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Michael DelGuidice is aiming to open his 4,000-square-foot club, Live...

Michael DelGuidice is aiming to open his 4,000-square-foot club, Live on the Porch, this fall at 602 Smithtown Bypass. The venue will feature two stages, Long Island beer and local liquor plus a simplified menu. Credit: Jimmy Pace

Michael DelGuidice has played in many Long Island venues over the course of 35 years, now he’s about to open his own. The Miller Place-raised singer-songwriter, who has performed on guitar and backing vocals in Billy Joel’s band for more than 10 years and fronted his eponymous cover band, is preparing to own and run a live music club in Smithtown promoting artists playing original music. He is aiming to open this fall.

"I really want to bring original music back to Long Island. It’s time to showcase it," says DelGuidice, 54, who currently resides in Smithtown. "There are so many great cover band singers that have their own original music, but they just don’t get to do it. I want to offer a place where these people could start establishing careers for themselves locally."

Named Michael DelGuidice’s Live on the Porch, the 4,000-square-foot venue will be at 602 Smithtown Bypass, the former location of Yellow Top Farms. 

"This is going to be a very intimate space with a storyteller vibe," says DelGuidice, who is the sole owner. "The concept is a listening venue where the audience is quiet and respectful. It’s all based on being the best possible scenario for original artists."

ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT

The idea began during the pandemic when DelGuidice performed twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, via Facebook Live with his streaming concert series, "Live on the Porch." DelGuidice closely bonded with his fans by taking requests for both original songs and covers through the comments feed.

"Live on the Porch is a family," DelGuidice says. "I want this venue to be an in-person extension of that feeling people got during the ‘Live on the Porch’ shows exuding love, warmth, acceptance and camaraderie."

This dream became a reality when DelGuidice played a private gig for real estate developer David Einbinder, of Westbury, and the two got to talking about passion projects. Einbinder offered him the Smithtown location next to a Starbucks and Costello’s Hearth & Spa.

“When I was doing my original music, I was playing all kinds of venues and realized that there was always something about a venue that I wouldn’t like,” DelGuidice says. “A lot of them just didn’t check all the boxes. I used to think to myself, ‘The only way I’m ever going to find a place to do my original music is if I open it myself and make it the way I want to make it.’ ”

Michael DelGuidice, seen performing at Newsday's Studio 2 in 2023,...

Michael DelGuidice, seen performing at Newsday's Studio 2 in 2023, says his Live on the Porch venue "will be definitely geared around original material from singer-songwriters ... . Maybe even some instrumentalists or stand-up comedians too."  Credit: Olivia Falcigno

TWO SECTIONS

The venue will have two parts. The front portion will contain high-top tables, an L-shaped bar and a small stage in the corner.

"You’re going to walk in thinking that could be a venue itself," DelGuidice says. "There will be live music there constantly."

The bar will be focused on serving Long Island beer and locally made liquor while the food menu gets simplified to the Porch Pretzel, the Porch Pizza and the Porch Dog.

In the theater portion, the 127 seats are set up in rows and will be ticketed. The ceiling, which goes up to a height of 10 feet, has stars on it and the stage is semicircle-shaped.

"I want people to walk in and be amazed," DelGuidice says. "It’s going to give off an old-school, farmhouse look. We’ll have full control of the lighting so we can bring it down if we like plus crisp surround sound. I want the place to be very sound focused."

CURATED ARTIST LINEUPS, MORE

DelGuidice says he'll handpick every artist he books.

"I’m looking for people who could hold an audience and talk to a crowd," he says "We are going to welcome bands, but in an artistic way — no hard rock or heavy metal. It will be definitely geared around original material from singer-songwriters — very lyrical, eclectic stuff. Maybe even some instrumentalists or stand-up comedians too."

DelGuidice also will have a regular platform to showcase his own music.

"This place will be my original music residency," he says. "It will be a home for my own music."

However, DelGuidice plans to continue his regular live gigs at Mulcahy’s in Wantagh and The Paramount in Huntington playing covers.

"I think everybody’s going to be cool with it," he says. "A 127-seat venue is not a threat to them."

While Long Islanders have become accustomed to cover bands, DelGuidice is hoping they will be open to giving original artists a shot.

"If you want to see the next Billy Joel, the next Elton John or the next Paul Simon, then you must support these artists while they’re young or else they are never going to be heard," DelGuidice says. "I’m challenging the Long Island community to come out and listen to new music. I’ll never put anybody in there who’s not going to be good."

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