"House concert? What's a house concert?"That's what I said when my friend Kelli told us that she was going to try to do house concerts. Like many other people, I had never heard of the "house concert movement."
My partner, Bill, and I both share Kelli's passion for singer-songwriters. We first met when Kelli was seeking traveling companions to drive to a Lucy Kaplansky and Jennifer Kimball concert in Indiana and have since attended many other shows together. Since none of the local folk venues in Chicago were booking Jennifer, Kelli decided to take matters in her own hands and bring Jennifer to her apartment to perform.
After doing some research (and apparently getting a lot of great information from houseconcerts.org, Kelli decided to bite the bullet and booked Jennifer. Our contribution to the effort was spreading the word among our friends to fill the house, bringing some food to share, and bringing chairs to sit in during the show.
I arrived wondering what it would be like to hear a folk artist in someone's living room as architects clearly don't consider performance acoustics when designing apartments. My worries were for naught.
The living room/dining room space was set up with rows of mismatched chairs. The dining table had been shoved against a wall and was rapidly filling up with delicious-looking snacks and desserts, while the kitchen became the drink station. After setting out a rug, camp chairs and the floor pillow we brought along --while Bill lit candles in the living room -- and getting a chocolate fix, we grabbed beverages and sat down for the show.
Listening to live music in someone's home has always been a treat (such as hearing a friend play piano or sing a song) but experiencing a whole concert turned out to a very special joy! I already loved Jennifer's music, but hearing it in such an intimate environment somehow made it even more personal. Something about a house concert seems to allow artists to let down their guard and become very connected with the audience. In fact, every house concert in this series featured performers who seemed to relish sharing their music with an audience that was there just to really listen to and appreciate their work.
Kelli plans her concerts so that performers play for about 45 minutes and then take a break before doing a second set. During this time, the audience descends on the food table and chats with each other and with the artist. Intermission feels like an instant party and the stereo is playing music from the next artist Kelli has booked for Get In The House.
As these are folk artists, there is often a sing-along segment. Bill will tell you that my singing voice is not my best attribute, but it seems to blend well enough in group singing -- the artists have complimented our audiences as some folks do a bit of harmony! The music is almost always punctuated with some stories about the songs, about the songwriter's inspirations, or about other songwriters. One primary difference from hearing music at a house concert than at a club is the silent attention that the audience pays to the artist. There may be an occasional comment to a companion when someone's favorite song is beginning, but usually everyone is completely focused on the music. This allows the audience to get swept away to where the song wants to take them and provides an intensity to the music that it is harder to find in club performances.
After the second set, my partner and I help Kelli clean up the place and usually enjoy getting to talk to the artist a bit more. These conversations have often been a highlight of the evening as we hear more about what their lives are like between performances, what other songwriters they recommend or that inspire them, traveling stories (sometimes including venues from hell stories), and about upcoming plans for recording music. We also get to know a bit more about them as people -- their sense of humor, sometimes their politics, and sometimes their families.
The evening always draws to a close much too quickly. We pack up our chairs and rug and head for home invigorated by a night of great music and excellent company.
To anyone who doubts that such an informal venue could be the site of a terrific concert, I invite them to try a house concert. I am convinced their misgivings will be put to rest.
Dave Barnett
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