Host a House Concert
Gather Friends | Share Music | Build Community
As a lifelong acoustic musician, I love having the chance to play music in an intimate setting. Some of the best live music experiences I’ve ever had have been right in people’s homes and backyards, thanks to the grassroots phenomenon of HOUSE CONCERTS. I continue to be eternally grateful for every opportunity to connect and share music, but by far my favorite is in a house concert format. LET’S GATHER!
If you haven’t been to a house concert before, it’s simply an up-close-and-personal performance—live in the living room or den or backyard or wherever—for an audience of friends and neighbors. There is a suggested donation for the performer, and often people bring drinks and food to share.
WANT TO HOST?
A few key prerequisites:
** A love of music **
** Enthusiasm for gathering friends **
** Space for 30+ people **
Want to know more? Read below to get a more detailed look at how to host.
The room
Indoors or outdoors, all you need is a space big enough to seat 30 people or more. You’d be surprised how many people fit comfortably in an average living room when you move a few tables and bring in chairs. Living rooms, finished basements, garages and even outdoors works fine, but everything feels and sounds better indoors, if possible.
COVID format: Hosting the concert outside is always an option, season/weather dependent, if you’d feel more comfortable that way.
The audience
Invite your friends and neighbors, and encourage them to spread the word to their friends too. In hosting house concerts, I’ve found that people come not because they necessarily know the performer, but because hearing live music in this kind of down-home environment is such a special experience, in addition to supporting the host and building community.
You are welcome to keep the event 100% private, open to your invitees only. However, if you’re okay making it public and having people that you don’t know attending, then I would list and promote the concert using only the date, the city, and the host’s email address for inquiries. When you confirm a reservation with a guest, you’d supply the street address and other details.
Invitations
Send your invitations a month or so before the concert, and ask people to reserve seats. Any earlier than that , people may forget about it, while later than that they will probably have other plans. Since your space is limited, you will want to encourage folks to RSVP to reserve a space. You can use email or a site like Evite or Meetup that automatically tracks RSVPs. You will probably need to send a few reminders in the weeks leading up to the show. Creating a Facebook event and inviting friends that way can be helpful, but I recommend using email to be able to get a firmer commitment from people, rather than a few “likes” on facebook that don’t require people to commit to a reservation. In my experience, email reservations are far more reliable than Facebook RSVPs as an indicator of who will actually come to an event.
Keep track of your guest list and be sure to respond to RSVPs so that folks know they are expected and you know how many spaces you have left. Keep in mind that only 20-25% of folks you invite will show up, so don’t be shy about your invitations. Send them to anyone you even think might be remotely interested in attending.
A few tips for invitations:
I will supply you with promotional materials, video links, etc. to include in your personal invitation so people can explore the music on their own.
Stress that space is limited and reservations are required.
Describe (briefly) what a house concert is and how it works, including the suggested donation, for the uninitiated.
Share your own enthusiasm for the music—that’s the best way to draw an audience!
Even if people make firm reservations, assume that a few will back out at the last minute because of illness, weather, etc. If your reservations hit capacity, keep a waiting list or even overbook a bit so seats don't go empty.
Be sure to include links for donations for guests to reserve their seats in advance. Donations can be paid via Venmo, Paypal, Zelle or CashApp (we will discuss this later).
Click HERE to get a shortened version of Justin’s promotional information to include in your email invitations.
Donations
Instead of tickets, there’s a suggested donation (typically $20-25 per person), with 100% going to the performer. You can put a donation basket in a location where people will see it as they enter or leave, and/or pass the basket when everyone is seated. Please be sure to remind people about the donation at the beginning of the concert or at intermission. We will discuss what would work best.
Setting the Stage
When you set up your room, remember that the music should be the focus of the evening. Decide where your “stage” area will be and arrange your chairs accordingly. The size of the stage area will depend on how many instruments I am bringing, which we will decide during the booking process.
Be sure to allow unobstructed access to at least one exit (preferably two), and to the restroom. If your seating area is small, you may have to help herd your audience into chairs in an organized manner so they don’t end up crawling over one another to take their seats.
It’s best to keep the audience all in one room as much as possible. If people don’t feel like they’re a part of the action, they are much more likely to begin talking or doing other distracting things.
Ready, Set, MC
This is your show, I’m just the performer. It’s up to you to greet people as they come in, make sure their needs are tended to, and act as MC for the show. The MC job isn’t all that difficult, but it’s important. You will need to welcome everyone, introduce me, and handle the collecting of money during the show if that’s something you’ve decided to do. If you’re going to pass the hat, it should happen about two-thirds of the way through each set. You should also encourage the audience to purchase CDs and sign up for mailing lists. If you are hosting future events, let the audience know about those so they can plan to attend–and be ready with a sign-up sheet for early RSVPs!
The schedule
A typical concert is two 45-minute sets with a 20- to 30-minute intermission. It’s nice to have some socializing time beforehand too, so you might tell people the show is (for instance) doors at 7 or 7:30, music at 8. I will make every effort to be ready to start exactly on time, but it’s up to you when the show begins. Starting on time will help keep the audience’s attention from drifting and that makes them much nicer to play for. If there is an intermission, starting the second set on time is just as important.
Merch
Find a good spot for laying out CDs and other merchandise, where there’s room for people to congregate and chat.
Food and drink
If you like, you can offer drinks and snacks and/or invite people to bring something to share. Some house concerts even include a pot-luck meal. What you serve, if anything, is entirely up to you. House concerts can include everything from munchies & tap water, appetizers, potlucks, or even sit-down meals and fine wine. Think carefully about what kind of experience you want your guests to have.
Accommodations
For any artist on tour, a room for the night and a home-cooked meal is greatly appreciated.
Booking
If you’re interested in hosting a house concert with me, click the button below to drop me an email and we can talk details and answer any questions you have. I’m here to help!