Your Mom's House Gets New Owner and Pumps Up the Punk

Your Mom's House has seen some big changes over the past two months. First, the nightclub at 608 East 13th Avenue partnered with chef John Mora to launch Tua Mama's/Mora Pizza — a walk-up eatery that serves everything from vegan slices to Mexican food — in the adjacent space that once housed the sorely missed original location of Benny Blanco's. Then the club joined forces with Dom Garcia and Ashlee Cassity, the proprietors of Pearl Divers, a new Sapphic, tiki-themed speakeasy that occupies a separate room inside Your Mom's House. And now Your Mom's House has a new owner: Jillian Johnson.

"I'm super excited and happy about it," says Johnson, who also owns Phoenix Tattoo Company, at 1760 South Broadway. "I've owned businesses, but I've never owned a venue before, and I've always wanted to."

The sale became final on January 1, and to celebrate, Johnson is throwing a soirée this Saturday, January 4. The 21+ event starts at 8 p.m., there's no cover, and That Brotha Trennel will be deejaying vintage post-punk on vinyl. What you won't be hearing, though, are the sounds of EDM, funk and hip-hop that dominated Your Mom's House under its previous owner, James Bedwell.

"I've been trying to do this for a long time, and I think it just makes it easier for me now to focus on getting really rad bands that people want to see instead of having to worry about running around to find a venue," says Johnson, an independent promoter who has booked shows at local venues such as HQ and EastFax Tap. "This is going to make everything easier. Now I can bring all of my people into it instead of just, you know, EDM and stuff."

According to Johnson, Your Mom's House will remain open to outside promoters who might want to book the kinds of non-rock acts in which the room used to specialize. "My main focus will be punk rock and metal," she adds.

To that end, Johnson has announced the first two national acts confirmed for the 2025 calendar of Your Mom's House: one punk and one metal. The first is DFL (Dead Fucking Last), the Los Angeles punk band founded by the Beastie Boys' Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, though Horovitz is no longer a member; the date is February 20. And on April 19, Wisconsin veteran stoner-metal band Bongzilla will headline. Since April 20 will begin in the middle of the band's set that night, it's being billed as a 4/20 launch party.

Two things that won't be changing: Tua Mama's and Pearl Divers. Johnson says that her ownership will not alter the Your Mom's House synergy with those connected establishments.

"I was super happy to see Pearl Divers being a partner of Your Mom's House," Johnson says. "It's one of the few lesbian bars left in the country. That's a big deal to me. I'm all about girl power. And I just went over to Tua Mama's the other day and started doing some cleaning. John paid me with a vegetarian burrito that was totally bomb."

She's even working on one more partnership with a neighboring business: Wax Trax Records, which sits just across the alley on East 13th Avenue. "I've been talking to Wax Trax, and they're really stoked. We're going to try to put on shows together at Your Mom's House soon."

Adds Johnson, "I know there are a lot of people out there who are like, 'Punk's dead.' They've been saying that for fucking decades, right? Well, it's not dead. And I'm going to bring some back to Capitol Hill."

Brotha Trennel will be spinning vintage post-punk on vinyl at 8 p.m. Saturday, January 4, at Your Mom's House, 608 East 13th Avenue. Admission is free; for more information, visit yourmomshousedenver.com.