diff --git a/src/jukebox/components/controls/event_devices/__init__.py b/src/jukebox/components/controls/event_devices/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7661b0676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/jukebox/components/controls/event_devices/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+"""
+Plugin to register event_devices (ie USB controllers, keyboards etc) in a
+generic manner.
+
+This effectively does:
+* parse the configured event devices from the jukebox.yaml
+* setup listen threads
+
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+from typing import Callable
+
+import jukebox.cfghandler
+import jukebox.plugs as plugin
+import jukebox.utils
+from components.controls.common.evdev_listener import EvDevKeyListener
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("jb.EventDevice")
+cfg = jukebox.cfghandler.get_handler("jukebox")
+
+# Keep track of all active key event listener threads
+# Removal of dead listener threads is done in lazy fashion:
+# only on a new connect are dead threads removed
+listener: list[EvDevKeyListener] = []
+# Running count of all created listener threads for unique thread naming IDs
+listener_cnt = 0
+
+
+@plugin.register
+def activate(
+    device_name: str,
+    button_callbacks: dict[int, Callable],
+    exact: bool = True,
+    mandatory_keys: set[int] | None = None,
+):
+    """Activate an event device listener
+
+    :param device_name: device name
+    :type device_name: str
+    :param button_callbacks: mapping of event
+        code to RPC
+    :type button_callbacks: dict[int, Callable]
+    :param exact: Should the device_name match exactly
+        (default, false) or be a substring of the name?
+    :type exact: bool, optional
+    :param mandatory_keys: Mandatory event ids the
+        device needs to support. Defaults to None
+        to require all ids from the button_callbacks
+    :type mandatory_keys: set[int] | None, optional
+    """
+    global listener
+    global listener_cnt
+    logger.debug("activate event device: %s", device_name)
+    # Do a bit of housekeeping: Delete dead threads
+    listener = list(filter(lambda x: x.is_alive(), listener))
+    # Check that there is no running thread for this device already
+    for ll in listener:
+        if ll.device_request == device_name and ll.is_alive():
+            logger.debug(
+                "Event device listener thread already active for '%s'",
+                device_name,
+            )
+            return
+
+    listener_cnt += 1
+    new_listener = EvDevKeyListener(
+        device_name_request=device_name,
+        exact_name=exact,
+        thread_name=f"EvDevKeyListener-{listener_cnt}",
+    )
+
+    listener.append(new_listener)
+    if button_callbacks is not None:
+        new_listener.button_callbacks = button_callbacks
+    if mandatory_keys is not None:
+        new_listener.mandatory_keys = mandatory_keys
+    else:
+        new_listener.mandatory_keys = set(button_callbacks.keys())
+    new_listener.start()
+
+
+@plugin.initialize
+def initialize():
+    """Initialize event device button listener from config
+
+    Initializes event buttons from the main configuration file.
+    The format of the required section is:
+    event_devices:
+      devices: # list of devices to listen for
+        <device nickname>: # config for a specific device
+          device_name: <device_name> # name of the evdev
+          exact: False/True # optional to require exact
+                            # match
+          mapping:
+            <event id>: # evdev event id
+                <RPC spec> # eg `alias: toggle` 
+    """
+    for name, config in cfg.getn(
+        "event_devices",
+        "devices",
+        default={},
+    ).items():
+        logger.debug("activate %s", name)
+        button_mapping = config.get("mapping", default=None)
+        if button_mapping:
+            button_callbacks: dict[int, Callable] = {}
+            for key, action_request in button_mapping.items():
+                button_callbacks[key] = jukebox.utils.bind_rpc_command(
+                    action_request,
+                    dereference=False,
+                    logger=logger,
+                )
+            device_name = config.get("device_name")
+            exact = config.get("exact", default=False)
+            logger.debug(
+                f'Call activate with: "{device_name}" and exact: {exact}',
+            )
+            activate(
+                device_name,
+                button_callbacks=button_callbacks,
+                exact=exact,
+            )
+        else:
+            logger.error(
+                "No button mapping configured for event device: %s",
+                name,
+            )
+
+
+@plugin.atexit
+def atexit(**ignored_kwargs):
+    global listener
+    for ll in listener:
+        ll.stop()
+    return listener