Leesburg Wants Music

A real estate investor in Leesburg, Va., wants to bring live music to one of his buildings.

A tenant recently vacated the Tally Ho Theatre and owner Don Devine, who also owns several properties in the city, wants to convert the 300-seat venue into a music hall. The last tenants, Market Street Productions, screened first-run movies and staged music and comedy productions.

Devine has apparently been eyeing the property as a music venue for some time and, after renovation, hopes to open it in late November.

He told the Washington Post he has received extremely helpful advice from Seth Hurwitz of Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club and Michael Jaworek of The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. He said the northern Virginia region’s population of 1 million is underserved, with many music fans traveling from Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties to the 9:30 or Birchmere for their fix of live music.

“I don’t have a high overhead, so I can take chances on bands,” he told the paper. “I might be able to outmaneuver the other venues for acts.”

As the Post put it, “Spoken like a true rock promoter.”