“Your heart tells you you’ve got to do this,” Danny Davis says, recalling how it felt as Tangled String Studios eased back into live music last summer after a three-year hiatus.

Now in 2024, Tangled String is hosting shows at about a twice-a-month clip. Davis hopes to nudge that rate up to weekly. That’s great news for fans in Huntsville of handmade music played in intimate settings.

Back in 2013, Tangled String, became an unlikely listening-room style standout. Located at arts center Lowe Mill, the biz opened in 2012 as a space where Davis, a former NASA rocket scientist, made and sold his exquisite acoustic guitars, which have admirers like The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson.

With Davis’ guitar workshop visible, the vibey room hosted touring-level acts, including Robinson, Amanda Shires and John Paul White. Local royals like R&B/rap producer Kelvin Wooten, drummer Marcus Pope and Atlanta Rhythm Section/Brother Cane guitarist Dave Anderson, too.

Then came the pandemic. When live music worldwide was paused, Tangled String shuttered as a venue summer 2020. It was a heartbreaker for live music fans and musicians alike here.

“It was a special place to go see people up close and personal,” says Huntsville singer/songwriter Lana White says, who saw early Tangled String shows by the likes of Secret Sisters. She also performed there as part of the series Listen Local. “Everyone was so bummed when they closed that part. So now [they’ve rebooted as a venue], it’s like a vibrant reemergence of something that people hold dear.”

Tonight, White’s playing an EP release show at Tangled String. “Be My Own Sunshine” collects the six singles she’s released monthly this year. The tracks — produced by Justin Miller at Five Points Recording – seamlessly stir rock and pop with White’s crystal vocals, as heard on key cuts “Black and Blue” and “Before I Let You Go.”

A seasoned local artist, White says on her latest songs, “I felt like I had more to say about life and the complexity of love, loss in every aspect — not just romantic but friendship, family, all of that. It’s just a lifetime of experience culminating into song.”

At Tangled String, White will be backed by six collaborators from her EP: guitarists Kira Hughes and the aforementioned Dave Anderson, multi-instrumentalist Kati Hughes, drummer Carly Danyel, percussionist and bassist Philip Hughes. (Yes, Kira, Kati and Philip are related.) Two local acts open the 6 – 9 p.m. show: Touring folk-pop duo Common Man, and singer/songwriter Taylor Burton of rootsy band Silver Silos. Tickets are $15 via artemismusicproductions.com.

“Be My Own Sunshine” is a solid release any Huntsville artist would be proud of. White says getting to headline at Tangled String puts an exclamation point on the release. “Even though you’re local,” she says, “you’re able to be on a stage where people like that [Shires, White, etc.] have played. It makes you feel really, really special.”

Huntsville is home to many small bars that have live music. But there are previous few small music venues here, Tangled String being one. Guests of-age can bring adult beverages if they wish, but Tangled String doesn’t sell them. The focus is on the music, not booze, food and socializing.

“It’s a venue, it’s not a bar,” White says. “You need to have your chops ready if you’re going to do a show at Tangled String because people are there to pay attention. I think that’s the most important part of playing a venue like that. It’s a metric by which your band either has it all together or they don’t. It’s also nerve-wracking, but it’s a good kind of pressure.”

Previously, Tangled String handled everything in house. Davis, wife Susan Davis and partner Todd Haller, a local musician and former Jason Isbell road manager, booked the shows, handled hospitality, sound, ticketing and admission, etc.

Since then Susan retired and is enjoying her grandkids, gardening and Netflix. Haller relocated to Colorado for his day job. Davis says now, “The model’s changed a little bit.” He basically just prepares the room and hosts, renting the room out for a flat fee.

Last summer when Tangled String stuck its toe back in live music again, Davis teamed with local musical instrument retailer The Fret Shop and Josh Taylor, an acoustic guitarist who’d moved back to Huntsville after studying at Nashville’s Belmont University.

These shows focused largely on instrumental solo guitar virtuosos in the vein of Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis.

“I kind of wondered,” Davis says, “if it would be a little one-dimensional listening to a solo instrumental guitarist for a 90-minute show. And I was proven wrong. It is not, and generally because the players that came were consummate professionals. They’ve been onstage their whole life and they’re very confident in what they do, but also, they know how to entertain — not only with the amazing [musical] capability they have, but stories and audience engagement that really made it fresh.”

White’s EP release show is part of a Rising Artist Spotlight series at Tangled String. The series is a collaboration with Artemis Music Productions, owned and run by Alli Johnson. A singer/guitarist with local acoustic rock combo Seeking Babylon, Johnson is also executive producer of Women in Music Week Huntsville and Microwave Dave Music Foundation board member.

Johnson says, “Tangled String Studios is a treasure in Huntsville. “And because it’s so intimate, you feel like you spent the entire time with the artist.” Well before putting on shows there, she attended performances by the likes of folkies Hiss Golden Messenger.

“Everyone I’ve seen play here,” Johnsons says, “has been graciously interactive with the audience, from laughing with them on stage to taking pics or signing merch.”

Previous performers at Rising Artist Spotlight include songstresses Delaney Faulds and Morgan Laubach. Upcoming installments will feature the likes of The Burney Sisters, a potential-rich touring duo recently relocated to Huntsville.

On June 27, Artemis is doing a standalone show at Tangled String headlined by Kristy Lee, whose latest album topped blues charts. In addition to Tangled String, Johnson’s Artemis venture curates music for the likes of minor league soccer team Huntsville City Football Club and south Huntsville marina Ditto Landing. “I love being able to give artists opportunities to connect with different audiences,” Johnson says.

The work of local creators beyond music sometimes gets a spotlight at Tangled String, too. At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Southern Fried Film Festival will screen its closing night selection, “Don’t Die,” directed by Huntsville filmmaker Benjamin Stark. Tickets are $10 via southernfriedfilmfestival.org.

“Don’t Die” stars “The Walking Dead” vets Virginia Newcomb and Theodus Crane. Stark’s previous projects include 2015 Eric Roberts-starring short, “Dead Saturday.” He says “Don’t Die” was “created with the audience in mind. Often, film festival movies are purposefully challenging or transgressive, but ours is much more in the vein of a thriller you might see on a Friday night.”

Stark calls Tangled String “one of the coolest performance spaces in town.” He adds, “I never considered it as a possibility for a movie screening.” Starks says that connection was made by Southern Fried Film Festival, “most likely Trevite Willis, the festival’s director. She’s put a lot of work into the fest over the years and has a pretty impressive resume as film producer, including a few Sundance films.”

Before the pandemic, Tangled String’s capacity for shows was 140. After they shut down as a venue, more space was allocated to Davis’ luthier work. He hired a couple employees/apprentices and increased production of his acoustic guitars.

“It was great,” Davis says. “My crew was fantastic. But honestly, I really enjoy the one-off commission work [versus producing guitars for retail], and I started pining for having not such a busy shop. And of course it was expensive to run a crew.”

With employees, Davis was turning out around 40 guitars a year. Now back to a solo endeavor, he’s on a 15 to 18 guitar pace again.

When Tangled String started live music up again in 2023, guest capacity was only 70 before Davis flipped the room back closer to what it was pre-pandemic. Current capacity is 120, he says.

Tangled String used to have a sweet Midas M32 console for mixing shows there. During the depths of the pandemic, Davis sold the Midas to pay the rent for a couple months. He’s since restocked the P.A. with a computer-based system and new subwoofers to mix with the main speakers. He’s expanded the stage, with its signature background of floating reclaimed barnwood, too.

Huntsville’s live music landscape has changed significantly since Tangled String’s initial run as a venue. Orion Amphitheater, which opened spring 2022, sparked seismic change in touring-level music in Huntsville. After the pandemic shutdown laxed, the Von Braun Center’s Mars Music Hall, which opened early 2020, helped fan that flame too. On a much smaller scale, St. Stephens Music Hall (no apostrophe in “Stephens”), recently opened.

“The city’s growing so fast,” Davis says, “and there’s tons of people that will be looking for entertainment, a lot more than we sued to have. So I would like to do a lot of shows and be robust to what’s going on with rest of the city, you know. There’s just enough in our customer base to fill up anything we do. And honestly, I’m happy to compete and I’d say all ships rise with the tide and all these new venues, actually I think it’s good. It trains our audiences to get off the couch and go out and engage in live music.”