The Americana and roots music authority
House Concerts are they the savour of acoustic music
The Global Village Medicine Show is our internet and community roots radio show. The Idea is we support independently minded musicians with airplay publicity and tour support. http://www.themedicineshow.eu
To that end we've kept a listening room trail open in the Highlands for the songsters, for 20 years, and regularly take The Medicine Show On The Road which has particularly become popular with American roots musicians, its become a bit of a pilgrimage for artist wishing to trace the roots of their music back to the homeland. All of these musicians have played and supported House Concerts in the states for many years and I became fascinated by the idea as a result. We now augment our listening room Highland Tours with two very fine House Concerts and have witnessed other budding House Concert and small acoustic music clubs flowering around the country.
In these crunch times maybe house concerts are the best option all the money goes to the artists, no £3 a pint and disinterested bar staff and door men, and gaurenteed like mined audience surely a win win situation
Discuss please
Rob Ellen
PS check http://www.houseconcert.eu
Tags: acoustic, clubs, concert, ellen, house, medicine, music, rob
Views: 22
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly Haiku on -
And in the U.S. , www.concertsinyourhome.com.
I'm not sure about saviour, but we host once a month and I hear regularly how much what we do means to the musicians we host. I knew going in to the experience how much fun it would be to have music in our living room. What I didn't know was how much it would come to mean to us to be able to give back to the artists by providing a true listening environment. I also didn't anticipate how much work it would be to find/get folks to turn out and support our artists. But everytime I've been near discouraged enough to quit, some artist has shared from the heart their gratitude and we haven't been able to stop. We love house concerts. We'll keep fighting to make them a viable alternative for the musicians who want a reverent, listening atmosphere with a friendly potluck, and all the admiration they can stand. :-))
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Permalink Reply by Kate Gerritsen on -
We love house concerts too and are about to have our fifth one. We live in Calgary, Alberta. There are a few people known in the roots music community here that regularly have house concerts and each place has their own approach to it. Some get travelling musicians as they pass through town to increase exposure to performers outside the local community. One place gets mostly Ontario artists and Austin artists. We prefer to promote local artists who you may see playing around town at venues that many of our guests are unlikely to go to. This way, people who want to bring their families including old and young can enjoy a great original music experience without going to a bar or a distance venue. Plus there is, of course, just something closer and more intimate about seeing music in a home. I sell tickets in advance and the price is very reasonable, usually $10 or $15. Weather permitting, the bands perform in the backyard but we have also had two of ours indoors. We are about to have the Wandering Vs (check out wanderingv.com) and in the past have had Ian MacDonald trio, Jenny Allen trio, Cam Penner trio, and Dave McCann trio. I highly recommend having house concerts. Both performers and audience seem to really appreciate the opportunity!
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Permalink Reply by Shaun Belcher on -
As a sub-venue alternative they fine but nothing can change the economic reality that affecting all venues in long term..new models like NING are the only hope as manufacture and distribution of 'product' are effectively dead for the indie musician :-(
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Permalink Reply by The Medicine Show on -
TS Check out www.reverbnation.com that site is an education in music marketing and networking in its self.
Not sure ide be quite so dispondent all things change the independently minded musician can record an album design the grafics and sell it all from his desk top on a shoe string, its only arbitors of taste that are under threat thats got to be good.
Rob Ellen
www.themedicineshow.eu
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Francis Andersen on -
I am very unfamiliar with house concerts. I have never been to one nor performed at one.
Are these house concerts TRULY about promoting independent performers? Or are many house concert hosts more happy to have the same pretty-well-known artists that could be found at Bluebird Cafe, Fitzgerald's, Flipnotics, etc?
Don't get me wrong...I am not suggesting that they are. I am just uninformed about the whole thing.
I guess it sounds too good to be true: music fans actually scouring the internet/used cd bins/websites to find songwriters that are not too busy booking themselves in established venues, and then providing a venue for them.
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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly Haiku on
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You are not alone, Matthew. Unless you live in one of the areas that have a house concert history, most are unfamiliar with them. But that is changing.
House Concerts are about many different things, probably as varied as music tastes. They range from long established series that consistently fill to capacity, booking names that appear in the establishments you named - although these are for certain the minority - to smaller, younger, still finding their way series that are still searching to find that consistent audience. If you are interested in learning more about them, www.concertsinyourhome.com will give you an overview of the type and range of artists and hosts out there.
Our series is a mixture of the scenarios you paint above. We book some artists that we have found worthy that are playing mostly house concerts or small venues, coffeeshops. We book some artists that are more widely known because we love their music and they have the ability to draw folks out to check into what a house concert actually is. And we are especially happy to host some artists that while infinitely worthy, have been around long enough to be largely passed over for the newest thing coming down the pike.
I think you might be surprised how many house concert series are closer to the 'unlikely' scenario you described last. I hope you'll look into them, and if there happens to be one close enough to check out in person, maybe go once just to see for yourself.
And of course, {shameless plug} if you'd like to check out fellow IL singer-songwriter Ben Bedford on March 28, email me for an invite. ;-)))
www.myspace.com/hillbillyhaikuhouseconcerts
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Permalink Reply by Mr Edyoulis on -
I've been part of a house concert scene for the past 15 years and its really teh best way for fans to see music and for artists to connect with new folks. I can't think of any club or concert experience that could compare with sitting on a couch with a glass of wine and a plate of food while world class musicians tear it up five feet away. I've been very involved in bookings and its very surprising how many established arists are open to playing these informal gatherings. Stevie Coyle probably plays 50% of his gigs at HCs. I think also people are more likely to hang out and buy a CD afterwards than at a regular club.
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Permalink Reply by Stevie Coyle on
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It's true, Mr. Ed. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool fan of house concerts. They're simple, sweet and highly populist. Big festival stages can be mighty fun, all right, but playing to a wall of lights - while flashy and splashy - will never replace the sense of deep contact and intimacy that happens at just about every house concert I've played.
And the food is better.
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Permalink Reply by David Robinson on -
Great discussion. Last year my wife and I went to our first house concert in Georgia. Didn't have a clue what to expect. We feel in love with the whole concept! So much so, we convinced some of our friends in Dahlonega, GA to start their very own house concert - the Frog Hollow Treehouse. Of course, we're helping our friends with every aspect of putting this concert series together. And we're blessed with having an incredibly gorgeous environment to host our concerts, including the home and this particular area of north Georgia.
We were able to announce our first booking this past week, Jason Wilber, guitarist for John Prine! We're bouncing off the walls with excitement. I'll second the idea of how surprising it is to how open musicians are to playing house concerts. We've approached a few musicians about playing, but it's been the musicians that are finding us and asking us about availability. It's been a neat process, but we know we have a ton of work ahead of us too.
Check us out! - www.froghollowtreehouse.com
Rob, thanks for the Reverb Nation link. I've been meaning to check out that site. Love your flyer too!
David Robinson
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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly Haiku on
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What a beautiful setting, David! I can assure you, you will soon be up to your EARS in artists wanting to play there. :-))
Mazel Tov!
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Permalink Reply by Mr Edyoulis on
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Looks like a beautiful location. Try an outdoor set possibly. I look forward to hearing how the show turns out.
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Permalink Reply by Christene LeDoux on -
I've been performing at house concerts (as a large part of my touring) since the very beginning.
I can't imagine life without them.
I will say as an artist that has always been an out of the box thinker, although it's great it's caught on even more the past few years (and especially currently) it's also somewhat of a bummer.
Why would I say this?
Because like any good thing that is the new "in door" it becomes over-saturated.
For many reasons;
* The bigger, more established artists can sometimes win out over bookings.
* For the most part, house concerts are run by music loving amazing people. However, sometimes, like club promoters when things get good, they can get a big head and can suddenly turn "exclusive."
* Artists begin banging on doors (quite literally) and pretty soon the line is so long, you can hardly get your foot back in.
Note: It's very common practice these days for agents of more established artists to chase house concerts down. They can be ruthless and hold a lot of clout. If the host is willing, how can a less established artist compete? They can't always live off the $50 opening for the more established act fee.
I could go on...
I have never had any of the above problems (at least not yet) but I have seen it and I know it's out there.
It's a reality of the musical climate and ever-changing business model.
Look at how Myspace went from amazing to barely tolerable. I'm just sayin'.
Good hearted people, hard working souls - we're all just trying to make a buck, follow our dreams, feed our ego and whatever else. I don't blame the people but I do get scared.
With all of that said, 30-40% of my shows on any given tour are house concerts. Both with my fans as well as established and upcoming series. I wouldn't trade them for anything - financial crisis or not. Funny enough, I have not seen major decrease in house concerts because at the end of the day, even a well-known series or artist can find a way around the current financial situation. Donations get lower, people bring more snacks, the artist and host rally to get people in a good mood, out of the house, supporting the arts and their entertainment. Again, I guess I could go on. :)
Here's to house concert hosts for the love and time they put into such a valuable platform for us artists. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
warmest,
Christene
http://www.ChristeneLeDoux.com
http://www.MySpace.com/ChristeneLeDoux
http://www.littlepumpkinmusic.com
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