back together and dial it in and see how well it worked with each band.”
They also made a point to keep costs low.
“With the pandemic lifted, we want it to be affordable,” Stone says. “The fact is that you can come in for $5 in advance, $7 at the door, have a couple of drinks for under $20, and we hope what we’re offering now will be something the community will enjoy as they come downtown before or after dinner.”
“That was something that David was into anyway, keeping the prices low,” Lennox adds, “and to me that was appealing because my vision has always been about accessibility.”
Lennox and Stone are continuing to tinker with the space at Swanson’s, which holds around 150 people. Over the last couple of weeks they’ve brought in a new lighting rig and more seating to create a better overall concert experience.
“We feel like there’s a palpable warmth when you come in,” Lennox says. “And we feel like that’s only going to be more evident when you see these bands interact with the crowd, when you see these bands interact with each other, when you see David and I interact with anyone who walks through the door. You feel like you know what to expect when you walk in here.”
For the full list of upcoming concerts at Swanson’s, visit swansonswarehouse.com.
