The Pinhook is an LGBTQ-owned music venue in Durham, North Carolina.
History The Pinhook was founded by Kym Register, Elizabeth Albrecht, and Nick Williams in 2008 as an LGBTQ-owned punk music venue. The trio opened the space following the closure of Bull City Headquarters in 2008, a venue that was operated by a collective that Register was a member of. Pinhook's name is in reference to an early settlement built in the 1800s in modern-day West Durham, where the Erwin Cotton Mills were built.
It was the second LGBTQ music venue on Main Street in Durham, following Boxer's Ringside, which was owned by Little River attacks survivor Jerry Michael Penny and operated from 1989 to 2007. Although LGBTQ-owned and the recognized as a gay bar, Pinhook is not specifically a gay bar, but rather a music venue. Bands and artists of various genres have performed at The Pinhook including Hurray for the Riff Raff, Future Islands, Megafaun, Sylvan Esso, and Big Freedia.
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