In ecology, the understory is the layer of vegetation that grows in the shade of the forest’s canopy. In Little River, Understory is the music and art spot where patrons can find new acts below the surface of what’s popular and mainstream. “Ultimately, it’s a little bit crunchy,” owner Will Thompson says with a laugh. “It’s jazz and figure drawing. It’s not EDM and Bitcoins.” Thompson is also the brains behind the restaurants Jaguar Sun and Sunny’s Steakhouse (which is currently undergoing renovations). Open since January, Understory’s 21,000-square-foot event space showcases local talent in art and music, hosts food and drink tastings, presents fairs filled with local vendors, and produces recurring events like Good Friday and Jazz in the Jungle. “People are coming to us more and more with these incredible ideas for events and activations,” Thompson says. “Everything coming together feels like magic that this space in this neighborhood can allow us.”
SimplyGood debuted in the neighborhood in 2017. Like Understory, it’s a magnet for creativity. “To me, it’s an incubator,” explains founder Max Pierre. “It’s flexible because there [are] so many opportunities to incubate great ideas and showcase [them].” On the schedule are comedy nights, food pop-ups, vinyl nights, collabs with Oolite Arts, and monthly live jam sessions with jazz musicians. Pierre is also using SimplyGood to promote amapiano, a subgenre of house music that he heard (and fell in love with) during his travels to London. “Music is at the core of everything. So whether it’s showcasing new music or doing our vinyl nights and having vinyl DJs, music has always been an integral part of the space.”
Celebrating its one-year anniversary this summer is Low Key, a venue that keeps community top of mind. That means punk shows in the rain, Perreo dance parties with hundreds of fans jamming on an inflatable stage, markets run by local creators, and culinary pops-ups—including Vietnamese food from Tâm Tâm on Fridays and Saturdays. “We chose Little River because the neighborhood aligns with our vision and philosophy,” says owner Brian Griffith. “There is a mindfulness for history as well as a vision for the future.”
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