The owners of a new music bar, The Lyons Den, hope to bring live entertainment to Seaside and offer a place for local musicians to hone their skills.

When Greg and Charis ‘Charki’ Lyons first moved to Seaside, they were struck by the absence of a live music venue. Charis Lyons, a bartender who worked at several bars in town, said one of the most common questions she heard from patrons was “Where’s the live music?”

“People need something new to do around here to spend their money on, because we have so many tourists that come three, four times a year, and they go and they sit at the same bar, they sing the same karaoke songs,” she said.

Everywhere she worked, Charis Lyons tried to bring the music scene with her, but coordinating with the local bars proved difficult due to a lack of space, bandwidth and effective communication.

Greg Lyons, who plays bass guitar and drums in several different bands, was equally dedicated to bringing live music to Seaside. When Charis Lyons found an open space on the northwest corner of the Gilbert Building and showed it to her husband, they knew they had found their venue.

The space, which seats 35, is decked out in jungle-themed decor and outfitted with a makeshift stage that holds drums, guitars and microphones. While live music is the focus of the bar, the couple also knew they wanted to create a space for local musicians to practice and professionally record; the bar has a recording studio and those who perform onstage receive high-quality audio and video of their performances.

“My whole goal with this place was, aside from just offering the community a place to enjoy some live entertainment, is to be sort of a creative incubator,” Greg Lyons said. “This stage and the instruments are going to be set up permanently. So any night that we’re open, Thursday through Sunday, people could walk in and, you know, if they feel like picking up an instrument and jamming, they can invite friends for jam sessions together with different musicians in town.

“We want to hold music industry nights and mixers to kind of introduce people and hope that we can build a blossoming, thriving music scene in Seaside.”

The Lyons aren’t restricting the bar to any particular type of music — from instrumental to acoustic punk to hip hop, all musicians are welcome. Greg Lyons said the intimate setting is inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts, where viewers are at eye level with the musicians and feel like part of the performance.

“The whole idea, you know, with the Tiny Desk concerts, thematically, was for it to be journalism, right?” he said. “So not just a concert, but to capture a specific moment in time and to document that moment through sound. And I just, I love that idea so much.”

Patrons will be able to enjoy the live music with a side of tropical flavor, courtesy of Charis Lyons and her bar setup that features a dozen different flavors of sangria.

“I won’t be mixing any cocktails on the spot — it’s all gonna be batched and prepared the night before, and it’ll be rotating flavors,” she said. “I’ll probably have like, four or five, you know, the same all the time for people to come and expect. But for the other ones, I’m constantly switching it up and changing flavors, keeping it fresh.”

The Lyons Den is open Thursdays through Sundays. On Sundays, the venue will be family friendly so that patrons can bring their children to enjoy the music.

In addition to appealing to tourists, the Lyons look forward to providing opportunities for local talent up and down the North Coast.

“Beyond the need, I think that this North Coast community has some incredible talent, incredible musicians that are hiding in the woodwork and just don’t have an opportunity to either meet other musicians or opportunities to play and perform out,” said Greg Lyons. “So you end up getting kind of a lot of the same.

“There’s not enough variety. With my background, using promotion and owning a label, I would like to help foster some of the talent we have here, and be able to give them a little nudge and know that there is more opportunity out there than just Seaside and Astoria.”