A VIBE PERFECT FOR LIVE MUSIC This hidden Berkshires music venue is the spot troubadour rocker Johnny Irion keeps coming back to

A VIBE perfect for live music

Troubadour rocker Johnny Irion has traveled the world, but this hidden Berkshires music venue keeps him coming back

BY JENNIFER HUBERDEAU

LENOX

Enter the lobby of the Apple Tree Inn on any Wednesday through Saturday night and you’ll be sure to hear the sounds of a band or two coming from the confines of the Ostrich Room, its boutique cocktail lounge.

If you’re lucky, you’ll catch troubadour rocker Johnny Irion at the mic, alone or backed by the Applesauce Band. If not, you’ll be listening to one of the bands he’s handpicked to play at the inn, where he’s been curating the music heard there for just over a year.

Most recently, musical acts have included Mike Stinson, StompBoxTrio, Eleanor Levine and Mary Ann Palermo and First Take Band.

So just how did Irion, a folk-rock musician who once toured with The Black Crowes end up curating musical acts for the Apple Tree Inn?

The answer is a mixed bag.

For starters, Irion resides in the town of Washington. A resident since 2006, he’s spent most of his time on the road, or in the studio recording or producing music.

“I’d been coming to the Berkshires since the early 2000s, but just was never really here a lot, just long enough to kind of regroup and then get back on the road,” he said.

Above, Johnny Irion performs in The Ostrich Room at the Apple Tree Inn.

ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE APPLE TREE INN

“We want to introduce the culture and the property to a new generation of travelers,” said Max Khaghan, Aries Living’s founder and CEO.

The Ostrich Room, now a boutique cocktail lounge that hosts live music Wednesday through Saturday, was originally built as a billiards room.

Music at The Apple Tree Inn

When: 8 to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. The Ostrich Room is open from 6 to 11 p.m. with a full menu. Where: Ostrich Room and Bellflower Restaurant, Apple Tree Inn, 10 Richmond Lane, Lenox

More information: 413-637-1477, appletreeinnlenox.com

But COVID changed all that.

“It was a very bizarre twist of fate for me because I didn’t have a new record coming out. I had been touring for two years for my last album, ‘Driving Around.’ I had just finished playing in Europe and just got back and a new year hit and I was like, ‘I got to work on my studio. I got to work on these projects. I’ve been touring for close to 25 years,’” Irion said.

But Irion wouldn’t visit the former Avaloch Inn (as it was known when Alice Brock owned it), just a stone’s throw 

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Factor y onery Stati The © 2022 away from Tanglewood, until 2021, during a self-imposed pause from touring.

“I had heard about the Apple Tree Inn through my father-in-law, Arlo Guthrie, through the years because Alice Brock, from Alice’s Restaurant, ran this place for a few years, in the ’70s. And, also some older friends, who live in Lenox, were always saying this restaurant was great,” he said.

“I read an article [in March 2021] in The Berkshire Eagle that it had been purchased by some new owners. There was a photo of Max and James [Khaghan] and Daniel [Tennant].”

After a year and a half of not touring, an “itch” to get back out and play coincided with his reading the article about the Apple Tree Inn’s purchase. He decided to check out the inn he’d heard so much about.

“So one day, I came up and just walked in here. No one was here except for Daniel. And he thought I was nuts … I walk in and he’s like, ‘May I help you?’ And I was just like, ‘Oh, just popping by to see what’s going on.’ And from that point, we just started building a relationship,” Irion said.

Then things started to look like they were about to open up a little bit last summer.

“I was like, ‘Oh, it’d be great to have a cool, cool place to play,’” he said. “I mean, there are a few places to play in the Berkshires, but you know, I don’t think any one of them has the vibe that compares to this place for the size room.”

MUSIC TAKES OFF

In July, when the inn became operational, things got underway, at first with just Irion playing on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“Those started really getting packed and fun,” he said. “And then James and Max and Daniel said they wanted to start having music on other nights too. So we started doing Thursdays and Fridays. And then on Fridays, we started doing a cabaret show in the Bellflower Restaurant.”

Soon after, a Sunday Brews and Blues Brunch was offered. (Something Irion hopes to bring back this summer.)

“I feel like with the Berkshires, there are so many screenwriters and people from New York that are coming up and to and from New York, that this is a great spot to work on your show and not have a lot of pressure on you,” Irion said.

In addition to musical performances throughout the week, the Apple Tree Inn provides month-long residencies for mu-

Gathered in The Ostrich Room, an audience listens to Johnny Irion play. Irion curates the Apple Tree Inn’s music o erings.

sicians and acts who perform there. Among those who have recently workshopped shows at the inn are The Fremonts, a musical cabaret husband-and-wife duo from Great Barrington, and Melanie Greenberg, also from Great Barrington, who worked on her one-woman musical “The Elephant in the Room.”

EARLY BEGINNINGS

Located at 10 Richmond Lane, the 34-room Apple Tree Inn’s main house was built in 1885. It contains 13 guest rooms, a tavern/taproom, and a 100-plus-seat restaurant. A second structure, the lodge building, includes 21 additional rooms.

The parlor, entrance hall and four rooms of the main house were constructed by Cecile Bristed, of New York, a frequent visitor to Lenox. The main house was completed by Henry Pease, who bought the property in 1899 and added four bedrooms and a billiards room that is now the Ostrich Room.

The former bed-and-breakfast was originally called The Orchard — and also has been known as Portofino, Alice’s at 

One of the Apple Tree Inn’s guest rooms.

The Bellflower Restaurant hosts musical cabarets and in the summer Sunday Brews and Blues Brunch.

24/7/365 Care

BFAIR is a not-for-profit human service agency with programs and residences located throughout the Berkshires as well as the Pioneer Valley. With a workforce of 240 staff, we are dedicated to meeting the unique needs of nearly 600 individuals with developmental disabilities, autism and acquired brain injuries. www.bfair.org

Avaloch and the Avaloch Inn.

NEW OWNERS

Aries Living, of which the Khaghans are principals, purchased the inn for $2.4 million, according to documents filed at the Berkshire Middle District Registry of Deeds in Pittsfield.

“We intend to be a hub for culture here at Apple Tree Inn,” said Max Khaghan, Aries Living’s founder and CEO, in a previous interview. “We want to introduce the culture and the property to a new generation of travelers.”

That sentiment has kept artists like Irion coming back.

“There’s just a certain vibe to this hotel, with the ownership being so receptive to having music. It’s a big part of what makes this work, having a great staff and a venue that you know supports music,” Irion said. “There’s a lot of venues, where you get a sense that they don’t want you there, that you’re just another number so to speak. I’ve played big festivals, Carnegie Hall and some really big shows. Those are great. But as far as clubs go, it is really hard to find a staff like the one they have here.” ■