What did we forget to ask? from House Concert Fast Facts

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  • Reply
    Andrew Andrew Nov 1, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
    We got started in house concerts because when we moved into an old house, the deck in the backyard seemed just like a stage, so we invited a musician friend to come play. Soon it turned into bi-weekly shows with a website, email list, and lots of new friends. Now we average almost 100 persons per show. We were contacted recently by the original owners of the house who heard about our house concerts. It turns out they were musicians and they built the deck to host house concerts way back in the 70's. Can I say we were inspired by the ghosts of house concerts past?
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    Christy Claxton Christy Claxton Sep 15, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
    On the pay thing... I count the number of people in attendance; including volunteers. I multiply that number by 10. If the amount of money in my pocket doesn't equal the sum of my equation, I personally add the cash.
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    Wayne Slater-Lunsford (WayneSL) Wayne Slater-Lunsford (WayneSL) Apr 11, 2008 @ 10:13 am
    The first concert was probably a house concert:
    "Hey, Ogg- come over to my cave tonight. Guff will bring the sabertooth skull and he and Skar are gonna beat the daylights out of that mammoth skin again!"
    My Inner Folk Child was reborn in 1990 at a house concert hosted by Clark & Elaine Weissman. That got me hooked on the California Traditional Music Society, live performance and song circles.
    Living rooms, garages, coffeehouses, bars, mountain meadows and sailboats are the womb of real musical magic. YouTube, commercial radio and network television are just ways for people to sample the reality that music is something people do to touch each other's souls. Two-way eye contact, the harmony sung by the front row, and a bear hug after a song are what keeps music alive, and house concerts are the purest channel for that kind of energy.
    I've always done house concerts, though I never heard that name until recently. Keep the faith!
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    Todd Muller Todd Muller Apr 11, 2008 @ 6:31 am
    I got started doing house concerts because I have so many songwriter friends that I only get to see at Kerrville, and wanted them to come visit us in Mass. especially while I was building our cordwood masonry home. It's a lot of work, and many musicians are also carpenters!!!!! Most of them said" if i had a gig to help pay my travel expenses I would come." So I built my living room with that in mind. And now we get to have them visit, and we are proud to be bringing such great, and mostly unheard of music to our area. And it's a very cool participation in our community.
    We also had an issue with our planning board. We use a TOWNFOLK email list to promote our shows. One of the members of the board read the invitation, and thought we were having concerts with loud music, and serving food. Once we explained what a house concert is, they realized, and actually voted that it's nothing to be concerned with. As a result my wife is on the board, and the publicity was great.
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    Cindy Cindy Apr 10, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
    In response to Steve McClintock's cd sales question: I usually handle all the donation money and sales for our artists, so that they're free to mingle or whatever. I'm a bit anal, so I make a chart before the show listing the titles of all the cd's for sale and as I sell one, I make a check beside that title. I don't think we've ever had an artist adjust the price based on the crowd but others may know of such instances.
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    David Glaser David Glaser Apr 10, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
    Go see somebody you've never heard before at least a few times a year - you will be surprised at how many great new artists you'll discover, as well as relationships to artists you already knew about! This activity helps to support the lesser known Artists who are SO good but also unknown!
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    Lois and Greg Lois and Greg Apr 10, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
    We have a homeowner's association and used to send postcards to all the residents (there are only 60 residences). We had requested permission to hold concerts and were told it was ok. Apparently one of the invitees (probably a board member) had "an issue" and we were told to "cease and desist". So we did (sort of). We stopped inviting the neighbors (our immediate neighbors have no problem with it) and starting hosting "parties" with birthday balloons outside, etc. Problem solved!

    Greg (sort of) plays guitar (I don't)

    We started doing this because (1) we used to attend house concerts and the couple retired and (2) almost simultaneously we moved and had the room to do it and (3) Rod Picott urged us to give it a try. You'll see Rod in the picture at the top of this survey - that was our first show!!!

    Our main wish is that we could draw bigger crowds - we could handle 30 - but we live in a pretty rural area and it's hard to muster a big crowd unless it's a "big" name artist.
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    Jay Toups Jay Toups Apr 9, 2008 @ 10:19 am
    "Do you respond to all artist inquiries or just those of interest?"
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    Richard Richard Apr 8, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
    Fran,
    I'm glad that the FARWest List posted this link. Found the survey interesting and any many areas it told me to quit beating myself up about things I think I can change. The survey says we're pretty normal with the issues we have.
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    Dave Marutiak Dave Marutiak Apr 8, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
    Wonder what kind of coin most people pay artists or what they get from donations, etc.

    Good survey, thanks.
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    Bill Isles Bill Isles Apr 8, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
    Fran, this is a wonderful resource. I've passed it on to some of the people we know who have presented us and are thinking of bringing in some of our recommendations. They're getting the "bug"!!
    Bill
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    Steven McClintock Steven McClintock Apr 8, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
    CD sales and such. Who is to sell them for the artist? AND should the artist set the price based on the crowd or always be the same no matter where they play?
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    Cindy Cindy Apr 8, 2008 @ 10:54 am
    The church a few doors up the street very kindly allows us to park there. I liked the survey - very insightful!
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    Dana Dana Apr 8, 2008 @ 10:29 am
    Very cool! Thanks!!
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    caroline aiken caroline aiken Apr 8, 2008 @ 10:05 am
    great survey, Fran! You are doing an important service for our music community! The answers are interesting, and revealing.
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    Gary Gary Apr 8, 2008 @ 8:27 am
    On a bunch of the questions, my answers fall between the cracks among the choices. My concerts are roughly evenly split among Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Sun. Once in a while folks bring beer and/or wine, which I neither encourage nor discourage. I supply about half of the food and guests bring the rest - usually desserts/snacks but sometimes more substantial fare. For most acts, there's no difference between "one or two guest rooms" and "plenty of room". My concerts are about evenly split among Celtic, Traditional/Folk, and Singer/Songwriter. I have collected money in advance with good results, but it's a ton of work and I can't do it anymore as part of an agreement with the Building Inspector. Is that good or weak results - I don't know?
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    Gene Gene Apr 8, 2008 @ 8:21 am
    How do you deal with artists who show up with infants and dogs in tow, and no sitters?
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    AE AE Apr 8, 2008 @ 6:54 am
    Normally half the gate is taken in advance. Regulars, who advise me if they're NOT coming can always pay at the door.
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    JoLynn Braswell JoLynn Braswell Apr 8, 2008 @ 5:30 am
    I would love to see the issue of gathering regular volunteers addressed here. I'm new to this and my basic needs are in the areas of computer skills, distribution of fliers & posters around town, photography, and lugging around heavy (for me) equipment, and someone to man the CD table. How do others manage?

    Thanks, Fran, for this wonderful resource!
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    Robert Hurley Robert Hurley Apr 7, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
    Fran, Please continue your good work for house concerts. It is very interesting and helpful.
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    Nich Anderson Nich Anderson Apr 7, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
    In the "do you play an instrument" question, I put yes though my "instrument" is voice. You so don't want to hear my piano "skills".
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    Howard Katz Howard Katz Apr 7, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
    How do you get publicity without spending a ton on advertising?
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    Anna N. Bolla Anna N. Bolla Apr 7, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
    Cool survey!
    We'd love to know how to better deal with folks who RSVP & then either don't show or back out at the last minute. Does anyone out there collect $ in advance?
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    Susie Susie Apr 7, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
    Not everyone has a spouse :-)
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    Meg Meg Apr 7, 2008 @ 6:15 pm
    Interesting...
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    Craig Carrick Craig Carrick Apr 7, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
    CINY has been a cool thing to find artists and some of the info shared from other hosts is really helpful. I think the survey was really cool, and it let me know how we stacked up to other hosts. Thanks Fran, we dig what you do!
  • Reply
    Russ Russ Apr 7, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
    I'd like to know "How did you get started hosting House Concerts?", but that may be difficult to put into this form. I'm not sure what the 3-5 categories would be...

    ALSO, just thought of another one. "How often do you attend House Concerts OTHER THAN YOUR OWN?" We try to get to at least one or two each month in addition to our own.
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    Grant Hogarth Grant Hogarth Apr 7, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
    What's the smallest audience you've had?
    Why do you keep doing it?
    What's the worst experience you've had?
    What's the best experience you've had?
    Has your donation pricepoint changed
    (& If so, when/how much?)
    What do you offer besides a performance space
    Do you have outside help for setup/teardown?
    Do you have a newsletter?
    Have you won any awards?
    Who would you most like to have as a performer?
  • Reply
    Cindy Buck Cindy Buck Apr 7, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
    Good job on the survey!
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    paul rennix paul rennix Apr 7, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
    how many people have had to deal with local zoning or HOA over HCs.
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    Fred Munroe Fred Munroe Apr 7, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
    I would love to know how other people handle parking and dealing with the folks who live near by.
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    Bill Doucet Bill Doucet Apr 7, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
    thanks for the survey - interested in the results. take a look at our site at http://www.57.ca - and if you're ever talking to John Prine send him my way :)
  • Reply
    Deborah Deborah Apr 7, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
    I'd like to know the average number of "regular" attendees concert promoters have. The ones you can count on to show up each show no matter what!

House Concert Fast Facts See more at House Concert Fast Facts

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House Concert Fast Facts

How do house concert hosts find acts? How many will do shows on weeknights? Who offers guarantees? This survey should help us get a good picture of the most common (and least common) practices of house concert hosts. It's a... (more)

Contents at a Glance

  1. Politics and House Concerts
  2. FREQUENCY
  3. DAY OF WEEK
  4. BLOCK BOOKING
  5. Randall Williams at a house concert...
  6. GENRE(S)
  7. MUST SEE LIVE BEFORE BOOKING?
  8. OPENING ACTS
  9. Fran and Ringo discuss the setlist...
  10. FINDING ACTS
  11. 500 artists who enjoy house concerts.
  12. CONTRACTS/AGENTS
  13. GUARANTEES
  14. SUGGESTED DONATION
  15. IS THE MONEY SPLIT?
  16. If you're shy about promoting...
  17. HOW DO YOU COLLECT DONATIONS?
  18. FOOD
  19. DRINKS
  20. DRINKS - BYOB
  21. houseconcerthost.com
  22. SEATING
  23. EXPENSES
  24. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ARTIST
  25. Memphis House Concerts
  26. INDOOR/OUTDOOR
  27. PLUGGED OR UNPLUGGED
  28. WEBSITE
  29. MAILING LIST
  30. ATTENDANCE
  31. KIDS under 14
  32. This is not for everybody... just the little people.
  33. BIGGEST SHOW
  34. PARKING
  35. LIGHTING
  36. Ringo testing the spotlight. "It works, now turn it off."
  37. PROMOTIONAL EXTRAS
  38. House Concert Videos
  39. CONCERTSINYOURHOME.COM
  40. HOA - Local Ordinances?
  41. WHAT WOULD HELP YOU THE MOST?
  42. IS YOUR SPOUSE "ON BOARD?"
  43. Really Nice Stuff
  44. AGE
  45. CHING$
  46. You're almost done... 8^)
  47. MUSICALLY ACTIVE?
  48. RESULTS
  49. NEW QUESTIONS
  50. House Concerts On YouTube
  51. HOW DJA START?
  52. SHARE THE LOVE AND ATTENDANCE
  53. Find House Concerts in Your State or Province
  54. COLLECTING IN ADVANCE
  55. NO SHOWS
  56. NON-PAYING GUESTS
  57. VOLUNTEERS
  58. Really Nice Stuff
  59. PUBLIC PROMOTION
  60. Interesting Promotion?
  61. MOST IMPORTANT VOLUNTEER NEEDED
  62. SECOND MOST IMPORTANT VOLUNTEER NEEDED
  63. House Concert Host Resources
  64. What did we forget to ask?
  65. PRESIDENT
  66. Ringo for President
  67. Thanks for being a part of this community.
  68. How Much Do Artists Make?
  69. None
  70. Intro to House Concerts