house concerts and 21st century touring

By now, most talented troubadours have realized that much of their touring future will rely on their ability to inspire fans to host shows. House concerts are not new, but they have become vital to the careers of many acts. So vital, that in many cases, these shows are the financial (not to mention emotional) anchors of a tour.

It’s hard to lose money playing house concerts. The free room and board cover two of your largest expenses. The intimacy and novelty lead to stronger product sales, not to mention the older crowd with disposable income and the lingering impulse to purchase CDs.

But here’s the problem… house concerts mostly happen on weekends. What do you do on weeknights if you only want to play for a listening audience? How can you inspire fans (who may not have much space) to host shows during the week?

Enter DinnerAndSong. Here’s how the program is explained to a potential host:

Simply gather 6-10 friends to join you and a professional touring musician for a real casual dinner and a memorable unplugged concert.

Your guests each donate $10 to the artist and may purchase CDs after the performance. Start promptly, end promptly - all tucked neatly between work and everyone’s normal evening activities.

Afterwards, you provide an overnight futon or guest room for your talented guest, and wave goodbye in the morning as they happily head to their next show. And you’ll drive to work with a smile as you enjoy your new CDs!

Who would do such a thing? So far, about 130 hosts have signed up on the site. See the current host map.

Why would artists play such small shows?

It’s all about options… would you drive 5 hours out of your way to play for less than 10 people? Probably not. But if you had a fan, in a convenient place to stop on your tour, who was willing to not only feed and house you but provide an opportunity for you to do a short set for an appreciative group, and earn $100-200 for it, wouldn’t that be appealing?

What if you had an important gig at a public venue that you could promote the night before, by doing a secret, teaser show for a fan and her friends? They might rave to their co-workers the next day about the great act they met and heard the night before… and invite people to the public show on your behalf.

DinnerAndSong provides a lot of possibilities, and already one spin-off - Dessert and Song. (Shorter food time, longer play time - still 90 minutes.)

Best of all - you don’t need to join or spend any money to do this. Share it with your fans.

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This is the first post from Jeanette Lundgren of Mother Hen Promotions. She handles social media for touring artists with busy schedules, and often share tips with them. We want you to have those tips too, so we share them here. Enjoy.

Don’t just block the app! It only keeps YOU from seeing it. Everyone else can still see it on your page.

Just an FYI … if someone posts an app to your wall (the annoying kind - “I created a greeting card for you!” or “please help me grow my crops in Farmville” or “so-and-so answered a question about you in______”), here’s how to ditch it.

Don’t just block the app - because you are only blocking the app as it appears on your profile or page … anyone else who hasn’t blocked that app will still be able to see it on your profile/page.

What I do on profiles is this. First I open the app in a new tab (you can do this by looking underneath all the blah-blah-blah of the post - it’s usually highlighted in very light small print).

Then I go back to your profile or page and delete the post altogether (if you block the app first, it won’t allow you to delete the post altogether - it just won’t appear on your profile/page/feed but it will still be there).

Then I go back to the app, and block the app, so no one can post from those apps on your profiles and pages again.

Okey-day?

Thanks!

jal

Mother Hen Promotions is affordable social media management with a side of internet radio promotion for quality independent musicians. Mother Hen defines herself as a nitpicking precise organized efficient behind-the-scenes support person, who attempts to put your best foot forward via all of your online presences combined.

It is up to the artist to be the best musician he or she can be. It is up to Mom Hen to make sure everybody knows it.

Jeanette Lundgren is the “Mom Hen” in Mother Hen Promotions. Affordable Social Media Management for Quality Independent Musicians.

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First hand experience: DinnerAndSong works.

I’m on a two-week tour of Alberta, playing 11 nights in a row, thanks in part to a couple of DinnerAndSong events.

So many times in my past tours, I recall making OK money on the weekend, only to watch most of it evaporate on nights when I didn’t have a show (or accommodations.)

I’ve done two DinnerAndSong (DNS) events on this tour - the first was at a Bed and Breakfast on a Wednesday night, and the most recent was a Monday night.

The first was attended by 14 people (larger than we suggest) at $10 per person, and I sold 12 CDs at $10 each for a total of $240. I played 40 minutes, had a wonderful dinner, met some great people, inspired a guest to join as another DinnerAndSong host. The Bed and Breakfast was lovely and so were the owners who, frankly, spoiled me.

Not bad for an off night in a town where I had no fans or resources. Next time I go, I’ll have two DNS options, and a handful of fans to attend.

The second show, last monday, was a cold and snowy night in Edmonton, and we only had 4 guests and the 2 hosts. That’s small. However, we cozied up in the living room, had some great munchies, shared stories and songs, and I made $150 with CD sales and donations - again, after a 35 minute performance. Stayed in a gorgeous home with 3 acres of aspens (poplars), a friendly Bishon puppy, and some very kind people.

To recap the math, I made almost $400, and easily saved another hundred or two on food and hotel. Not bad for “filler gigs.”

Small is good. You have many fans and friends that can help you do small.

www.DinnerAndSong.com

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