Brobdingnagian Bard House Concerts
Thank you for considering hosting a house concert for the Brobdingnagian
Bards. As I understand it, it is not too difficult to do. It requires a bit of initiative and a desire to enjoy fine music in your home. We hope we can provide
that to you.
We will try to make the house concert as easy on you as possible by
1. Providing you with a list of people you can contact to notify the public of the
proposed concert.
2. Informing our mailing list of the show.
3. Sending you promotional material to distribute like flyers, business cards,
CDs for the local media, and, of course, a CD for you to play for your friends
and to remember the occasion.
For us, a house concert is the ideal way for us to play for our fans throughout
the Southwest. Many venues, particularly Faires, will barely cover the cost of
touring acts. Thus, it makes it very impractical to play outside of 50 mile radius
since we many times we may not even make enough to cover our expenses. A
house concert bypasses this by charging a cover charge. With a cover, of say
$8, we can play for a score of people and make a small income that will cover
our travelling expenses and make a marginal profit.
Above all, we want this to be an experience you remember and tell all your
friends about.
In the upcoming pages, you will find all of the Ins and Outs of running your own
house concert. It’s aimed at setting up a series. And if you enjoy it, go for it. I’ll
even help find you some other acts to perform at your house concert.
Good reading, and please give us a call to set up a date as soon as possible.
Marc Gunn
To start booking today, contact Richard McKee
Ph 281.261.7302 | Fax 281.261.6534
3210 Greenridge Dr
Missouri City, TX 77459
EMAIL: [email protected]
Yes, you CAN put on a house concert!
Exerpt from http://ifolk.org/hc/houseconcerts-02.html
Putting on a house concert is like giving a good party - “plus.” But the “plus”
parts are pretty straightforward, and this Guide will give you a blueprint to
follow. It is a very good idea to attend some house concerts before starting
your own series, although some presenters just jumped in and are doing fine I’m actually one of them, although I had a lot of contacts from other folk community work.
The parts of a house concert
What does a house concert really need? It boils down to this:
· A place to play
· Performers to play there
· People to come listen
That’s really it. Let’s look at each part in detail. Then we’ll run through a
timeline.
A place to play
Choosing your performance room is an important step. Presenters have come
up with ingenious solutions over the years - everything from driveways to haylofts to the master bedroom! But as you look at your house (barn, etc) and
make your choices, think about the basics.
· The performers will need a stage area of some kind - maybe just a throw rug,
maybe something more elaborate. They’ll need to get to and from the stage
without bodily injury. When they’re “on stage,” they’ll need to be seen and
heard by your audience.
· The audience will need seats of some kind, from which they can (again) see
and hear the performers. They need to be able to get to and from those seats,
not just at the beginning and end of the show but (to some extent) during, in
case someone has a bladder attack or gets beeped by the Pentagon in midshow.
· Everyone - performers and audience alike - will need to be comfortable during the show in terms of temperature, glare, noise, smell, etc. And everyone
needs to be able to get to the room itself, from the entryway of the house or
yard, without risking life or limb.
As a practical matter this means paying attention to G-L-A-D, which we’ll cover
in detail:
· Getting around
· Lighting and sightlines
· Acoustics
· Disturbances nearby
Getting around - this basically means making sure people can reach your
room and move around in it. You might have the perfect attic to play in, but
you can’t expect people to crawl up a spiral ladder to get to it. You might be
able to cram 40 chairs into your den, but without aisles for the performers to
get to and from the stage, and for listeners to get to and from their seats, it will
be unworkable. The fewer staircases and twisty little hallways you make people
traverse from the entryway to the “snack room” to the performance room, the
better.
Ideally, you would like the audience to enter towards the back of the room
(away from where you put the stage) so guests won’t cross in front of the performance once it’s underway. At least one aisle on the side or center would then
lead them into the seats. The performers can enter either the same way as the
audience (with enough room to bring their guitars to and from the stage) or
somewhere up front.
[ Note: If you work out a particularly delicate solution to this problem that still
lets you put 40 chairs in the room, you might want to draw a little layout of how
it’s supposed to be set up, and keep that handy (in a house notebook) for the
day when two brand-new volunteers are setting everything up. ]
Lighting and sightlines are perhaps the most-overlooked considerations in
house concerts I’ve attended. When we live in our homes we pass from room to
room and the lighting is often dim and haphazard. But when we are at a concert, focusing all our attention on a Susan McKeown or Ellis Paul or Karen
Almquist twenty feet away in someone’s living room, and they are backlit into
harsh silhouettes by sun-glare bouncing off the neighbor’s Chevy, or buried in
murky gloom even though the sofa to their left is brilliantly lit, or blocked by
sea of hair and shoulders, it tends to detract from the experience. Good lighting
can be simple to do, and unobtrusive to the audience - it makes the whole show
more enjoyable without the listeners ever quite noticing why. Good sightlines
aren’t always as easy, but at least you can do your best.
Three simple rules for house concert lighting:
· Highlight the performers
· Dim (but don’t black out) the background
· Dim (but don’t black out) the audience (“house”).
Highlighting the performers is the biggest key. You don’t want harsh glare, but
gentle (and, if possible, tinted) illumination that flatters their skin tones while
letting the audience see what their faces and hands are doing.
I bought a pair of clamp lamps for $2 each from the local hardware store. Instead of conventional frosted white bulbs, I use standard base mini-spot bulbs
that don’t get too hot. With black PVC tape I cover each clamp lamp with an
orange or blue “gel” - my only “theatrical supply” expense, but one that you
can order at any lighting or party store or over the Internet, or ask your high
school/college drama department to donate a couple of squares. (Don’t use
cellophane, it’ll melt, real gels are made to take the heat.) After the first season
I went to Home Depot and got a couple of in-line lamp dimmers, $5 each, and
installed them on the clamp lamp power cords. This lets me “tune” the lights for
day or night shows. Before each show I “focus” the lamps on the stage area,
then ask a friend to stand on stage while I adjust the dimmers. Then I just plug
them in at showtime.
I mount the lights high and wide, well above the performers’ sightline to the
audience, at about a 90 degree angle from each other. (Stand on stage facing
the house, hold your arms out in a wide V, tilt them upwards, and see where
they end up pointing.) My rooms happen to have beams and stuff that I can
clamp to; in a plaster ceilinged living room I would probably use a tension rod
(from Sears curtain supply) mounted vertically along the side walls, unless
bookcases or fixtures were nearby at the right height. The final effect - gentle
orange light from one side, cool blue from the other - is awesome... except
when I have a straggling line of three or four performers all over the stage, or a
musician who likes to wander into the audience, but you can’t control everything.
Dimming the background helps you highlight the performers more easily, while
minimizing distractions. (For a while I had a big wicker flower holder hanging
on the wall right behind the performers in the rustic barn room at Grassy Hill.
One day I watched a show and found my eyes wandering to the wicker thing.
After that concert I hung it somewhere else. You don’t want to upstage the
musicians.) Just kill any extra lights (or windows) behind the stage. Dimming
the house is done for the same reason. The reason you usually don’t want to
totally black out the house and the stage backdrop is that it kills the “house
concert” ambience. As you look around, it should still look like a room at home.
It’s just that the brightest things in it are the performers.
Acoustics is more of an art than a science, but in a house concert you really
only have to watch out for a few things. The basics: sound comes from the
performers, radiates outward in all directions (or at least not all straight towards the audience’s ears), bounces around or is absorbed or whatever, and
finally gets heard by your listeners. The more of the original sound that you can
salvage and throw the audience’s way, the louder and fuller what they hear will
be. Since sound reflects off of flat surfaces and more or less dies on rough
complicated ones (or in empty space), you can guess what will happen in various configurations.
· Performing outside “in the middle of the yard” is practically impossible in a
pure acoustic setting. Most of the sound flies away into the blue, and all the
surrounding noise pours in to compete. This is why doing a house concert indoors is best unless you have a bandshell or a sound system (and no angry
neighbors to complain about it).
· In the middle of a big room with empty space behind - almost as bad unless
the room is quite cozy. Sound flies away then bounces (delayed) off the far
walls.
· At one end of the room but smack in front of an open door or hallway - same
problem.
· At one end of the room but surrounded by curtains or paperback bookcases nearly as bad.
So what would be totally ideal? Think about classical recital halls.
· Performing in front of an end wall of the room
· Not plastered against the wall, but a little distance away
· Wood (not glass, metal or plastic) surfaces nearby
· Any reflective surfaces angled towards the audience if possible.
We are lucky enough at Grassy Hill to have basically a couple of wooden rooms
(it’s an old farmhouse). I throw a rug on the floor near one wall and we’re set.
Even so, in the “long” room (which I only use when there are too many listeners for the smaller barn room), it can be a bit hard to hear in back unless
there’s a sound system. That’s life.
If you’re trying to choose, throw some chairs in a room, have someone stand
where you’re thinking the stage might go, sing the Star Spangled Banner, and
see how it sounds. Or put a boom box up there, not too loud, playing guitar/
voice songs, and walk around the room listening.
Disturbances refers to sights, sounds, smells etc that might drift in from
nearby during a show and mess it up. Some (like swooshing cars on the road
outside the window) you can avoid by the right choice of room, while others
(the cappuccino maker, the phone, kids running around, a TV set) need rules/
adjustments if you’re going to neutralize the threat. Close certain doors, turn
off the entertainment console, switch off the kitchen phone ringer, etc - these
would all go in your checklist (see later) for day of show. If some disturbances
can’t be prevented - a heavily used phone or late arrivals through the back
door, for instance - be prepared to station yourself or a helper to intercept
them when they hit.
Other things to think about:
· A clock in the room, where the performer can see it. I went out and got one
of those big $3.99 wall clocks from Staples. This helps avoid acts running
“long”!
· Adequate chairs. Your kitchen and dining room chairs may be fine, but
overstuffed chairs and sofas are a very inefficient use of space, so watch out.
When our audience first started to grow, I rented chairs from our nearest party
store at 75 cents per chair, but after a few shows I went to them and said
“Would you like to sell me some used chairs?” and they did, for $3 apiece,
which paid for itself the first season - and best of all, I no longer had to schedule pickup and drop-off!
Note: you may want to put some comfy cushions all the way up front, for kids
and laid-back adults to sit on - it helps the sightlines and lets you squeeze a
few more people in. But don’t crowd the stage - and don’t set up too many
empties before you’re sure how big your attendance is! Nothing looks more
dismal than twelve people sitting in thirty chairs.
· Someplace to put mailing lists and merchandise. The “merch,” in particular, should be within your sight during the show, or else easy to put out of
harm’s way and take out again during intermission. You may prefer to pass
around the mailing lists. I got one of those cheap pens on a chain and stuck it
onto a legal size clipboard, and that’ s where my mailing list lives.
· Refreshment area - I’m assuming you know how to put on a coffee and
cupcake get-together. Definitely get disposable supplies like cups, plates,
napkins etc - if you use your personal utensils and crockery, they will break.
Buy stuff in bulk from your local Costco or party warehouse, because you’ll run
through it.
· Parking - you probably have enough room, but if you’re in Pacific Heights or
Park Slope or someplace else where parking is at a premium, make sure your
directions include the location of the nearest garage! In the suburbs, decide
whether you want to use the lawn, the road, or whatever, and let your guests
know. Since your performers will (hopefully) arrive early, make sure you don’t
block in anyone who needs to leave before the others.
· Setup and cleanup - the first few times you do this all by yourself, you’ll be
so euphoric at your successful show you won’t care, but eventually you’ll start
to hate it. So try to get some help - including asking listeners to pick up after
themselves when they leave. Make sure there are trashcans or wastebaskets
handy.
· Accommodations - If the performer has indicated they’d like to use the
guestroom, make sure you have one and that it’s clean and suitable. Ditto for
dinner afterwards or other hospitality. Try to make it clear (at least by the
morning of the show) what hospitality you will be providing. Never force hos-
pitality on a performer! One of the horror stories you most often hear is
when Such-and-so played this house concert after 23 days on the road, all they
wanted was to get to the motel and kick back and watch CNN, but the hosts
practically blocked the doorway and made them stay and eat yucko food in a
messy house with squalling kids while they peppered them with dumb questions, etc. A house concert is not a petting zoo for folk performers. Offer what
you can, have alternatives ready, and accept the musicians’ decision with a
smile.
Getting performers to play at your concert
Booking your shows is one of the most fun and interesting parts of presenting
house concerts. When you get going regularly, you will get a chance to juggle
schedules, evaluate talent, negotiate with players and their representatives,
and - most rewardingly - express your own musical tastes in the way you “build
a show” or a series.
Each show needs at least one performer, but from there on it’s entirely up to
you. You might have a 4-person song swap, a “micless open mic,” a single solo
artist, a two-performer co-bill, a traditional “opener” and “headliner,” or variations on these; and you might change this from one show to the next. At
Grassy Hill I have done most of these with great results.
Who will play at your show? You’d be surprised! Many well-known folk and
acoustic performers enjoy playing house concerts, and lots of others are curious
to try it. And of course, local and beginning performers will be delighted to have
the exposure (although they may draw fewer guests at first - or maybe more!).
A good rule of thumb: if someone is still playing coffeehouses, and not selling
out 600 seat halls, you can probably “get” them, if you route properly (we’ll
come to that). When in doubt, ask! (We’ll come to that part too.)
Your mission, Jim...
This is also where your own aesthetic vision (or other mission) comes into the
picture. You may love Celtic traditional music and want to bring more of it to
your town. You may be trying to develop what you think is a promising local
music scene by showcasing hometown performers. You may want to help raise
funds for a kidney dialysis machine for the local senior center. There are lots of
legitimate missions for a series, and your booking will reflect yours. (Grassy
Hill, for example, is focused on strong songwriting, and that has a very big
effect on decisions.)
Use the Net
Unless you are already booking another club or coffeehouse and have a Rolodex
full of performer and agent names, or you work in the music business in some
other capacity - if you want the best selection of talent for your house concert
series, now is the time to get on the Internet if you aren’t already. The Net
offers bountiful resources and a great communications channel for managing
your series and attracting listeners. You can sign up through your phone company, AOL, IBM, or any number of other services. (There are separate guides
available for this - ask your nearest musical Net-head for some pointers.)
Choose a schedule
Before you can map out a performer roster, or do much of anything else, you
need to decide when to run so you know what dates you can offer. You will get
some ideas about what works when and if you attend other house concerts in
your area, but basically these are the options:
· Weekend vs. weekday
· Daytime vs. nighttime
Your choice will depend on location, season and mission - and you may need to
try different schedules (just don’t change too often).
Competition
If your local “market” includes one or more successful folk clubs or coffeehouses within half an hour’s drive, it will usually be smarter not to compete
for audience with them by scheduling your shows on the same day they run. So
if the ABC Coffeehouse is 15 miles down the road and has shows every other
Friday night, you should pick Thursday or Saturday unless you can guarantee to
run on their “off week.” If you have several venues nearby that pretty much
“cover the bases” on Friday and Saturday nights, you will want to look at Sunday or Thursday.
If you are in a rich enough area that there’s local music four or five nights per
week, you will have to compete, but don’t be discouraged -you will find a spot
to fit in, often by featuring local or beginning performers that your established
coffeehouse “neighbors” don’t have room for.
Routing
If you live within 150-200 miles of an acoustic venue that has 150 or more
seats, you should consider arranging your schedule so that performers can
“route” through the region, playing first the big club and then yours the next
day. This lets you track, say, the bookings for a club in Minneapolis, and then
contact the performer/agent who has a Saturday night date there, and say
“Look, you’re going to be in Minneapolis, we’re two hours’ drive away, how
about adding a Sunday afternoon house concert to your itinerary...” The farther
out you live, the better an idea this is. There are a number of small venues in
Alaska that wouldn’t get artists of the same caliber if they were in Massachusetts, but once performers have paid for the plane ticket, they want to perform
as much as possible before returning.
Frequency - and burnout
You may be tempted to do a show every week, especially after the first one or
two go well, you get lots of performer interest, audiences are signing your mailing list, etc. Beware! It’s easy to bite off more than you can chew, and once you
start falling behind schedule and resenting the chore of endless shows, it’s a
short step to quitting. Burnout is the primary reason house concert series
are lost. So do yourself a favor and start slow, until you’re sure how much time
you really have to sustainably give to house concerts. Every four to six
weeks is a good start. If you get volunteer help and genuinely enjoy the
“cycle,” you can ramp up to every three or two weeks later on. At Grassy Hill,
we’ve settled on approximately five weeks, with allowances for event conflicts
and holidays. With less career insanity, we would probably go every four weeks.
(Later we’ll discuss ways that a series can run more often - without burning
you out!)
Scouting
Part of being a good presenter is being a listener or scout for new and interesting talent. When you announce to people that you’re starting a series (especially on the Net) you’ll get tapes and CDs in the mail and at shows. But you
should be prepared to do your own research by going out to hear people who
perform in your area - especially local talent that may not be adept at publicity yet. Bring a notebook and make notes either during or after the show,
because six months later when you have an opening, it may be hard to remember names and songs.
Listen to local folk radio if you have any, not only as a way to hear new music,
but also to familiarize yourself with local DJ’s, something about their tastes and about other concerts in the area, if they announce them. (You’ll probably
want them to announce yours too!)
Check with local music and record stores for names of local talent, as well as
new names on the folk CD racks or in the pages of Performing Songwriter,
Acoustic Musician, Dirty Linen, Sing Out! and similar magazines.
Putting booking all together
All right, let’s say you have decided on a schedule: you’ll run on Sunday afternoons once a month, with August off. You want to focus on red-hot guitar playing, and also do some local “scene building.” What’s next? Make a list! You
already know who your favorite guitar players are - write em down. Some may
be available soon, some later, some never. You may or may not know who all
the likely local talent are yet - list those you do know, and add new names as
you scout them.
If you have any performer friends, your first show might be a good time to
ask them to do you a favor and play. That way if you make a few rookie mistakes, you won’t have to worry about alienating the talent! And the anchor
date can help get your series off the ground with a good crop of new listeners.
At Grassy Hill we were honored to have Bob Franke at our inaugural show, and
we’ll always be grateful.
If you have a few candidate names, consult the Internet (at your local library
if necessary) to get contact information and their current tour schedules. Start
at http://folkmusic.org/http://folkmusic.org and select “Find...” to search for Web
resources and Musi-Cal tour data all in one place. You should be able to pull up
agent info (if any) and a tour schedule giving you some idea of when they’ll
be in your area. If you’re in Texas and it says they’re touring Ohio and Pennsylvania that month, you’ll probably need to wait until later. If they’re not too far
away (or if you don’t see anything listed), contact the agent or the performer
if there is no agent listed.
Agents, managers, performers and contracts
There is some confusion (and some disagreement among presenters who do
understand the issues) about the roles of agents, managers, and performers,
and the appropriateness of doing a performance contract when you book a
show. We can lay out the basics.
· The performer - you got that covered.
· The manager handles the administrative details and usually the business
decisions of the performer’s career, leaving the performer free to write, sing
and play.
· The agent has just one job - to book a performer into live appearances.
Agents submit proposed bookings to the manager (or performer) for approval.
Sometimes one person is both manager and agent.
Agents (and especially larger agencies, like Fleming/Tamulevich or Drake &
Associates) usually have standard contracts that bind the performer and the
venue (that’s you) to do business with each other, and lay out the financial and
performance requirements. There may be a guarantee of a certain minimum
dollar amount, which you’re liable to pay whether enough people show up or
not. There will often be a tech rider (a separate sheet stapled to the standard
contract) spelling out stuff you must provide for the artist’s performance or
offstage comfort. Tech riders may include things like:
· A stool or chair onstage - usually they just put their water on it!
· Suitable accommodations at (or just directions to) the nearest decent motel
· A plate of fresh fruits and vegetables before the show
· Bottled spring water
· A quiet and secure dressing room
· A bowl of M&M’s with all the red ones removed (this was a famous feature
from a rock band’s rider)
· Prominent billing in all advertising, and/or approval over any openers (see
below).
In some cases you can just cross out inapplicable items in the rider (like the
usual “suitable sound system” clause if yours is an all-acoustic show) when you
return the signed contract, but you should mention what you’re crossing out to
the agent first.
Riders aren’t always deadly serious. One well-known folk performer’s contract
had the following clause: “At the conclusion of each performance, X will receive
one (1) fresh Cuban cigar and one (1) glass of vintage single malt Scotch.” It so
happened that I had a friend at work who likes his Macanudos and owed me a
favor, and there was a wee bottle of the Macallan 18 in our pantry... you should
have seen X’s face when I produced them after his show! It was the first time a
presenter had ever come through! I might add the show was worth it.
Should you bother with a contract?
Opinions definitely vary here. Ideally a contract protects both parties, but some
people don’t want the hassle and I find it hard to blame them. At this point with
Grassy Hill, we do it this way: if it’s a relative stranger playing, and his or her
agent normally does contracts, we do one. If it’s a smaller act that doesn’t do
contracts as a matter of course, we sure don’t go out of our way to add paperwork. If it’s a friend, we play it by ear.
But we always consult the agent (if any) - contract or no contract. The surest
recipe for disaster is approach a represented performer directly and “book” a
gig on a handshake, without notifying the agent. The agent won’t know not to
double book that date! Sure, it’ll be submitted for approval, but the performer
may or may not remember that it conflicts with your house concert. At that
point you’ll have XYZ Coffeehouse with a signed contract - and you with your
handshake. Guess who wins?
Openers and split bills
In order to build your audience (and enjoy as much music as possible), you
may wish to have more than one performer at a show. There are two common
models: opener/headliner, and split bill or co-bill. I love making interesting
combinations this way. There are just a few rules to follow.
In the opener/headliner approach, you usually book your primary act (“headliner”) first, and they get most (or all) of the gate receipts. Then you find a
“suitable” opener, meaning they aren’t embarrassingly inferior to the headliner,
and hopefully musically compatible in some way, without being a clone. You
invite the opener and if they’re interested, you (ideally) ask the headliner if it’s
OK. If everyone involved trusts your musical judgment, often you’ll just “notify”
the headliner shortly before date of show. (But they should never show up and
be surprised to find an opener - that’s rude.)
The opener goes on first, usually for a 20-30 minute set. Then, with or without
an intermission, the headliner follows, and usually plays either “2 x 45” or a
single 70-75 minute set... unless they really want to play longer, which does
happen. (But make sure your audience won’t get restive if a band wants to do
100 minutes... whether it’s long or short, always agree on a set time and stick
to it - don’t leave it open-ended, unless you’re just putting on an afternoon
lawn party where people can come and go.)
The opener usually gets paid either a flat fee (often $25 to $50, rarely much
more at a small venue), or a small percentage of the gate. The headliner gets
the rest.
The show is always advertised using the headliner’s name first and more
prominently (if there are different type sizes). “With special guest XYZ” is a
frequent formula for mentioning the opener’s name afterwards.
Co-bills (a/k/a split bills) work differently: the acts booked are presumed to be
(nearly) equal in stature. Usually they both (all) agree to appear together. Usually they split the gate equally or nearly equally. (Sometimes they will decide on
the split themselves.) They may present themselves to you as a package. They
may assist each other during their sets. Or they may be booked independently
by you, to assure a good draw, and as long as they agree, the rest is under
your control. Co-bill advertising usually features the names equally as much as
possible. You usually don’t say “special guest,” you just list the performers or
separate with “and”.
How much to charge?
Here again, opinions (or it would be fairer to say market conditions) vary
greatly. Some folks charge very little, like $5, while others charge $15 or even
$20 or more. There are varying schools of thought. One mantra is “Less than a
movie!” (which sounds neat... but where I live, afternoon movies are $3.50 a
ticket. I can’t charge $3!) Another dictum says, “if you charge more they will
value it more” and there seems to be some truth to that one. I would say that
the median is somewhere around eight to ten dollars per person. At Grassy
Hill we have experimented with our fairly affluent market, and ended up with
“$12 or more.” The “or more” gives particularly impressed (nay, blown away)
listeners an excuse to just hand you $30 for a couple and say “keep it.”
And we always refer to it as a donation to the performers, never as a “ticket
price.” This is a private party, really, and you don’t want to be in the position of
“selling” anything as a business, if you can avoid it. Maybe it’s a fig leaf, but it
also encourages extra generosity as I mentioned, so it’s a good fig leaf.
When (and how) to collect? At a coffeehouse you would have a cash box, a
ticket taker, tickets, and all that stuff. When I started out I got a roll of tickets
and a cash box, but I never use them any more - maybe when I start a petting
zoo they’ll come in handy. Instead, I collect (into an envelope, helps to avoid
fumble fingers) during the first intermission, just by walking around, or usually
people make a beeline for me. What I find is that people are more generous
after they’ve had a sampler of what this folk music stuff is all about. In theory
someone could come, hear the opener, and skip out, but in practice it doesn’t
happen.
Getting an audience to hear the music
They say that folk is the people’s music, and when you start presenting house
concerts, you’ll find this out for yourself firsthand. You live and work every day
with people who will surprise you by totally digging what a Sloan Wainwright or
Buddy Mondlock or Karen Pernick has to offer in an intimate house concert
space. When you start your series, don’t be shy - talk to your family, your coworkers, your neighbors, your acquaintances at church, tell them you’re starting something new that you think will be fun, and ask them to give it a try so
you can have a successful first show. Chances are many of them will be curious
enough to say yes. And half of those folks will like what they hear well enough
to give it another try - by which time you’re doing your other promotion activities - and encouraging happy listeners to spread the word and bring friends
next time - so your audience is on its way.
Reservations
You should always get guest reservations if possible. There are two reasons
for this.
· Knowing how many people are coming really helps when you budget supplies, volunteer help, and chairs.
· Not being considered a “public accommodation” significantly reduces the
potential hassle from zoning boards, fire marshals and insurance companies. The ability to state, truthfully, that everyone in your home is an invited
guest is a great advantage.
In practice, you may notice that your “regulars” may just start showing up
without calling. If you can do it without seeming like an ogre, it’s worth asking
them - as friends of the house - to call ahead of time. Of course you won’t turn
anyone away, unless they’re driving a red truck with a star on the side!
When you promote the show on the Net or on flyers or postcards, you can
just say “For an invitation and directions call 555-1234 or email
mailto:[email protected]î[email protected]”. Never give out the exact address in a
flyer or postcard or advertisement - that could tag you as a public accommodation, not to mention encouraging nuisance callers.
Building the audience
As we mentioned, an audience is something you build. Each house full of listeners represents more future listeners if you play your cards right. Here are
the key techniques:
· Mailing list - that clipboard with the chain pen attached - collecting both
snail mail address and email if they have it. Email is much cheaper than
postcards, and as your list grows the budget will become more important.
· A Web page or at least an email address - a place on the Net that people can
go to read or ask about your series. Put this address on everything you send
out or display - including at the bottom of the Mailing List signup sheet, as well
as postcards, flyers, newspaper notices, and press releases for radio. (See
below)
· Brochures, postcards, flyers - not only for posting on the bulletin board in
the local library, music store, church foyer, etc, but for handing out to guests
and asking them to post at their places of work or play. The more word of
mouth your audience does for you, the faster you’ll grow!
· Straight promotion to radio, newspapers, the Net etc - discussed separately
below.
Being a good host
As a house concert presenter you have two roles - party host and concert impresario. You want to give your guests the most entertaining and welcoming
experience possible. That means meeting and greeting as many people as possible (unless you’ve grown to houses of 200, in which case you may want to
work on horseback!). Enjoy the wonderful party you’ve made - but keep your
eye on the money, the merchandise, the coffee pot, and the clock!
Refreshments
As mentioned in the Introduction, refreshments can be simple or elaborate,
purchased from gate receipts, donated by guests as a pot luck, or whatever. If
you do a pot luck, don’t be afraid to ask for specific dishes for the sake of a
balanced meal. Beats finding eight tubs of cole slaw on the counter. At Grassy
Hill we normally just do a dessert/snack thing with soft drinks and coffee.
Be careful about alcohol - opinions vary, again, but there’s a fairly broad consensus that
· If you can get away without alcohol, you may as well
· Nothing stronger than beer/wine in any case
· BYOB is pretty much a bad idea.
PROMOTION
Saved the best for last! Advertising your show is usually essential to maintaining an audience. You don’t want to spend a lot of money, and you don’t want to
go too “public,” but you do want to make sure that potential audience members
who dig your kind of music know that it’s going on in the area. Basic areas for
publicity:
· Radio - you may already know the folks at the public or community radio
station in your town, but consult the area newspapers or look at the listings at
http://folkradio.org to find other stations in a 50-60 mile radius. (That may
seem far, but at least 1/3 of that station’s listeners are within striking distance
of your venue.) Don’t be shy - call the station, tell them you want to send them
an announcement about a concert or series, and ask who to send it to.
· Newspapers and magazines - Because you are a not for profit, your release
usually qualifies as a PSA (public service announcement) and your newspaper
will run it for free. Call or write (or email) and ask for the deadlines and word
limitations. Magazines include local (or state) arts titles, but also national
magazines like Dirty Linen - they will take your listing and a lot of people do
read them. (You can also submit to Dirty Linen via the Internet at http://http://
dirtylinen.com .)
· Local stores and clubs - if you make a brochure, postcard or poster, your
local music-friendly stores will probably be happy to post it somewhere. Try
guitar/instrument stores, record shops, bookstores, your local health clinic,
community college, etc. You are shooting for a “demographic” that is likely to
appreciate your shows.
· Internet - You want to make sure that anyone who is surfing the Net
to find local entertainment (or to find a performer’s dates) is able to
see your show. Places to submit series or show info include:
· Musi-Cal - http://musi-cal.com - always start here. Make sure you click
the “house concert” keyword when entering your dates.
· Tourdates.com - http://tourdates.com - another service.
· Pollstar - http://pollstar.com - traditionally this was a “big show” type of
service, but lately they claim to take any size of show, so what the heck.
· Sidewalk.com - http://sidewalk.com - this service focuses on a dozen
metropolitan areas. If you’re anywhere near any of them, it’s worth a shot
contacting them with series or show info.
· Dirty Linen - see Magazines above.
· Folkmusic.org - http://folkmusic.org/http://folkmusic.org - you don’t advertise
individual shows here, but there is a database of house concert series and
yours should be in it.
· Folk_music mailing list - see subscription info at Folkmusic.org’s web
page above. This widely read email bulletin board doesn’t normally take club
or coffeehouse schedules, but as part of the House Concert Initiative they
are encouraging house concert presenters to announce shows.
· Rec.music.folk (and similar groups) - this Usenet group (an older type of
Internet bulletin board) is also still widely read and has no restrictions on the
kinds of announcements you can post. If your Internet service provider
doesn’t offer a “Newsreader,” you can access rec.music.folk via DejaNews http://dejanews.com/http://dejanews.com .
· Word of mouth from show to show - your present happy listeners are your
best future ambassadors! Always announce your future schedule at an intermission break, and print it on your flyers when you know what it is. (Obviously this means it’s a good idea to be booked several shows in advance. If you
have a gap, just say “TBA.”) Make sure your guests know they are welcome to
spread the word and bring friends when they return, and give them some brochures, postcards or posters to take with them, as we mentioned earlier. If they
are on the Net, encourage them to post reviews of shows they liked. And last
but not least, invite them to Steal This Booklet if they’re interested in putting on
their own house concerts!
Performers
· Check with performer/agent about allergies, food preferences, housing, other
needs. Is a meal in the works? A bedroom? Where’s Motel 6?
· You can have an opener, or work out a split bill if you want. Openers should be
quality, can be local or new act, it’s up to you but headliner’s agent may want
approval. Split bill must be agreed to (some performers will suggest it themselves).
· Ask performers to arrive _ hour before audience for setup if possible.
· Agree on set times beforehand and put a clock in the room so that you and
the performer can see it. Signal “one more song” if they run over!
Checklist for your show
We’ll do this in chronological order. (Section still being written)
Six weeks or more before show
· Acts are booked! Preferably several shows ahead
· State magazines notified (eight weeks is better for them)
· Internet, Dirty Linen listings submitted
Four weeks before show
· Contract (if any) received from and returned to agent
· Postcards mailed
· Email announcements sent to listeners (you can do it earlier but be prepared
for a “reminder” at T minus 2-3 weeks if you do, because people forget)
Three weeks before show
· Local newspapers notified
· Posters made and posted in stores, churches, library, office
Two weeks before show
· Last minute opener adds/changes (if any) approved by headliner
· Local radio notified
One week before show
· Directions (including travel times from previous town) sent to all acts (again,
you can send them earlier, but they may be lost by day of show!)
· Supplies purchased if you are running low
2-3 days before show
· Verify everything’s OK with performers - good time to check on guestroom
and food questions (allergies, etc)
· Last minute reminders to local radio, Internet, friends and family if you still
have seats available
· Check all lights and other physical stuff in case you need to repair or replace
anything
Day before show
· Move unneeded furniture out of music room and/or snack room
· Get paper cups/plates, chairs, lights, etc, out of storage for setup tomorrow
· Set up guestroom, dining room if you’re going to need them
Day of show!
· Take a deep breath and relax - everything’s going to be wonderful
· Sweep out your music room (this gets me relaxed) and other areas guests will
be in
· Set up stage, stool, lights, a few chairs (but not all of them)
· Set up your mailing list on clipboard
· Get ice, milk, soda from the store if you need them
· Select “house music” - best is instrumental, not by artist performing that
day, compatible style. Not too loud, and remember to turn it off when show
starts
· Set up snacks - do ice stuff _ hour before guests arrive
· Move your cars out of the way if necessary for performers and guests to park
· 1 hour before show - if possible, ask performers to arrive at this time. They
need to set up both on stage and in their warmup room, as well as mailing
lists and merch. And they may need to relax after several hours on the road.
This is your best time to say hi and make acquaintance, schedule permitting. At
minimum make sure your opener gets here well beforehand!
· _ hour before show - Guests show begin arriving. Refreshments should be
ready - if it’s a pot luck, show them where to put their stuff. If possible delegate setting up the pot luck, it’s very time consuming and you have a show to
start. If you’re doing a pot luck dinner before the show, adjust all these times
accordingly, but be prepared for bathroom and dozing activity during the music... Also turn on your lights.
Make sure both opener and headliner (or whatever) understand the set times
they’ll be doing. This helps them write a set list - and avoid confusion later.
· 5 min before show - tell your opening act you’re starting in 5. Most people
start a few minutes late just because that’s folk; try not to go more than 15
minutes late or people get restive. At Grassy Hill we usually start 5-10 minutes late.
· It’s Showtime! - make sure everyone has a seat (you may have to play
“sheepdog” and sort of herd schmoozing guests towards the music room). Kill
the house music (gently). Walk on stage (don’t be shy, you worked for this!)
and welcome people, tell them this is a house concert, thank them for coming,
whatever else seems appropriate - keep it short. Say you’re got a great show
tonight (or words to that effect). Then intro your opener. Just keep it simple you may have a funny story, but make sure it’s not at the performer’s expense
unless you’re all real good friends. End with “let’s welcome XYZ” or words to
that effect, and applaud as you leave the stage and they walk on. Sounds
simple, but just try it, you’ll feel like Ed Sullivan in one easy lesson!
Late arrivals usually come during the opener’s first few songs. Be stationed
(or have a helper stationed) where they can be quietly welcomed and shown to
a seat. Have a few empty chairs open in back so it doesn’t make a fuss. If the
music is very quiet, it may be better to wait standing at the back until after the
song.
Count the house when everyone’s there. Just good practice.
Note the time each set starts, mentally calculate when it should end, and keep
your eye on the clock as you enjoy the music. Wear a watch if you need to be
moving around. Most performers are very good about set times, but a few will
give you headaches if you let them. Estimate 5 minutes per song on average.
If a performer is running long, or seems about to (all the set time is used up
and they’re strumming a chatty intro with no indication of finishing up), stand
at the back (where the audience can’t see you), catch their eye and hold up one
finger (not the middle one please) to mean “one more song.” If they just won’t
look (it’s happened to me - must be the waiter training) as a last resort you can
say very conversationally, “Time for one more, right X?” (If you made a mistake and this person is terminally weird, as a last last last resort you can just
walk onstage clapping after the Nth song, smile wide and say “Thanks!” If that
ever happens, you have a good anecdote for your fellow presenters.)
Usually (but not always) the opener will not do an encore. If they went over
exceptionally fantastically, you can ask them to do one more, but be aware of
your clock - the headliner is waiting.
· Begin intermissions by saying “We’re going to take a 10 [or 15] minute
break and start again at” and give the time. That moves people along. Make
sure they know where the bathrooms are. If it’s the intermission before your
headliner, mention their name. If you’re collecting donations at this intermission, say so, and have your envelope ready. Remind people of the suggested
amoung “and it all goes to the performers.” Mention the mailing lists and CDs
for sale in at the table in back (or wherever).
· After intermission is a good time to announce your upcoming schedule and
encourage guests to spread the word. Intro your next act - say how you discovered their music, how you feel about having them, whatever comes naturally and then leave applauding as before. Note your start times, sit back, and enjoy
the show.
At some point during the show you should walk to a private place in the house
and count the gate. Set aside the opener’s money and the rest (usually) is for
the headliners. I put it in two envelopes just for neatness, although the performers invariably take out the cash and ditch the envelope!
· After the headliner set, expect one (or sometimes two) encores. If the
audience is small, make sure you clap real loud to encourage others, and speak
out saying “I want to hear one more, how about your” or words to that effect.
When encores are done, get up right away as the performer leaves and take
the stage. Thank everyone for coming, it’s been a great afternoon etc; remind them once more about the mailing lists and CDs and the next show; ask
them to pick up around their chairs so cleanup is easier; invite them to take
food unless you really want all that stuff; and tell them house concerts are
fun to give and you’re available if they want to know more about doing it.
Thank your helpers, including spouse and family. Don’t be surprised if the
audience applauds you!
· After the show, there will be schmooze time among guests and performers
while various things are cleaned up and taken down. Bring up your house music
(at low volume) after a few minutes. Don’t turn it on the minute the show is
over, that’s a bit rude. Try to get guests moving out the door within 20 minutes after the show. Performers need to chill out and you need to clean up.
Pay the performers during this period! Always give the money to the main
performer, not to a band member or friend. If the manager came along and
you know that’s what they are, you can pay the manager, but frankly, I prefer
to keep it simple and put the money in the musician’s hand. They earned it.
When you’ve killed the lights, put the chairs away, got the dishwasher running,
put the towels on the bed, and got the dinner in the oven, it’s time to kick back
and relax with a beverage of your choosing! And start thinking about the next
show...