Centuries Collide at Local Music Venue

The usual setting for a local showcase of singer-songwriters is a coffee shop. Dave Dircks, co-founder of Acoustic Long Island, wanted something grander - he chose the living room of the historic Deepwells Mansion in Saint James, complete with beautiful fireplaces and turn-of-the-century chandeliers.

"With its high ceilings and over 100 people in the room providing the perfect sound absorption and reflection, the sound is superb," Dircks said, who grew up in Hicksville and now resides in Stony Brook. "Listen to the podcast and you'll hear how well balanced and crisp it is."

In addition to the podcast, Acoustic Long Island holds live shows the first Wednesday of each month from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.

The idea for Acoustic Long Island was born in 2005 by Dircks and his brother Rob, as a weekly night at (the now closed) Cool Beanz cafe just down the road. When the event outgrew the space, Dircks and a group of "community-conscious individuals" approached the Suffolk County Historical Society (who owns and manages the property) about creating the Deepwells Farm Historical Society, a non-profit group that would organize and run events at the mansion. In 2007, Suffolk County agreed to allow them to put on concerts there, as long as they were free. 

"Since then, hundreds of people pack the house every first Wednesday of the month to get a glimpse at the continuation of Deepwells' musical past," he said. "The town of Saint James was often the summer playground of opera singers, entertainers and musical performers of the late 1800s."

They don't let just anyone play at Deepwells. Muscians are required to have at least one studio-produced CD of original material and a live performance record of once a week or more for at least a year.

Artists come from across the country to perform and also locally from Long Island. Past performers include Ben Taylor (son of Carly Simon and James Taylor), Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin, the Chapin Sisters, Amberly Thiessen (a Canadian Idol finalist), Martha Trachtenberg, Little Toby Walker, Andy Mac and Dan Stevens. The performances are recorded and added to Acoustic Long Island's podcast.

"The whole podcast idea started as a way to show our clients that we were comfortable in emerging medias, like podcasting, social networking, etc," Dircks said. "We figured this podcast experiment would last about six months. Five years later, we're still the number one acoustic podcast in iTunes and have many thousands of listeners from around the world." 

Beyond the music, Deepwells Mansion has greater significance to Smithtown. It was built in the mid-1800s for Joel L.G. Smith, a descendant of Richard "Bull" Smith, the founder of Smithtown. The noteworthy house is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

"Acoustic Long Island has built up a reputation as a venue that truly embraces the singer/songwriter experience," Dircks said, who is a folk singer himself and released an album in 2008. "It's like the world's best listening room."