Creating a Livestreaming Legacy: An Interview with Julie Stanley, Live from the Living Room Lounge

By Emilie Rohrbach

Live from the Living Room Lounge was one of the first Bay Area Facebook groups set up to support and promote livestreaming for musicians. They are now over 650 hours into managing the group and have done it all pro bono. They also help musicians grow their social media presence and offer website, tech, and internet support.

ER: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your connection to the music world?

JS: Back in 1999, I had a pretty bad back injury while working as a raft guide on the Tuolumne River. I was searching for something that could fill my time while I recovered. I met Josh Brough of Poor Man's Whiskey at Sugar Bowl years later. In 2005, Poor Man's Whiskey and I started the Whiskey River Festival, which was a 2-day rafting trip with a concert. It was successful and went on for 5 years. The company was later sold and I lost my job as manager. That was when Poor Man's Whiskey invited me on the road with them as their tour manager. During the 2 years I was on the road with them I attended 25+ music festivals and met musicians from all over. I fell deeper in love with the industry. Eventually, I started side projects helping musicians with marketing.

ER: What were your first thoughts as the shelter-in-place order was mandated?

JS: If you mean in the US, I wasn't too surprised. We had been watching the news and had a pretty good feeling it was coming for us too. I was surprised when they issued the 1st quarantine in California in Roseville, my hometown where my elderly parents still live. Over all, I had no idea that they entire world would be sheltering in place. This is definitely a historical time.

ER: How did Live from the Living Room Lounge manifest?

JS: I had a conversation with some musician friends in early March about how their gigs were already getting canceled. The stress was overwhelming for them. My fiance and I (he also worked in the music industry) discussed the idea that they could go "live" on Facebook and ask for tips. At first, they laughed at our idea and didn't take us seriously. Four days later, they called us and planned a live set for that afternoon. We hustled to get the group built and invited as many friends as possible. We shared their set and then we began looking for other musicians who were doing the same. As fast as they were popping up live we tried to keep up. The group grew to almost 4,000 members in the first week. In the process, we realized that Facebook wasn't very good at helping people find the music so it was important for us to be a catalyst. It all happened so fast.

ER: Were there any hiccups along the way?

JS: No real hiccups. The entire thing has been mostly a positive project. It was really nice to have something to fill our time. Especially in the first bit of the Shelter-in-Place order. We really needed to keep our minds occupied.

ER: How does live streaming work on your channel?

JS: It is a Facebook Group, so we don't have a lot of influence as to how it works from a tech side, but we have been committed to helping musicians get set up to stream for success. A lot of people send us live shows now too so we don't have to go looking for them. It's a shared space so others can participate. We did create some basic rules to follow. Mostly, the streams must be live (or have been live recently) on Facebook. We don't share out to other platforms because we want our users to stick around the group. If we send them to YouTube, or TwitchTV then we lose them.

ER: How many followers do you have now?

JS: Just under 25,000.

ER: Who are some of the musicians that have appeared on Live from the Living Room Lounge? Are there any particular shows on LFTLRL that stand out for you?

JS: We have hosted so many amazing musicians. There has been an enormous amount of discovery for me and I think for others, too. We specifically have hosted Vince Herman of Left Over Salmon, Jenni Charles and Jesse Dunn of Dead Winter Carpenters, Nat Keefe and Erik Yates of Hot Buttered Rum, and lots of others. We discovered Sugarcane Jane, Water Tower, Jackie Venson, Big Sam's Funky Nation, and so many more. I know who my line up would be if I were planning a big festival.

ER: If a musician wants to connect with you to promote their show on your site, what should he/ she do?

JS: PM me on Facebook - facebook.com/waterdropjulie

ER: What do you think is next for the music industry?

JS: There is an amazing evolution happening right now. Musicians are teaching online at https://www.livelessonmasters.com/ This site gives the opportunity to have your favorite musician give you a lesson. That's a dream of many. I think that the creative-forward-thinking musicians who were some of the first ones to go live are leading the pack to bigger and better ways to make the best of this situation. To name a few, Austin Quattlebaum, Reed Mathis, Dan Lebowitz, Sam Chase, and of course Nathan Moore. As far as the future goes, I think that even though the Shelter-in-Place order may get lifted, I don't think large gatherings will take place until maybe 2021.

ER: On a personal note, can you tell us something that's lifting you up or bringing you joy right now? Where might you be finding hope?

JS: We make sure that we take time to get outside everyday. Brian and I feel very fortunate to live in Lake Tahoe. We both said we couldn't imagine living in a congested city right now.