What Are House Concerts?

House concerts are just what they sound like, a full-scale musical concert with a solo or duo or trio performance located directly in the biggest room or two of your house. Here are some basic facts about house concerts that need to articulated clearly so that everybody is on exactly the same page.

House concerts exist throughout North America and have been spawned by the folk-roots community so that folk musicians can compete, on a more level playing field, with the industrial music industry. Folk Music, in all its forms has traditionally been perceived as non-commercial music.

 

 

Old Man Luedecke in Boissevain, MB

House concerts are not free events; people pay to get into them, but they are conducted entirely by invitation and by word of mouth rather than by advertising through postering or media. The secret of house concerts lies in the combination of presenting excellent performers and having the word of mouth spread over time so that the phone-email list of the presenter becomes a viable and valuable asset. As people learn to trust the quality level of a house concert, it sometimes becomes necessary to take reservations because the space fills up quickly.

Most house concerts operate without a sound system, performers play and sing acoustically, occasionally someone needs a little amp for their keyboard and they bring that with them.

There are House Concerts being given in almost every part of the US and Canada. Some house concerts are "one-shots," but most are presented as a series, usually every two to eight weeks over a "season" of anywhere from six to twelve months. Some concert rooms hold 50 people and some hold 25 or fewer. Some are held inside, some outside. The whole house concert "scene" is a kaleidoscope of different experiences and personalities - and that's half the fun.