About Us

The Bunces

OUR STORY

Buncearoo started as a bucket list inspired anniversary party with 6 of our favorite bands playing on a 20 x 20 stage in our backyard in 2010 and evolved over the last decade to over 250 shows. Our goal was to bring national touring artists to locations you normally wouldn’t expect to see a concert.  From craft distilleries and breweries to art galleries and performing arts centers each one became a unique venue for the night.

It’s this vibe that these unexpected locations created that helped drive Buncearoo Presents events forward. “We feel that music builds a community where strangers become friends and friends become family. “It’s really about the ability to connect with the artist, the people you meet at the show and the experience from the minute you walk in the door to the minute you walk out,” Cheryl Bunce said in an interview with the Loudoun Times Mirror.

We are avid live music fans and we go to as many shows as we can.  Our personal connection with artists started by attending shows at some of our local clubs in the DC/VA area.  Jammin Java, IOTA (rest in peace), the 9:30 Club, the Birchmere and Wolf Trap let us experience a variety of intimate shows to ones on a much larger scale.  We also travel to small clubs like The Southern in Charlottesville, The Poor House in Raleigh, The Evening Muse in Charlotte, Schubas in Chicago and the granddaddy of them all Rockwood Music Hall in NYC.

We were committed to arriving early to each show we attended to watch the opening artists.  Some of these talented bands are now playing on national and international stages.  One of the questions we are asked most often is “how do you know all these bands?”  If you know Cheryl at all, you know she is not shy and would always make the time to talk to the bands and get to know them a little better.

We also attend multiple music festivals a year.  They range from Newport Folk Fest in Rhode Island (where Dylan went electric in the 60’s) to grass roots charity focused festivals like Rock by the Sea in Florida.  We also attended a newer festival in South Carolina called High Water put on by Shovels & Rope.  Our favorites are not just about the line up it is about the experience.  Feeling connected to the music and the people and having the right balance between amenities and accessibility is of great importance to us.  Attention to customer service is paramount and some of the best lessons we learned we attribute to our friend Andy Levine who, along with his outstanding Sixthman team, founded one of our favorite festivals, The Rock Boat which is literally a floating music festival!

We are devoted listeners of Discover Weekly on Spotify harnessing the power of artificial intelligence.  If you’re not familiar with Discover Weekly, it’s a play list that Spotify creates for your automatically every week of songs you’ve never listened to on Spotify but Spotify thinks you might like based on other listeners preferences.  There are also great music related Pod Casts that give you insight, backstories and even exposure to new music artists are creating.  A great example is one we frequent hosted by Joe Pugg called The Working Songwriter.  We even got to watch him record live during Newport Folk Fest with artists playing the festival.

Over the last few years we’ve had the great honor to co-create several micro-festivals which have resulted in building communities that come together year after year to enjoy a weekend of amazing music.  These two-day events include a variety of artists, typically the friends of the host band, activities and excursions, meet and greets and a family picture as part of the experience.  There are even late-night jam sessions that have gone into the wee hours of the morning. From Off the Record to TFDI Fest to The Alternate Routes Getaway and our newest member to the family, SEALeaf hosted by Carbon Leaf, we look forward to the doors opening, seeing our guests smiling faces and hearing the music that fills us up with every note.  Not easily described until you experience it yourself.  One of our guests gave us a wonderful quote:

“The musical line up was amazing!  I went alone and had so many great conversations with fans and musicians.  All in all a great weekend and already looking forward to next year.  My heart is full!”

 

What People Are Saying…

What a great weekend, honestly there’s so much to say about it. It was great to see such an awesome group of artists there with no ego about jumping on stage for anyone else’s songs or asking anyone who was still in the house to come up and get in on the fun.

What an amazing weekend. Good friends, wonderful music, a huge sense of family, … even crappy weather didn’t bother us. Tonight’s late-night after-party jam session in the hotel lobby dining room rivaled TRB (the early years) -and I mean that in the best way imaginable. Thank you

Fabulous experience. When are we doing this again? Keep the music happening guys.

Love this community of friends that have come from TFDI and other artists on the roster.

First-time attendee; loved it! And kudos to the way the event was managed/run. Often, that is overlooked and people just talk about the music but the way the staff handled everything was awesome.

I will absolutely go again. Thank you so much for such an amazing weekend. I can’t imagine it being any better.

The musical line up was amazing! I went alone and had so many great conversations with fans and musicians. All in all a great weekend and already looking forward to next year. My heart is full!

My first music festival and it set the bar very high!

I would go again in a heartbeat. I loved every (exhausting) minute!

By far one of the best, if not THE best, that I have ever been to.

I already cannot wait for next year!

Outstanding is a pretty good word. Magical, fantastic, best ever work too. I hope we can do it again.

The lineup was very impressive. My wife and I had not listened to many of them prior to the fest and we have since purchased a lot of their music. The family environment and building of a community were fantastic ideas and we can’t wait to join everyone again. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of this.

Fantastic weekend – everything was well thought out and planned.

It was great! Enough music, but also enough time to mingle and socialize!

You never know what you’ll walk into with something like this. I’m sure there were “things” behind the scenes that guests didn’t see. But you all are pros and made everyone feel welcome. It looked easy. Didn’t see anyone (guests or workers) with a negative attitude. Fun!! Thank you!

The most perfect weekend. Well organized, safe, fun and most off all, musical. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart💗

National Independent Venue Association

Buncearoo Presents is a proud supporter of the Nation Independent Venue Association. Due to COVID-19, independent music venues have been closed since mid-March. Independent venues and mom and pop promoters are responsible for keeping vibrant local music scenes alive throughout the country. Those same independent venues and promoters are facing a real existential risk due to this crisis. Independent venues across America are in urgent need of federal assistance, which is why at this moment NIVA is headed to Capitol Hill to request assistance. Among our requests are Modifications to Small Business loans and Payroll Protection Program, Tax Relief, Continued Unemployment Insurance, Mortgage and Rent Forbearance.