About us

The Basement Sessions is a monthly live acoustic house show born out of a simple idea: strip music down to its rawest form and bring it back into the living room, where it started. Hosted by singer-songwriters Max Bartos, Jake Kitchin, and Izzy Imamura, each session showcases folk, singer-songwriter, and acoustic performers in an intimate apartment setting where the distance between artist and audience nearly disappears.

At its core, The Basement Sessions is a response to an increasingly monopolized live show industry. As major venues and promoters tighten their grip on who gets a stage and who doesn't, this series exists to do the opposite, creating a grassroots performance space where new and incredible artists can be heard on their own terms, without gatekeepers standing in the way.

What started as a small gathering has grown into an officially recognized house show through Folk Alliance International, cementing its place in the broader folk and acoustic music community. The series is supported by Samson Audio, Noble Steed Music, and Tipify- partners who believe in the same mission of keeping live music accessible, authentic, and artist-first.

Whether you're a longtime folk fan or discovering the genre for the first time, The Basement Sessions offers a rare kind of closeness: no stage, no barriers, just songs and the people who wrote them, and the space to make sure new voices get heard.