Longstaff House: An intimate venue for live music

SIERRA CISTONE for the Missoulian

On a recent Sunday, bright jazz music floats from an unassuming building tucked away in Missoula’s Slant Street district.

The music is followed by cheerful applause indicating a live performance, but the building looks a bit too small to be a music venue. And technically, it’s not. It’s the Longstaff House, an old renovated church and the private residence of John Parker, a local musician and owner of the building.

While the bottom half is Parker’s home, the top floor is entirely dedicated to house concerts open to the public. The Longstaff House specializes in a certain kind of house show, the intimate kind where the music is truly heard and experienced.

“It’s quiet. You can hear everything. The musicians can hear everything,” Parker said. “It’s the perfect way to play to a fairly big but totally attentive audience.”

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On this night, the music is that of Camila Meza, a Chilean multi-genre musician who is playing to a crowd of at least 50 people. She’s joined on drums by her husband, Caleb van Gelder, who for part of the show tends to their baby at the back of the room. They are on a family music tour across the country and have stopped in Missoula to play at Longstaff. Toward the end of the show, Meza speaks to the crowd.

“We’re so lucky to have this space in between to keep our tour going,” Meza said.

The most common places for musicians to book shows these days are at bars, Parker explained. Longstaff has become his answer to how to provide a drastically different experience for both the musicians and the audience.

The setting adds to the intimacy since walking into the building feels like walking into someone’s home. Rows of mismatched chairs fill most of the space, arranged facing a small stage. The walls are lined with classic home decor, like Midwest-style quilts, rugs and of course, instruments. There’s even a bed in one of the back corners for musicians to crash on for the night.

Despite the tight fit, the acoustics are perfect for live music. Parker provides a speaker system that fills the space with sound. With such an attentive audience, anyone speaking on stage hardly needs a microphone to be heard.

It’s a B.Y.O.B situation since Parker does not sell anything, not even tickets. He operates strictly on donations and all the money goes to the musicians. Being a full-time musician is expensive these days and one of Parker’s goals with Longstaff is to help support touring artists. He also is consistent about bringing in local musicians to open up for the main artists.

“It’s a way to not lose money for that day and play for a really good crowd,” Parker said.

On a good night, Longstaff shows can pull in close to 100 people. Parker has a website for the space where people can sign up for emails about updates and upcoming shows. His list of recipients has grown to include hundreds of people.

Parker estimates that since 2016 when he started hosting music, he has put on around 100 shows. They have included performances by well-known and accomplished musicians and bands like John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Wood Belly and Lonesome Ace Stringband.

“It’s amazing, the level of musicianship that comes through here and wants to play here,” Parker said.

As a musician himself, Parker said it has provided him a surprising opportunity to meet some of his musical heroes in the bluegrass community.

At this point, Parker says he mostly deals with booking agents as opposed to the bands themselves. And with so many requests to book shows, Parker could probably keep the place filled every night.

“I can’t tell you how many audience members say ‘thanks for doing this, thanks for providing this space,’” Parker said. “So that makes it rewarding.”

Sierra Cistone is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Missoula.

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