At the Listyning Room in Leawood, music lovers and musicians connect to the community

From 45s to 8-tracks to digital recordings, as long as it’s music, The Listyning Room will embrace it. The non-profit venue for recorded music appreciation opened its doors in Leawood in July.

There, people can gather to not only listen to various music recordings, but also find context about the artists and both the history specifically around the music production and a wider context as well.

Even before this spot opened, these kinds of events already had a following. Kelsyn Rooks, founder and board chairperson of the Center for Recorded Music, said that after a slow start in 2015, by 2019, shows were selling out 75-seat venues twice a month. The Listyning Room is part of the Center.

“There was a lot of demand from the community for more access to these types of events, as well as more interest from other people in the music community,” Rooks said.

He had already started to investigate a full-time location for it when the pandemic hit.

“We decided at that point what we wanted to do was build a community around music, anchored in the celebration of the artistic and technical, social and historical contributions of music. We had talked about the idea of a private club for record listening, but that sounds very exclusive, and we really wanted it to be something that was inclusive and accessible for everyone,” Rooks said.

By 2022, the events were back and larger than ever, drawing 150 to 300 people in a spot at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The temporary nature of the events meant a lot of set-up and tear-down for each one. At the Leawood venue, Rooks doesn’t have to worry about that.

In January, nbkc bank offered the space inside its building for free to a local non-profit. Rooks applied, and after numerous discussions about his vision for the place, the bank welcomed The Listyning Room.

Currently, there’s a one-year lease in place. Eventually, Rooks would like to have a larger space, but for now, the space serves its purpose. He hopes to stay there for two or three years.

A variety of events happen at The Listyning Room each month. November has everything ranging from the blues to heavy metal. Rooks himself sometimes hosts the programs, but he has a regular roster of contributors who also host events.

For each event, there’s typically a requested donation for entry that goes toward paying for equipment, music licenses and storage, among other operating costs.

Although the venture started with more of a focus on vinyl, it now includes many formats.

“Ultimately, we try to get the best copy or the best version of the music we can,” Rooks said.

“We will play stuff from ’78, very old records if we need to. We’ll play cassette tapes if that’s what we’ve got. We’ll play reel to reel tapes, which are amazing quality.”

About a third of their collection is on display at The Listening Room, with much more in storage. Much of it has come from people donating their personal collections, some with as many as 30,000 records.

“A lot of this is about helping people to find other music they might want to listen to,” Rooks said.

Leawood resident Leonard Williams attended an August event focusing on Simon and Garfunkel.

“I like the history of how the music began to evolve. I’ve never thought of it that way,” Williams said.

Rooks has had students attend some of their programs, but he’d like to partner with local schools in his events.

“I would love the students to request more information about a genre or an artist or a band, or a series of artists and bands. We will take that input and craft a program where we play both the music they know and love today but also weave stories of the artists and music that influenced the people they love,” Rooks said. “We love to introduce them to older artists that helped create the art they love today.”

Eventually, he’d love for students to present their own programs, too.

Also on the horizon is a hope to partner with the Glenwood Arts Theater across the street to have a related event when a movie about a musician plays at the theater.

The Listyning Room is located inside the nbkc bank building at 3510 W. 95th St. For information on its programming, go here.