Photo courtesy of Katherine Bender An audience gathers outside the Red House at 8th Avenue South and 11th Street in Escanaba to enjoy live music flowing from the porch.

ESCANABA — The Red House in residential southside Escanaba has morphed from just a home into a gathering space for rehearsals, recordings, jam sessions and shows in what current operator Katherine (Katie) Bender has called a “live music incubator.”

Bender said that she learned through the historical society that the house was built in 1910. Developments leading to the Red House’s current era, though, may be said to have begun when Phil Lynch took a job with Escanaba Area Public Schools and moved to town from downstate with his wife, Jane, and young children. Phil’s mother, Mary Anne Lynch, wanted to move up north as well — among other reasons, to be closer to her grandchildren. That was when the Lynches found the house at the corner of 8th Avenue South and 11th Street, bought it, and made it Mary Anne’s home in 1995.

Mary Anne lived there alone until her passing in 2011, after which point the house went back to Phil and his family. Figuring out what to do from there “was slow-going, part of it for sentimental reasons; part of it was was physical,” Phil said.

Bender — who grew up alongside the Lynch kids, in addition to being one of Phil’s former students — described the woman’s residence as being filled with “libraries of books,” complete with cats.

Phil confirmed that he still has records of the sheer quantity of books that needed thinning.

“She was quite a book collector and had several thousand books,” he said, explaining that the donation process to the Escanaba Public Library was gradual out of necessity: “We had to trickle them in so we wouldn’t overwhelm (the library intake).”

The Lynch family emptied and tidied the house. Still there was the question of whether to sell.

“We hemmed and hawed,” said Phil, explaining that for a while, it became a sort of overflow summer living space — “a storehouse for grown children,” he said, humor in his voice, and explained that his and Jane’s own house simply wasn’t large enough to host multiple adults when the kids came back to visit.

The couple did consider retiring to the Red House, which has a view of the water from one of the upstairs bedrooms, but they enjoy their house and lawn. They had a boarder for some time — “so it wasn’t such a money pit,” Phil said — but the boarder moved out in 2018.

The Lynches are part of a musical community, and the house began to reflect that.

“We had kind of sound treated a room upstairs for a recording studio, just a room. wouldn’t work for full band but for vocals, you want a dead room,” Phil said. “Then my wife outfitted another room as a music workroom.”

Phil recounted a realization wherein he told himself, “‘You don’t have a music room, you have a music house.’ Because there wasn’t a whole lot of furniture left anyway, so we emptied out the bottom living room. … and we could put a drummer in the dining room.” The whole house became a rehearsal space first, and then began to host occasional, informal house concerts.

“One of the first rehearsals was with the awesome period-jazz group, the Errant Late Night Gardeners,” reads the history on the Patreon page for the Red House.

When performances began, small at first, guests would watch and listen from folding chairs indoors. But as the Red House sits in a walkable neighborhood, interested passersby would linger outside, too.

Phil said that Jamie Peterson with the Players de Noc Theater pointed out that the house, which has a raised porch and is elevated on a slight hill from the sidewalk, is actually set up a bit like an amphitheater. So the musicians at the Red House embraced that.

Organizers asked for donations from attendees — with the exception of neighbors, out of courtesy and appreciation for them allowing the music to happen. Those funds went directly to the visiting artists, whose ranks have included parodist Steve Goodie from Nashville and folk duo Flagship Romance from Louisville.

During COVID, three musicians began meeting on the porch, six feet apart from one another, playing jazz and funk. Those talents were Phil Lynch on piano; professional drummer Lorne Watson; and on guitar, John Beck, who Phil referred to as “an institution.”

During that time in early 2020, when people were mostly isolated, it became a weekly event on Tuesdays. “The neighbors would come and just be human beings, just be people again,” said Phil. He said that one neighbor on 11th Street rolled a stainless steel bar down the block, and bubbles and sidewalk chalk were made available for the kids.

Around Mardi Gras, when the band was looking for a name, they settled on “Mardi Rouge” (Red Tuesday). The group now also includes Patrick Booth on saxophone and performs around the area.

According to Phil, Bradford and Cynthia (“Cindy”)Bender mentioned to Phil and Jane Lynch during one of the music nights at the Red House that their grown daughter Katie, once a student of Phil’s, had returned to Escanaba. It was following this discussion that the Lynches finally relinquished ownership to a family friend. Katie Bender took over the Red House in August 2021.

Katie grew up with music, played and toured with the Herbal Remedies, has a bachelor of arts in music therapy from Eastern Michigan University and practiced music therapy in Chicago under Susan Cotter-Schaufele at what was then Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. She liked the idea of continuing the legacy of the Red House as a welcoming, musical environment that gives back to the community, and draws from her experience and expertise to do so.

Since assuming responsibility, Katie said that she has successfully gotten “The Red House UP Incorporated” registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and obtained a permit to host public events.

“We’ve had some events that bridge concert with dance… crafting what it is to listen to music, but also really engage in seeing multi-generational people interact,” said Katie. She pointed out that there are many venues that have an adult focus, whereas she feels “committed” to keeping this one open to all ages.

“To me, it’s just a very another welcoming venue in our town for for people that are coming through, performing — a gathering spot,” said Cindy. “People branching out with some different skill sets that they might want to practice that they haven’t used.”

On October 7 and 8, “Musical Zen with Jenny” will bring tuning forks, singing bowls, and other “sound healing” implements to the Red House. People may sign up for individual sessions with Jenny on Saturday and/or participate in the “Sound Bath Bliss” on Sunday. Jenny may be reached at (906)231-1691 or through the Facebook page “Musical Zen with Jenny.”

A Patreon page that was started by Phil Lynch is still running with the same goal of maintaining the house and making it a place people want to visit, learn, play and listen.

People may follow current developments and events related to the Red House on their Facebook page, “The Red House of Escanaba.” Katie says that she hopes to develop a new website in 2024.