JOE PATRINA is not a natural showman, something he readily admits. “Our first time playing, I was not able to smile,” he said before a recent performance here. “I just kind of stood there. I performed when I was young, but that was 30 years ago.”  Mr. Patrina, 58, is now typically onstage twice a month, singing and playing guitar and piano with his country-rock band LittleHouse, and nerves are no longer an issue. After-show conversations with the group’s Connecticut- and Massachusetts-based fans have put him at ease.  “Their reaction has really helped,” Mr. Patrina said. “They all encourage us to really go for it. They’re like an inner circle. They stay after the show, and they have many kind words to say.”  Those kind words may have something to do with the extremely audience-friendly but unorthodox circumstances that have so far surrounded LittleHouse gigs. All performances — there have been roughly 50 — take place in a 30-by-40-foot, meticulously renovated barn adjacent to the house where Mr. Patrina lives with his wife, Laura, and their four children, ages 11 through 17. Set on 14 acres, the barn is outfitted with 80 seats, a fireplace and a custom-designed audio system; on the walls are buffalo antlers and photographs of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. And, not insignificantly, because it is illegal in Connecticut to charge guests for performances on private property, all shows are free.  The appeal of a free performance in a heated barn may be obvious. But Thom Varhol, 58, a fan from Bristol, said he didn’t even think about the free part.  “I go because it’s just a great night out in Connecticut,” said Mr. Varhol, who has been to four shows at the barn. “I’m just blown away by the presentation and the songwriting and the vocals and the harmonies.”  The six other LittleHouse musicians hired by Mr. Patrina — all of whom are also vocalists — are the keyboardist and guitarist Mark Zampino, of Cromwell; the bassist Gary Gott, of Coventry; the guitarist Tom MacGregor, of Ivoryton; the drummer Eddy Lonardo, of West Haven; the guitarist Chris Barry, of Harwinton; and the percussionist Jessica Jarvis, of Simsbury.  LittleHouse plays 30 songs per show, all of them written by Mr. Patrina. The band’s first CD, released in October, is titled “Old School.” A new CD, “Carter Family Roots,” will be released March 1.  “All of the songs we grew up with and love, classic rock and country songs, were written by people in their 20s,” Mr. Patrina said. “Here I am in my 50s writing. I’ve already lived a little.”  LittleHouse showgoers, who are often in their 40s and 50s, can relate to that, he said. Though Mr. Patrina spent his 30s and 40s concentrating on his business, the life experiences he racked up during those years are woven into the tapestry of his songwriting, resulting in what he hopes audiences will recognize as “mature” songwriting.  Mr. Patrina moved to West Simsbury from Manhattan in 2006, after selling Wall Street Systems, a software company that he had founded in 1987. He created LittleHouse about two years later, using part of the proceeds of the sale to finance the band.  “It’s the way the music industry is: there’s the big acts, and then there’s everybody else,” he said. For unsigned bands, “there’s not much of, ‘Hey, why don’t you go out on the road with Bruce Springsteen?’ This has cost me a lot of money, a lot of effort and a lot of time. I have four kids — I have to stop at some point.”  But that may not be any time soon. Mr. Patrina’s plans for LittleHouse include playing for larger audiences, a goal that will be realized on March 12, when the band will play an 8 p.m. show at the Warner Theatre in Torrington to benefit the Lupus Foundation.  “What we really want to do is use the barn as an incubator” for shows off the property, Mr. Patrina said. So he has gotten himself organized: “I’ve got sheets splitting up all the work for LittleHouse into four areas: show development, marketing, product development and administration. Each of those areas has 10 jobs that need to be done.”  “I figured out I’m doing 34 of the 40 jobs right now,” he said. But, he added, “I’ve got a lot of energy for it.”  LittleHouse at the Warner Theater, 68 Main Street, Torrington, March 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30. Information: (860) 489-7180 or warnertheatre.org. The next LittleHouse barn show will be after the Torrington performance: information at littlehouselive.com.  A version of this article appears in print on February 6, 2011, on page CT8 of the New York edition with the headline: Building a Band, and a Place for It to Play In. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
A retired software entrepreneur finances his musical dreams, starting a band and creating a dedicated performance space for it.