house concerts and 21st century touring

One of the truly fun things about ConcertsInYourHome is that I consistently get to meet really interesting people. One of my recent discoveries is Roy Schneider, a talented singer-songwriter from Ft. Myers, Florida.

Roy joined us a few months ago and has already impressed a few of our house concert presenters. But it was especially fun for me to discover his talent as a visual artist. Turns out, Roy had a syndicated cartoon strip for many years, so I asked and he agreed to perk up our newsletters with “Carnegie Small,” a new cartoon strip that will highlight, amuse, and poke fun at our house concert community.

Here’s the first installment, with a timely message for those of us making the trek to Memphis this week - click the strip to see a larger view.

#2 reflects the unbounded enthusiasm we often see from house concert hosts…

#3 is a fun take on the “proximity effect.”

#4 highlights the fact that house concert presenters not only offer a warm atmosphere, but they typically offer a place to sleep in their home.

#5 Dog House Concerts. Yeah.

#6 makes you glad it’s time for summer vacation.

#7 All gigs are NOT created equal.

#8 Halloween Contest: What is the Grim Reaper saying/singing? (Submit your idea for a chance to win a shirt!)

… more to come

I encourage you to visit Roy’s page, and his personal website. I also think you’ll enjoy this video….

I have a feeling we’ll soon see a lot more quotes like these.

“… Roy was warm, witty and engaging and deserved the standing ovation that he received. I think I’m going to ask him to do an annual event.” ~ALICE S., Host, “Music4MeAndU” House Concert Series

“Roy Schneider writes and plays friendly, funny, smart American songs in a down-home style.” ~DAVID GANS, syndicated radio host, The Grateful Dead Hour

“..had no idea this humble cartoonist played so many instruments so well.” ~NOEL ‘PAUL’ STOOKEY of legendary supergroup Peter, Paul and Mary

Please link back to Roy or this page if you reprint this strip on a different website or blog. Thanks!

fs

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Perhaps I need to grow up, but I still prefer to have people like me.

That’s why I hate the responsibility of having to judge artists. I hate it as much as I hated taking a shower when I was 7 years old.

Most of our members know that I didn’t create ConcertsInYourHome to make a pile of money. I started this so that artists and hosts would have a place of support, a place of introduction, and a place to inspire their friends and fans. However, when you build an organization, or a tribe, you have to make choices. Some people belong more than others, and if you don’t make that occasional hard choice or distinction, you lose what makes your group special.

For example, what if a bar/pub wants to be listed as a venue at ConcertsInYourHome? They don’t belong, and that’s an easy decision. But what if it’s a non-profit folk club that follows all the traditions of house concerts EXCEPT the actual venue is in a local church? That’s a tougher call. I can stay “true to mission” and say “no, that’s not a house concert.” But does that serve our artist members? Wouldn’t they prefer to see that opportunity when they are looking for gigs? Of course they would. We could call them “House (of God) Concerts,” I suppose.

But that’s not why I’m writing today.

It’s much more challenging to tell an ARTIST that they shouldn’t join our site. OK, sometimes it’s easy. Not one host on this site shows interest for hosting Rap and Hip-Hop, so when those acts apply, it’s fairly easy to explain that they’d be wasting their money. It’s $48 to join (as of this writing), so these acts can see I’m doing them a favor by telling them the truth.

But what if the truth (as I see it) feels more like an insult than a favor? What if the genre is not the problem, but their voice is? For example, intonation matters. In fact, in a house concert performance it matters a lot - there’s nowhere to hide a pitchy vocal. So if an artist with an untrained voice wants to get paid for singing, then they better have something extraordinarily special and obvious (like Bob Dylan’s lyrics) to get people to overlook (overhear?) their voice.*

I care about our members’ musicianship for two reasons:

1. I don’t want to accept money (membership fees) from people who won’t benefit from using our site.
2. I want ConcertsInYourHome to be associated with great talent. We have a pretty wonderful blend going on and I want to maintain it, and even improve upon it. If our hosts feel the overall quality of music is slipping, they are less likely to visit the site and book our acts.

That means I have to say “no.” No, to artists who are kind, wonderful people, but can’t carry a tune. No, to developing acts who show a lot of promise but aren’t quite ready. And No to artists who are fantastic, but are inappropriate for the tastes of our presenters.

In reality, I rarely tell someone “No you CAN’T join,” but I often make a convincing case that “No, you SHOULDN’T join.” Artists who seek my opinion should be forwarned - I’m going to be straight with you, and it’s very likely I will tell you that something about your act needs improvement.

Get a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Getting feedback on your work is an important part of improving yourself, but it’s critical to get opinions from a variety of people, especially from professionals who can be candid with you.

Burn a non-descript CD with your best three songs, and go to a couple of talent buyers or studio engineers. Tell them you are considering working with this act, and you would like their opinion. Do not tell them the act is you -  no one wants to hurt people’s feelings, especially a potential client.
Ask them:

1. Do you think this person can really sing/play live?
2. Is there some pitch correction going on?
3. Would you hire this person to sing/play on demos?
4. What’s the best thing this artist could work on to improve their performance?

Thank them for their time, and do with the information as you see fit. You don’t have to be great singer to enjoy singing. Do it with gusto. But if you want to get paid for it, people will have to judge what they think it’s worth.

So, I’m doing the grown-up thing, even though I hate it. I’m answering difficult questions that sometimes hurt an artist’s feelings. I do it imperfectly, I make mistakes, but I genuinely try to be helpful. Hopefully, artists will see that I’m only criticizing a particular skill, not their character or value as a human being. And my opinion is ONLY important as it regards to THIS site. You can have a long and healthy career without my help - there are thousands of people doing just that.

Respectfully,

Fran

* in my opinion, Bob Dylan was a great vocalist [had great skills of delivery and emphasis,] and he could sing in tune, but was he a great singer? I think the natural timber of his voice left much to be desired. If he was forced to sing lesser material, I don’t think he could have made it with that voice, no matter how endearing it’s sound may be now.

I’m braced for feedback. Chime in below. 8^)

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Message from Fran:
2009 is off to a roaring start. A see a lot of enthusiasm for the upcoming Folk Alliance Conference (The Disney World of Acoustic Music!) and I’m delighted to announce some great new improvements to the site.

Major CIYH improvements:

1. New house concert calendars… they now have their own section of the site, complete with artist photos, and our new “invitation request form,” which both protects the host’s privacy, and encourages potential audience members to join your mailing list.
2. House concert e-flyers.. an extension of the calendars, allowing hosts to quickly create attractive flyers complete with photos, links, yahoo maps, and RSVP information. Much of your profile information is pre-loaded in the form, which makes it super-easy to send attractive invitations to your mailing list. Simply paste the URL in an email and you’re done.
3. Easy to navigate “host edit” area. It’s now much simpler to log in and make periodic changes to your host listing, as well as putting events in the calendar instantly.

New CIYH Hosts: (artist members can search “member since 2009-01″ using the advanced search. )

26 New House Concert Presenters in Alberta, Ontario, Netherlands, Arizona, California, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

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

Look for these new artists here!

Aaron Nicholson, Adam Day, Ann & Will Rowland, Beth Wood, Brian Ashley Jones, Butch Morgan, Clint Alphin, Cori Brewster, Craig Cardiff, Dan and Leland, David Hein, Debra Cowan, Delaney Gibson, Delmark Goldfarb, Don White, Eddie Rhoades, Gathering Time, George Ensle, George Worthmore, Heidi Muller & Bob Webb, J.P. Riemens, James O’Malley, Jeff Miller, Jeff Pike, Joe Gee, Joe Iadanza, Joel Plaskett, John Zipperer & Friends, Kim Richardson, King Curly, Laurie Jones, Liam McKay, Lucia Comnes, Mike Breen, Otis Gibbs, Patty Clayton, Pauline Pisano, Phil Minissale, Prairie Jewel, Preston Girard, Rachael Sage, Rex Blazer, Rick Summer Droit, Rj Cowdery, sahffi, Sarah Donner,  Seth Glier, Stephen and the Talk Talk Band, stevie tombstone, Still on the Hill, Storm Session, subvocal, Sue Jeffers, T. Edwin Doss, The Nadas, The Tree People, Trent Wagler, Trio Del Rio, Tripping Lily, Watson & Nash

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

Randall Williams, Scott and Michelle Dalziel, Richard Gilewitz, Robby Hecht, Randy Weeks, Laurie McClain, Jeff Talmadge, Mark Wayne Glasmire, Audrey Auld, Lenore, Jill Knight, David Kav, Bing Futch, Chad Elliott

Schwag of the Month:

For those of you with a sense of humor, may I present my new favorite.

Tip for Artists and Hosts:

We’re getting twice as many visitors as we were just 6 months ago, so it’s more important (and worthwhile) than ever to keep your photos looking good and your information current.

Update your profiles, booking information, and pictures! The calendars and flyers will be featuring your uploaded photos…
Artists log in here |   Hosts Log in here

Letters from Ned:

Another great story from Ned Treanor, our resident historian and lover of all things acoustic. This one is about Gordon Lightfoot, the Irish Rovers and DEE-troit.

Please share this information with people you like. — fran

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