house concerts and 21st century touring

This is part one of a new series to help new and existing house concert presenters make the best decisions when choosing performers for their house concerts.

Basics:

Be picky. There is so much fantastic talent available that there is absolutely no reason to book an artist that you aren’t thrilled about.

Consider:

• Genre: Do you have at least twenty friends that would ALSO be into this kind of music? Face it, if you love jazz, but you don’t know anyone else that does, you’ll have a tough time getting an audience for the show.
• Act size: If your space is small (30 or less people), you’ll probably want to stick with solo acts and duos, since larger groups will take up valuable seating space and limit the size (and comfort) of the audience. Drum kits and horns can require a group to use a sound system which can also take up valuable room.
• Energy level and content: There are some fantastic artists that are very low key and rely on the power of their words to connect with the audience. If you and your friends and likely guests need an act with more physical energy and liveliness, you should keep that in mind. Also, some acts may include mild profanity, political songs, or suggestive material, and it’s important to let them know what is or is not acceptable in your home. 

Options: 

1. Seek artists on your own, tracking down acts you know and enjoy, and contact them through their websites or management. Also, you can use sites like CIYH which list hundreds of talent artists who LOVE to perform house concerts. 

2. List yourself on the web so artists can find you. 

• You can create a website or myspace page if you like, but there are some disadvantages to this. First, you are likely to hear from many more artists than you care to, and many of them will not be appropriate for your tastes, despite the details you provide on that site.
• You can list your house concert “series” at ConcertsInYourHome, which provides an ideal template for you to attract the right kinds of artists, and to easily indicate how receptive you are to booking requests at any given time. CIYH also filters out many unprofessional artists, and other types of visitors that you might not prefer to have contact with.
• Join the “weekend circuits” program at CIYH, where we can help you collaborate with other hosts in your region, and guide only the most stellar talent your way. 

Fun Tip:

Get some friends involved in helping you choose the act. Once you’ve chosen a handful of artists that you are interested in, have a “listening party” with friends who might be interested in attending your shows. It’s a great way to get people involved, committed to attend, and eager to help you promote your event to their friends as well. 

In the next post, we’ll talk about choosing the best date/time for your events. 

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Are you ready?

• Would you like to see more house concert opportunities?
• Would you like to see full rooms at every one?
• Would you like your fans to be exposed to this experience?

The most common reason that someone decides to host house concerts is… they experience one. Someone who knows someone invites them to go, and when they do, they are blown away and inspired.

This month we’ve had about 50 invitation requests come through CIYH. That is, people visited our site, looked at the calendars, and contacted a host for an invitation to a show. As a result, we’ve had a jump in “new host signups.”

At CIYH, you are among a fine group of 600 artists with an estimated fan reach of 500,000 people. Are you ready to make some grass roots magic?

Today, right now, I am asking (you) all our artists to send out the following message to their fans. Adapt it as you wish, but don’t make it too long.

Dear “fan of my music,”

You know that some of my favorite shows are house concerts. Up close, living room performances in the homes of people who enjoy live music without all the typical distractions. What you might not know is that these events are popping up all over the world.

If you’re interested in house concerts, and would like to see one before trying it, there’s a great site where you can find house concert listings in your state/province, and email the hosts for an invitation. These are generally super-friendly people who love to see a few new faces at their events.

Watch the video here: http://concertsinyourhome.com/beahostintro.html

And find shows in your area here: http://www.concertsinyourhome.com/calendarPages/calendarShowSearch.html

I really hope you’ll visit the site and attend a show… these events are usually fantastic, and very inspiring. If you have questions… let me know! I would LOVE to play for you and your friends.

Your music playin’ friend,

ME.

If you are frustrated with lack of opportunity, terrible pay, and the high cost of meals and hotels when you tour, this is how you can be part of the solution.

Someday, traditional venues (clubs/coffeehouses) will learn how to create small successes with their venues. They’ll create a more personal experience, smaller spaces they can fill, and use the advantages they DO have (location, lighting, sound, population density) to reclaim their ability to positively affect people with music.

Until then, it’s up to us to inspire our distracted world to REALLY LISTEN to music when they have the opportunity to witness TALENT.

You have a mailing list. You have the technology to make a difference.

Let’s do this.

Your fan,
Fran Snyder
http://concertsinyourhome.com

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I’ll let Susan Gibson show you.

What are we waiting for?

Fran

More video tips…

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