house concerts and 21st century touring

Brooks Williams is one of our most recent additions to ConcertsInYourHome, but certainly no stranger to house concerts. I thought I’d gush about him and his music, but Arlene Boumel, one of our kind hosts, was more than happy to do it for me. Thanks Arlene.

Hi Fran,

I hosted Brooks in April of 2007, and again in January of 2008. I consider him a friend, and one of the nicest people I know. (You know what a “mensch” is?) Put a guitar in Brooks’ hands, and his fingers are like magic. His versatility is amazing. Brooks is a singer-songwriter with an incredible voice who has written some wonderful songs.

He seems as comfortable with blues as he does with instrumental guitar or traditional ballads or roots–style Americana music or original songs. (His “Blues and Ballads” CD’s is one of my favorites.) He mesmerizes his audiences. He exudes warmth when he performs. It is impossible not to love him. Brooks also teaches adults and kids, runs guitar camps, writes articles, produces instructional DVD’s, runs clinics and workshops. Just a high-energy, and exceptionally talented, guy.

Brooks did a solo house concert for me in April 2007. Might I add that I opened for him? I was at that point of just getting up my nerve to play in front of other people. Hard enough to do in front of other amateurs like me. But positively intimidating to imagine not only opening for my own house concert, but playing in front of a virtuoso like Brooks. And Brooks was SO nice about it. I laughed and said, “Okay, now I can tell the world I opened for Brooks Williams.”

Brooks came back again in January 2008 and participated in a triple bill concert that I hosted. I had TR Ritchie and Cosy Sheridan here, and Brooks was in town for the South Florida Folk Festival. I had already promised the concert to TR and Cosy, and when they heard Brooks was going to be here, they jumped at the chance to include him in the concert. (The more the merrier, right?) They each performed solo, and then they all performed together. Brooks had already performed previously with Cosy and knew both Cosy and TR. (Actually, whenever I mention Brooks, it seems that everybody knows him… he has performed with so many fine musicians.) The three of them did a knock-out concert. They even invited Freebo up to join them for a few songs.

The next day, Brooks did a slot at the South Florida Folk Festival. There were a lot of performers there that weekend. And Brooks blew EVERYBODY away. I was in charge of CD sales for that event, so I know that Brooks sold far more CD’s than anybody else there.

Brooks knew in advance that he would get the gate (or in the case of the second concert, split the gate with Cosy and TR). He was fine with it. But he’s a draw. People come to hear him. Even if the folkie types never heard of him (and are always pleasantly surprised the first time they hear him), the guitar aficionados know who he is, and they will always come out to hear him. For both concerts, he played to a well-packed house.

So, would I have Brooks here again? Yes, in a heartbeat.

Best,

Arlene

You can see Brooks’ house concert profile here: CIYH Brooks Williams

Brooks Williams ROCKS!!!

In addition to being a phenomenal guitar performer with silky
smooth vocals and superb songwriting skills, Brooks is a heck of a nice guy.
He glady performed a gratis mini-concert for our well deserving Veterans at
our local Veteran’s hospital, did an live local radio interview with a
couple songs, bent over backwards to be accomodating to us, arrived early,
left late, thrilled the audience and made all feel as if they were the most
important people in his universe.

Brooks Williams is 12 star performer in my books!!!

Larry D. Lyon
Americana Unplugged