- North Carolina is no stranger to good music and good music is no stranger to Michael Carpenter.

So much so, he created a venue in Gastonia that would showcase the abundant live musical talent there.

Let's join Theresa Litsky on her visit to The Rooster.

[upbeat rock music] [rock music continues] - Our core of what we do is entertainment.

We exist to provide opportunities for artists locally and regionally to get up here and share what they have to give.

- We've got so many talented singer-songwriters in the area, bands included, and for a long time they didn't have a place to play.

- [Theresa] Not until Gastonia native Michael Carpenter started thinking about opening a live music venue there in 2019.

- We found ourselves on these long drives home all the time from shows, and we started talking about how cool it would be to have a place locally that we could go and see live music.

- [Theresa] Three years later, he opened The Rooster, named after a song by one of his favorite bands.

But definitely not limited to any musical style.

- Yeah, we do a little bit of everything.

We've had jazz shows, bluegrass shows, heavy metal, hard rock.

- You know, singer songwriter, original acoustic music to r&b, to hip hop, to metal.

- All the sub genres in between.

There's so much, it's amazing.

- Hi, USA.

My name's Jade Moore, welcome to Open Mic- - Performances start weekly on Wednesday with free admission at open mic.

- The goal was always to kind of use open mic as a place for people to kind of collaborate and get the word out about their stuff.

[guitar music] [people chattering] - The open mic is important to me because that's where I got my confidence to start actually performing publicly.

♪ You really thought that you ♪ I mean, I have a 40 hour a week job.

I'm an accountant.

- [Theresa] Those are the types of surprise performances guests can enjoy, no matter their age because The Rooster is an all ages venue.

- Most clubs that do live music are 21 and up.

And the reason for that is because insurance is extremely expensive.

And a perfect example is Eliza Ray, he's going up now.

He was 15 years old the first time he come in here and played an open mic.

He's opened for multiple shows here.

He's had his own shows here and he wouldn't get these opportunities at most places.

And then on the weekends we do our concerts and most tickets are between 10 and 20 bucks.

Occasionally we'll have a bigger national acts and those tickets can go 30, 50, 60 bucks depending on the act.

Now, occasionally when the weather's warmer, we do host festivals, we permit the parking lot out back.

It's a municipal lot, so there's a whole lot of red tape with that.

- [Theresa] That's not a problem, because for Michael, it's all about the music.

- You know, this is one of the only venues in the area where the musicians get 100% of the door.

They're not taking a cut, you know, they're here for you.

It's what Michael makes behind the bar.

- [Theresa] Where you'll find spirits of all kinds with plenty of local craft beer, including one named in honor of the venue, an Irish red style ale called Rooster Red.

- So this is actually a collaboration with us in Cavendish Brewery, and it is delicious.

It's everyone's favorite.

They can't keep it in stock.

The first batch was gone in the first weekend.

[people clapping and cheering] - [Theresa] ] But it's the vibe at The Rooster that patrons young and old alike are drawn to, a comfortable, safe place to gather and revel in the thing they love most.

The ability to listen to great live music.

- I guess first and foremost, my hope is that people find community, you feel welcome, you feel wanted, you feel appreciated.

That goes from every guest to every performer.

- Because it is one of the very few music venues that actually feels like home.

- It's always fun to see a room full of people smiling and dancing and having a good time.

That's really why I do this.

- Let's go Rooster!

[rock music continues] - You'll find The Rooster at 334 West Maine Avenue in Gastonia, and they're open for all sorts of events and shows throughout the week.

Give them a call at [704] 616-0291.