House concerts are becoming more and more popular and can be great fun. If you’re a singer-songwriter performing your own material then you really should consider doing House Concerts. You may find this a little daunting at first because chances are you will probably know most of the crowd. But this can be turned to your advantage as they will probably be more likely to let you really know how it went.
To start with, why not consider putting on a show in your own home? You could send out personal invites to friends and family, neighbours and maybe tie this into a weekend mini event for an afternoon or evening when people are not so busy.
Maybe to get started just invite a small party, keep in mind having enough room to make it enjoyable and let your guests know you will be providing real music entertainment and some simple refreshments. You could invite two or three other local songwriter performers so you all share in providing the evening’s entertainment. Each performer just needs to do two or three songs.
On a personal note if you can set up some simple lighting and a video camera to record your performance, capturing the intimate and enjoyable nature of this kind of event you can use this footage on your website. Now you have something to promote other similar events and can start to charge accordingly.
The great thing about these kinds of concerts is you don’t need a truck full of gear to make it happen. It’s also good because you have the opportunity to interact closely with the audience almost a story telling situation.
You can have a simple ‘Donations Jar’ for those who want to contribute. It would be good to have some CD’s available for those interested. Most important is having a satisfied audience who can tell others about the great time they had. Let them know you are happy to provide shows for others and you will be able to gradually introduce a charging fee if you want to. Or you may choose to use the donations approach and have your music CDs available for sale also.
Music Money Link:
Keep an eye on it!
Keep in mind this approach is a private party and not a public concert. As a rough guide, you could provide an evening of great entertainment in your own or someone else’s home and with just twenty people donating £10 each generate £200. All you have to do is split these donations between the performers. Maybe this is a small business you should be developing.
Call to Action:
Have you got enough material to make this happen? Remember you are not going to be doing a two hour set here. Put together a set list for a House Concert and think about trying this out. A month from today I want you to put on a House Concert – let me know how it goes.
If you are still in doubt about “how to” or wondering if such an intimate setting can work? then check out this short video of William Fitzsimmons an American singer songwriter doing a house concert in San Rafael. Intimate it is, now I must admit to being a William Fitzsimmons fan, I love his songwriting and these small intimate settings work . . . and I and many others would not hesitate to pay for such an evening’s entertainment . . . . enjoy!
