On Thach Avenue, an old, wooden church is tucked on the top of the hill.
It was built in 1866 by freed slaves and named the Ebeneezer Baptist Church. The building was sold to a group of Unitarians, and is now the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Church.
However, the building is more than a church. A place of worship on Sundays, the other six days of the week it is utilized as a yoga studio, a meeting hall, an art gallery and, for 12 nights of the year, a concert hall.
The Sundilla Concert Series started in 1993, when Auburn resident Katie Smith interviewed singer-songwriter Steve Young. He asked her about a place to play for singer-songwriters in Auburn. While she couldn't tell him any good place at first, she told him to give her a call if he was ever in the area and wanted to play.
He called, and that was the beginning of Sundilla.
Bailey Jones is the producer of Sundilla. He started volunteering in the late 1990s. In 2001, Jones took over booking, and when Smith stepped down, he stepped up. Jones said he doesn't make any money, but he works for the love of music.
The performance space is rustic. The floor is covered in red carpet, a stark contrast to the dark hardwood ceiling.
A quilt hangs behind performers, and art, rotating with the changing galleries, adorns the walls.
"The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is one of the best listening rooms I've ever heard," said Kelly Walker, host of the Sundilla Radio Hour.
The Sundilla Radio Hour is a program broadcasting concerts. It started in March 2013. It plays on three local NPR stations, one station in Ithaca, New York, and online. The four most recent concerts stream on sundillamusic.com. The radio audience is strong, according to Jones.
"After the fourth show, he (Walker) called me and said, 'We just got an email from a guy in California that's been listening,'" Jones said. "He says there's people in the Middle East, in Europe, who are listening at various points in the day."
Jones' theory for the widespread audience is the type of music they host.
"It all goes back to when you turn on the radio," Jones said. "It's not always what people want to listen to. There are stations out there playing this kind of music, but you have to hunt around to find them. When people find them, they listen and they're loyal."
Sundilla's performers are acoustic, but acts have included bluegrass, singer-songwriter, Americana, country and classical.
"There's a limited number of people we can put on the stage," Jones said. "It's an old building. There's a limited number of stuff we can plug into the sockets before fuses start blowing. So you're never going to see an all-electric rock band here. In the early years, there was a chart: Plug this coffee pot into this wall and this one into this wall or all the lights will turn off. They fixed that, but they do have limitations."
Even with the limitations, the popularity is still high, according to Jones, with Auburn being the exception.
"Locally, as far as people coming, it's not as good as I like," Jones said. "I'd like every seat to be filled every show. In 2005, we went to 12-13 concerts a year from 22-25. In 2005 to 2012, our attendance was pretty much averaging 60 for the year. Last year, it dropped to about 50. That's where we are this year."
The listening room can hold 150 people comfortably, and has even held 192.
"I know there are people out there who would like it who won't come for various reasons," Jones said. "One of those is that it's in a church, which freaks them out. It's a church on Sundays, and our concerts are usually on Thursdays or Fridays. If you get over that initial trepidation, which I had for the first one, you quickly realize you're not going to church, you're coming to a concert."
People can bring food and beverages, including alcohol. Jones joked someone could even bring a full bar, as long as the clinking bottles were quiet when performers took the stage.The only rules for the audience are no smoking and stay off their cell phones while the artists perform.
According to Jones, performers are well-established in their genre. They hail from 41 states and seven foreign countries. Upcoming performers include Moors and McCumber, playing Oct. 2 and Eliza Gilkyson, playing Oct. 9.
"The series has brought so many amazing and talented artists over the years," said Wildman Steve, Sundilla's sound engineer. "It brings culture to our city that no other entity, including the University, has even come close to approaching. If you love music, you will find artists they bring enjoyable."
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