How to Host a House Concert

I left Key West with the intent to tour more and to make house concerts a good percentage of my concert schedule. Many folks may do this as a special event when I come to town, for others it may be a regular monthly occurrence. If the idea of having an intimate performance in your home to share with 20 to 75 like-minded music fans appeals to you, then please consider becoming yet another vital link in the web that supports this spiritually rich but financially marginal vocation of mine and helps keep it alive!

Presenting a house concert is pretty easy! Michael DeLalla, Mary Byrd Brown and Andrew McKnight have compiled a "Guide for Concert Presenters" MS Word document (click here to download) to help folks turn their enthusiasm into a low-stress, well-produced listening experience.  (As a matter of fact, most of this description was copied and pasted from Andrew’s web site.)  Once we arrange a date, the rest falls into place simply. You need to figure how many people you can comfortably fit, where you can procure sufficient seating (borrowing a few folding chairs from your church is common), and if you need some flyers or postcards to pass out to interested friends, coworkers, and/or folks at other local folk/acoustic venues. We can send you the flyers and email info.

For your comfort and security, we only post contact info (and not your address) on the online calendar and in any paper mailings, so that folks will have to contact you to make reservations, and so you can keep track of everyone who is coming to your home.

The night of the show, you may want to have some refreshments ready or specify Bring-your-Own if you prefer. Welcome your guests as they come in and point their way to the donation jar. Consider introducing the artist and letting your audience know that it is a listening performance and allow for socializing before and after the show and on the intermission, and perhaps encourage them to check out the CDs. Then at the end of the night, folks thank you for a wonderful time, ask to find out when you're doing it again(!) and say good night. A few minutes of tidying up and rearranging the furniture and voila, back to a plain old house!

If you or someone you know might be interested in presenting a house concert, please email us or call 941/952-5051. I am very grateful to those folks who decide to present these intimate concerts within the comforts of their home. We can arrange anything from a formal concert to a "pot luck" style gathering followed by a performance.

So to those who are interested, thanks in advance for helping out - we'll have fun! To find house concerts in your area, try www.houseconcerts.com.  And for more information visit one or more of the following links.

http://www.gaiaconsort.com/house.html

http://www.houseconcerts.org/