Turning local original music into a viable business is difficult alchemy. The challenges include human behavior and basic math. In a live setting, people tend to want to hear songs they know, whether performed at a concert by musicians who made those songs famous or at a bar by not-famous musicians who’ve learned those songs well enough to play them in front of strangers. Until a live act — no matter the talent — have scaled their draw to a certain level, they usually aren’t in the music business yet. They’re in the music hobby and booze-selling business.

But the thing is, most successful musicians, from superstars to sidemen, started out as local musicians. Way before they did arenas, late-night TV or awards shows, they did bar gigs. Watching a talented local act, destined for bigger things or not, spellbind a small room with their own songs is an experience that can stick in one’s soul for life. If you love music — really love it — your mind’s flashing back to your own memories like that right now.

It’s much easier to get casual music fans excited about gleaming new concert venues and major tour “gets” than getting those same people into local original music. In recent years, Huntsville’s made gains on the top end of its music ecosystem, with the addition of Mars Music Hall and Orion Amphitheater, which have both brought concerts here that would’ve skipped the city. Now, a new wave of organizers, venues and bookers are raising the foundation of Huntsville music, the city’s local original music.

When “Originally Huntsville” made its debut Jan. 12, a standing-room-only crowd of 350 or so filled The Electric Belle, the sharp venue that opened around 18 months ago at Governors Drive dining and leisure hotspot Stovehouse. As the monthly series’ name suggest, it’s an all-originals local showcase. The debut featured rock band The Crash, Americana combo Little and the Giants and alt-rock powerhouse Dawn Osborne Band.

Held 6 to 9 p.m. the second Thursday of each month, Originally Huntsville’s February edition boasted singer/songwriter Victoria Jones, R&B singer Wade Brown and headlining funk band Quantaphonics. That show drew around 275. Originally Huntsville returns March 16 with folk-rockers Jayne & The Huntsmen, R&B singer Rogue and singer/songwriters Wanda Wesolowski, Rita Burkholder, and Emma Klein. The event was curated with an assist by Judy Allison, known for her buzzy local festival PorchFest.

Right out of the gate, the series — run by Chris Hendley’s event venture The Hendley Group – has been impressively diverse, both musically and culturally. “I mean, if you think about Huntsville,” Hendley says, “the music community is so diverse. We wanted to make sure that people understood right from the get-go, [Originally Huntsville] wasn’t just going to be a bunch of white guys playing guitars. Standing on the stage looking at the crowd, the difference between January and February definitely reflected the music. And I think we’re gonna see a different group of people for the March show. We definitely want to reflect the music community.”

Hendley’s local bona fides include working on Huntsville Hospital fundraising concerts by the likes of country singer Martina McBride. A North Carolina native and a cousin of Americana stars the Avett Brothers, Hendley cut his teeth in live music in Georgia, where he worked with acts ranging from a then-nascent Fall Out Boy to Metallica.

Asked what about the live music business hooked him, Hendley says, “The look on people’s faces when they stand there singing every word of the song. You can tell at that one moment in time, all the stresses and strains of their everyday life are in the rearview mirror. The music is taking them away from that, and you get to have a little small part of it.”

There are no cover songs allowed at Originally Huntsville, and there’s no cover charge to get in either. Likewise, The Bar at 805, over at West Huntsville entertainment complex Campus No. 805, doesn’t charge a cover. Lindsey Rogers, who tends bar and books the bands at The Bar at 805, has found a sweet spot balancing rising local acts like Human Labor, Drop Diver and Camacho with seasoned homegrown faves like ToY ShoP and 5ive O’Clock Charlie. On March 24 at 9 p.m., The Bar at 805 will present a special show by Alex Story, frontman from touring Huntsville punk-metal legends Cancerslug, with rockers The Go-Go Killers opening. Other venues on Story’s solo tour include famed Whisky A-Go-Go in Los Angeles. And yes, Story’s Bar at 805 show is free.

Rogers, who formerly booked shows at downtown’s Voodoo Lounge says, “We have a lot of talented people in this town that just have so much great material. My goal is to kind of get that out there and try to focus on the original music. I think there’s a want for it. There’s a lot of people moving to Huntsville and it’s growing.”

Rogers grew up going to Huntsville’s bygone music festival Big Spring Jam with her family. Her own listening tastes range from Pantera to the Allman Brothers.

A passionate and knowledgeable jam-band fan, Rogers is paying extra attention to booking The Bar at 805 shows the night of upcoming multi-night stands by Phish, Widespread Panic and Billy Strings. She thinks local original music can benefit from the jam scene’s after-show culture. “People are traveling from all over,” Rogers says of big jam-band concerts. “So why don’t we give them a little something extra to show the cool local things that we have going on?”

Mobile native Christian “Cece” Mitchell came to Huntsville on a choir scholarship to study at Alabama A&M University. About five years ago, she started her venture “Sound on the Hill, Sound Everywhere,” which organizes local music and artist development events seeding Huntsville next crop of rap and R&B talent. The next event is set for 8 p.m. March 24 at EQ. Labs, a recording studio in South Huntsville. Programming including a freestyling open-mic and “studio mixer.”

“The studio mixer part is basically a creating community for creators to get to know each other,” Mitchell explains. “There’s a bunch of producers and beat makers and things there that these artists need to meet because a lot of them never recorded before, and a lot of them are serious about their music. But over time, the creators start talking to each other. And a lot of them collab with each other on music and different shows around the area.”

Admission to Sound on the Hill events is typically $10 and often fill up. Performers range from R&B to singer/songwriters to rappers. The events typically feature a host, often Mitchell, and a house DJ, often Huntsville turntablist DEJ Keno, to provide accompaniment during the open-mics, which can host as many as 20 performers. In addition to new jacks looking to get a toehold, established local rappers like Mj Gill and pop artist Remy Neal have been known to drop in, too.

“It’s raw. It’s authentic. It’s people’s lives, you know?” Christian says of the Sound on the Hill shows’ appeal. “People really just putting themselves out there, that real true emotion. It’s inspiring.”

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