Chris Baronner digital collection on D.C. punk

Chris Baronner (b. 1976) is is an American music industry veteran with 25 years of experience as a concert promoter, talent buyer, booking agent, photographer and guitarist. Raised in State College, Pennsylvania, home to Penn State University, Baronner first attended house shows and smaller concerts in the early 1990s. These events introduced him to the burgeoning scenes of other similar-sized college towns and in larger regional creative hubs like Washington, D.C.

Starting in the fall of 1994 while attending Penn State as a freshman, Baronner promoted monthly shows at various locations throughout the downtown area and on campus. These events combined touring bands, many from D.C., with local and regional support acts. In 1997, Baronner settled into the first of two houses (both given the name The White Lodge as a nod to the early 1990s television show Twin Peaks). The houses, and their basements, enabled show bookings for any night of the week and throughout the month, allowing him to regularly promote bands. Although the first location lasted only a year, the second iteration of The White Lodge continued on until the spring of 2000 with Baronner frequently documenting the shows with his camera.

While attending Penn State and promoting shows in State College, Baronner also played guitar and sang in the influential emo band Ethel Meserve. From 1994 to 1998, he booked four summer tours of various lengths, taking the band around the United States. During these tours, Baronner collected fliers from around the country, whether for his own band’s shows or for other shows happening in another town or city.

After graduating from Penn State University in 2000, Baronner moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked as a talent buyer for over a decade at the world-renowned independent music venue, Metro. In 2015, he launched A Town So Small, an online archive of underground music culture in “small cities and big towns.” The following year he co-founded Flipbin, a vinyl storage and display solution company. Baronner has resided in Washington, D.C. since 2016.