5 minutes with 7Sunday co-founder Deon Generette

For people looking for great live music, look no further. 7Sunday provides the live music outlet you’ve been looking for. Deon Generette, CEO and co-founder, provides live theme music experiences throughout the Carolinas. Here, Generette talks about the business

Q. For the people that don't know you, tell us a little about yourself.

A. I’m from Johnsonville and I came to Columbia in 2001 to attend the University of South Carolina. After a few years, I decided to go into the Army and ended up retiring with an honorable medical discharge after a tour in Iraq. I have always loved music because of my mother and 101.3 Big DM’s Quiet Storm.

Q. Tell us more about your event programming in the city.

A. 7Sunday is a live themed music show that I put together monthly for people who love live music with a twist. During our first year, we had local artists such as Katera and Tiffany J. We’ve also brought in national artists such as Sunday’s Best, Amber Bullock, and national recording artist Tweet. We look to expand our catalog with artists such as Terence Young and others.

Q. What are some of the challengers to putting these events together in Columbia? What about Columbia makes the events unique?

A. Columbia is ripe for new types of entertainment, but people are often hesitant to try new concepts. While some folks thought our Frames & Sneakers event was pretty cool, other folks just couldn’t understand the concept. It has also been a challenge diversifying our audience, but we plan to work on that through some of the music we will bring in this year.

As a new entrepreneur, its been a challenging learning experience making sure we have adequate cash flow every month to ensure we have quality experiences for our attendees.

Q. What's next for the business?

A. In our first year, we’ve tried a few different locations and we outgrew. This year we will be in one location — the Gala by JW. We’ve had as many as 350 people in attendance, and this year we want to consistently hit 500. I also plan to go beyond R&B and neo soul music in 2020. I plan to add some pop and rock and roll because I really love all genres and would like to see more diversity at the shows.

Preach Jacobs, special to GoColumbia

This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 2:48 PM with the headline "5 minutes with 7Sunday co-founder Deon Generette."