house concerts and 21st century touring

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Message from Fran:

My New Years Resolution for last year was to have 300 hosts on the site by the end of 2007. Goal Achieved! (O.K…7 days late.) Yes, our little community crossed the 300 host threshold in January, which I think is a significant milestone. If there are 300 hosts who average 4 shows per year, that’s 1200 lovely, heart-warming performances per year. That’s 1200 artists who aren’t playing for free beer and tips, not paying 18% hotel tax, or eating at Taco Bell. There’s always tomorrow for that. 8^)

Seriously, we all know there are some terrific artists out there playing in rooms well-beneath their ability. Rooms where an artist is a distraction - usually one of many. Rooms where intelligent people, who ordinarily love music, have grown so accustomed to ignoring it.

I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to meet many of you this month at the Folk Alliance in Memphis. It’s not too late to attend, but you should hurry up and make those plans. There will be incredible talent, and lasting friendships kindled. Remember to take advantage of the CIYH discount if you haven’t already gotten a discount some other way. This discount expires February 11th, so act now if you want to attend.

CIYH stats and developments:

CIYH Stats as of January 31:
305 hosts
477 artists.
19,000 monthly visitors.

In January, we added 11 new hosts and 42 new artists. We also deleted 5 inactive hosts listings from the site. (Thanks Paul for the tip!)

Our first compilation CD was finished and is now off to the reproduction facility. We are looking forward to sharing this collection with our hosts and the new folks who are discovering house concerts. It’s a real challenge to represent the diverse tastes of this community, but this CD is a great way to spread the word. We’ll have the CD in time for the Folk Alliance conference in just a few weeks.

New CIYH Hosts: (active artist members receive these by email)

New Hosts: Music Room at Carillon, Songwriters Showcase, Big Pink, Archie’s, Nexus Concert Series, Greyrock Commons, Tom and Barb’s, Lapwai Lane Shredders Club, Ceremony House Concerts, Cassidy, Hear ‘Em at The Comm

New CIYH Artists: (A big thank you for your support.)

You are bound to recognize some great talent here: Andrew Bayuk, Barb Elyett, Billy Bensing, Blair, Brian Crain, Conni Laine, Erin Sax, George Hrab, Harriet Schock, HuDost, Jacob and Lily, james clark jones, Jango Monkey, Jim Six, John D Clements, Jordan Reimer, Kate Lamont & Blueprintmusic, Katie Pearlman, Kohala, Krista Detor, Lauren Fincham, Markeisha Ensley, Melody Mann, Michael Holland, Michelle Malone, Mike Strickland, Molly’s Revenge, Moses Cotton, nels, Randy Weeks, Renda Writer, Richard Gilewitz, Sarah White, Scott Beck, Shannon Wurst, Steve Minotti, The Dillonaires, The Gordons, The Martins, The Old 78’s, Theresa Walker, Tom Pacheco, and Zozo Kidd.

Renewed Artists: (A HUGE thank you for your continued support!)

Wil Maring, Deadwood Revival, Lenore, Audrey Auld Mezera, Jeff Talmadge, Laurie McClain, David Kav, and Craig Bickhardt.

Schwag of the Month:

“Ask me about my next house concert.” —>

Pick up one of these great shirts and accomplish three things:

1. Spread the word about your house concerts.
2. Support our efforts in CIYH land.
3. Look fabulous.

I’d like to see a few of these at Folk Alliance, wouldn’t you?

Artist of the Month: Michelle Malone

While it’s true that great folk-fringe music is consistently kicking out the walls that used to define “Folk Music,” this next act may have the Memphis Hilton send them a bill for the damage. Yes, Michelle Malone is playing the 2008 Folk Alliance Conference (February 20-24). If it’s folk - it’s gonna be on steroids.

Armed with a bottleneck slide, blues harmonica, and her signature gut-wrenching vocals, Moanin’ Michelle Malone ( a nickname given to her by Albert King after hearing her sing), is having so much fun these days that she can’t help but shake her Sugarfoot!

Read more…

Host of the Month:

Bev Barnett and Greg Newlon (California)

One of the key ways I encourage artists to create house concert opportunities for themselves is to create opportunities for others. Creating your own house concert series is more than a good Karma deposit - it’s enjoyable, and it usually creates desirable results that you never expected.

There are some wise and talented artists who took this advice long before I started running my house-concert-promoting mouth. Bev Barnett and Greg Newlon run a well-known and much appreciated house concert series in Campbell, California.

Read their story here.

Tip for Artists: Team Up to Start House Concerts

“Help me… help you!”

Somewhere in your area, there is an artist who:

* is talented and motivated
* is looking for opportunities to play
* if facing the same struggles to build audience as you are

Maybe there are several artist who fit the bill. What if you emailed or approached them with the idea of putting on two house concerts? You host one for them, they host one for you. Read how…

Tip for Hosts: Spell it out.

House concerts are a fun hobby, but they clearly require some effort that feels more like work. It can be tedious to update websites, send out email invitations, coordinate plans, and all the other minutia that can creep into planning any event.

Because of the occasional pleasant (or amazing) surprise, many hosts have a very open policy for artists to contact them. Consequently, the most frustrating, and sometimes intimidating task is responding to all the artists who don’t fit your tastes, requirements, or schedule.

It is possible to greatly reduce this kind of work. Read more…

This website is sponsored by: Artists, D’addario, and Airplay Direct.

Please join me in thanking our new sponsors… It’s a pleasure to serve this community - your feedback is always appreciated.

Let’s have a double-tall skim latte or a beer in Memphis! — fran

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Tip for Hosts: Spell it out for everybody.

House concerts are a fun hobby, but they clearly require some effort that feels more like work. It can be tedious to update websites, send out email invitations, coordinate plans, and all the other minutia that can creep into planning any event.

Because of the occasional pleasant (or amazing) surprise, many hosts have a very open policy for artists to contact them. Consequently, the most frustrating, and sometimes intimidating task is responding to all the artists who don’t fit your tastes, requirements, or schedule.

It is possible to greatly reduce this kind of work.

Like artists, house concert hosts are often very unaware of the mixed signals they send out, and how difficult it is to find information on their website. What seems completely logical as the text leaves your fingers often comes out as a jumbled mess to the eyes of your readers. Yes, people actually read that stuff you are putting up there. To a point.

• Do you find yourself repeatedly answering the same questions?
• Do you get too many artist submissions?
• Do you get artist submissions from genres you would never consider?

Maybe your website (or your host listing at CIYH) is not as clear and specific as you think it is. Myspace pages can be especially cumbersome, but a little planning and tweaking can go a long way to making your hobby more fun and less work.

Maybe today is a good day to look at the message your are sending out.

For now, here’s a good example:

In the next post, well cover the most important information to make available, and some time-saving tips for communicating with artists.

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House Concert Tip of the Month for Artists: Team Up!

Somewhere in your area, there is an artist who:

• is talented and motivated
• is looking for opportunities to play
• if facing the same struggles to build audience as you are

Maybe there are several artist who fit the bill. What if you emailed or approached them with the idea of putting on two house concerts? You host one for them, they host one for you.

Even if your living spaces are totally inappropriate (they probably aren’t) you each should have a couple of good friends who’d be willing to co-host in their homes. Sometimes you just have to ask nicely until the timing is right.

The world is filled with people who are willing to help, especially if you give them a fun or compelling reason to do it. Offer to help with as many of the details as possible (invites, extra barstools, clean up, etc.) so all they have to do is attend the party and invite a few neighbors and friends.

Why should you do this?

• You share your audience, your effort, and your enthusiasm.
• You each collect much more than you’d get at a club.
• You introduce some great new fans to the house concert world, and maybe, you generate a lead or two to repeat the process.

If they don’t know what a house concert is, and what a great experience it can be, send them to us. We’ll show ‘em. 8^)

Related posts:
Hey artist, is this you?
How to invite people to a house concert

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