Tyler Crossley, left, and Nate Losell, right, the masterminds behind East End Basement Jams. What began as an opportunity to bring some entertainment to friends during the shutdown of 2020, has turned into a weekly entertainment event, but still broadcasting from the basement of Crossley's home in the East End of the city. 

In 2020, when the pandemic was shutting down a lot of entertainment venues, two 30-something musicians decided that they wanted to provide some respite from the day-to-day gloom — at least for an hour each week — with what they called “Quarantine Sessions.”

Tyler Crossley and Nate Losell were no strangers to the music scene, with both having played in local bands — Crossley, a guitarist and pianist and Losell, a drummer and guitarist. Both still play in bands — Crossley with “Trip the Light” and Losell with “Fleegor”.

Choosing to broadcast online from Crossley’s basement, the weekly program featured a variety of music genres from classic and contemporary rock to the week’s spotlight country music song.

“We had played in bands and all of a sudden the bands had disappeared,” Losell said, explaining where the idea came from.

“So we needed some way to flex our creative muscle,” he added.

“We had kind of talked on and off before about doing this — playing more acoustically together,” Crossley said.

“Getting together every Saturday night during the pandemic was a way to do that. We were kind of forced into our opportunity,,” he said.

It kicked off in April a few weeks into the shutdown from COVID.

“It was some random Saturday when we just decided to go live, just to put something out there,” Crossley said.

“It was just a quick video. Just to kind of pop in and say hi and then we decided, hey, that’s a great idea, so let’s do it again. That’s how it started,” he added.

Every week during those dark times, they would meet and play, both on acoustic guitars, Crossley occasionally on the keyboard, singing songs that were requested by their growing following of listeners.

“We built a whole community and there’s a lot of people who know each other, just from interacting with the show,” Crossley said.

They began broadcasting on social media on Saturdays at 8 p.m. and their following quickly grew.

“I think people were just happy that something was actually going on during that time period even if it was just virtual,” Crossley said.

“It was a way to get on and interact with other people and hear live music,” he added.

Along the way they were joined by Eric Ryder, who also entertains viewers with his vocals at times.

“We brought on Eric, “The Camera Guy” originally to just kind of switch the camera back and forth and then he started interacting so we put a camera on him and he began to become part of the show,” Losell said.

Ryder’s job is to operate the cameras and lyrics and to work the sound board.

The three had worked together in the Resounding Performing Arts group, which Losell and Crossley had formed several years ago with Crossley’s wife, Sarah. .

“That was kind of our springboard,” Losell said. “Because we already had a following on that so we would get the media out in front of people.”

Some of that theatrical history has spilled over into the weekly program as they often celebrate holidays with events outside of the usual musical offerings.

“They have a raffle where they give away a free turkey. I have to dress up in an inflatable turkey suit and deliver it,” Ryder said, adding that he usually has to recite a poem for the lucky winner.

“Eric is a celebrity,” Crossley interjected.

There are also special shows at Christmas and on the Fourth of July. At times guests from area musical groups visit the show to share their talents.

The program itself has evolved from its beginnings five years ago.

“We started with a cell phone. We taped lyrics to the back of chairs,” Losell said.

“Over the years we bought cameras. We have a teleprompter now and lights,” he added.

About two years ago, a decision was made to change the name of the show. The quarantine was long over and life was beginning to return to normal. And so, “East End Basement Jams” emerged.

“It didn’t really make sense anymore because we were out of quarantine, so we kind of used that as an opportunity to branch off into our own thing, kind of out of the Resounding Performing Arts, because that was all the content that was on the Facebook page,” Losell said.

“We kind of did it all at once — just a clean break. Even though it was the same show, it was a different show, something new, rebranding, relaunching essentially, with its own page,” he added.

The program currently runs on their Facebook page and on YouTube. The time has also changed to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.

The show, too, has emerged from the basement, at times showing up at a community event or live at a local venue.

“I’d like to see it take off more outside of the community. I mean this is an online show — the sky’s the limit,” Crossley said.

“Not all, but a lot of the engagement that we get is from people around the Williamsport area and the surrounding spaces,” Losell said.

“It’s kind of found its way outside of that community, especially because a lot of our followers recommended it to their pages. So we have viewers in Florida. We have viewers in California, but just kind of a continuous growth. It’s more fun when more people are involved,” he said.