The Rollin' Rust Room - A Community Built Project

James VanDeuson is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

May 12th, 2023 - We've already raised close to $25,000!!! We want to thank everyone who has been part of this initiative thus far, and all those who plan to be. Thanks to the combined efforts of over 200+ people, The Rollin' Rust Room is now under construction!

NEWS: The Village of Manlius has taken a huge interest in the project; we are thrilled to announce that they are including us in a matching grant they have already received. Essentially, as you donate, the village will also. (We raise 10k, and they award us 10k.)

We NEED your help to make this a reality. Please help if you can!

What is this?

The Rollin' Rust Room is a community-funded music venue, currently being built in Manlius, NY... owned, operated and named after the touring Folk/Americana band, "The Rollin' Rust."

(Visit therollinrust.com/about to learn about the band.)

Who are they? FACEBOOK/INSTAGRAM = @therollinrustroom

To be quick: Our names are James VanDeuson and Rebecca Girouard. The two of us are the founders of The Rollin' Rust Room. We moved to Manlius in 2016 after meeting in college in the beautiful state of VT. We have backgrounds in architecture, design-build, business, photography, videography and various trades. After a couple of successful design-build projects, we felt confident that this project was right up our alley.

Why is it called that?

Just over one year ago, Rebecca and I started a professional touring band named, "The Rollin' Rust." The Rollin' Rust has 4 original members: Rebecca (Manager, booking agent, social media design, website design... pretty much the heartbeat of the band) Me > James (Lead singer-songwriter), Jim Hearn (Lead Guitar) and Kyle Dennis. (Percussion) We are also working with a brand new player, Blake Propst (Bass Guitar) In 2021 we all set out with a mission to make a living income through live performance. In doing so, we all left behind our previous degrees and careers to live a life of glory on the road... This past year, we actually did just that. The Rollin' Rust band played an average of 13 shows a month at music festivals, bars, breweries, theaters, house concerts, music halls... even basements... you name it. The RRR visited over 25 states and raised a whopping $20,000 for our debut record, "Road Rats." The record was recently nominated for a Sammy Award for Best Americana Record and is released on all streaming platforms!!! WOOT!

All because... we love music and understand what it has the power to do. We were born to perform and write.

What does this have to do with The Rollin' Rust Room?

The two of us know how to inspire folks, how to push our dreams and how to get there efficiently. The Rollin' Rust Room is simply our next endeavor!

Why? - We think we can do something meaningful for the Village of Manlius. Conquering a small music venue is the most critical step for most up-and-coming musicians to take. Covid eliminated so many venues that were essential for professional growth. We want to help rebuild an area that really needs some live music.

Growing up, music filled our hearts and our schedules. We all would find ourselves practicing for hours a day, getting ready for wherever there was a hot microphone.

While practicing at Rose Hall in our hometown of Cortland, New York, it hit us. There isn't a music venue in Manlius (where Rebecca and I now live.) In fact, there isn't much of a local music scene in Manlius at all. Having all grown up in Cortland, NY, where every street corner supports the arts in some way or another, we all found a real void to fill in the village of Manlius.

Without the venues that supported us as teenagers, we simply wouldn’t have had the foundation necessary to take the leap we took in the fall of 2021 as a touring band.

Manlius needs a place where everyone can show what they’ve learned, regardless of age. It also needs a place in the village where folks can watch touring acts, have a drink and not have to drive all the way into Syracuse or Hamilton. Hell, what’s one more place to get an espresso in the morning?

-James

What we plan to build:

A state-of-the-art stage, ready for open mic night and professional touring acts. (Music, comedy, maybe even small theatre) It's all about high-quality entertainment.
We want to support local, regional, and touring musicians/acts - a place that works with musicians and cares for talent the way that we like to be treated
A beer/wine bar: we want to sell beer and wine, so the RRR is a sustainable business - *with a good selection of NA beer*
Another spot to drink coffee in the morning/afternoon... even at night
We want to sell cheese... why not? (We really like cheese)
A promising art scene that encourages nightlife, re-building a social setting in the village
A place that is family-friendly
A place that is handicap accessible - A new ADA entrance - An ADA bathroom - ADA tables and paths of egress
Two bathrooms
A kitchen prep area
A new front porch! (Let us all work to get rid of that ramp that’s falling down!)
***A place that was built by the community for the sake of building community***

What we have so far:

Above all, the drive and passion necessary to make it work
The location
Experience crowdfunding
The architectural drawings, exterior and interior layout
The staff
*Most* of The construction skills necessary to build it (we need some help on the more complicated portions)
Support from the village and Mayor
Success driven mindsets

We're going to be honest; we just need help funding it.

They say,

"It takes a village." - Let’s show them what we can do.

MORE INFO: https://www.therollinrust.com/