Simple Guide to Hosting a House Concert

May 1, 2008 News, Shows ,

How would you like to have live music from Marc Gunn in your home? You can with house concerts.

House Concerts are intimate musical performances held in private homes, usually without a sound system to an audience of 15-40 people. It is a fantastic way for you to hear my music live and interact with me in a relaxed social setting.

Your job is to Promote the Event to as many people as you feel comfortable having in your home. Send email or postcards to all of your family and friends and to people you know are interested in Celtic and folk music. Then watch as you become the envy of them all, in hosting this fun and light-hearted show.

Duration is typically one hour of toe-tapping, smile and laughing hour Celtic and geek music.

Admission to the house concert is by donation. Typical donations are about $15 per person. I try to have a guarantee of about $150, but donations should yield between $250-600 for an evening of entertainment.

The host will typically offer an introduction where they will encourage attendees to donate as much as they are willing to give for the evening's music.

It is best to take Reservations for the house concert. Overbooking will insure that you have a full house even if someone cancels. Typically, only 70% of the people who say they will show up, actually will. So it's a good idea to keep promoting the event even if you have 20 or so people. As this is technically a private event, please do not put your address on flyers.

Many hosts serve Food and Drink, but this is not required. BYOB is quite acceptable. Chairs should be acquired for each of your reservations. You can rent them from party supply companies for as little as $1-2 a chair.

Lodging may be requested if I am coming from out of town. If I fly in for a house concert, I may also request Travel to and from the airport.

CD Sales are the lifeblood of my music career. It's very important to have a table setup to sell CDs and frequently, it helps to have someone sell the CDs after the show.

House concerts are amazingly fun and rewarding. They do require work, but the feel-good rewards will last a lifetime.

For additional information on how to host a house concert, or have a question? Please email me.

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What others are saying…

Concerns were just typical…will there be enough food, wine, etc…. until party time when the what if no one shows up thing hits… It was pretty much a perfect night though. Lots of friends, good food and music…gods, the music just wonderous. I still can't believe it happened…you were sitting in my living room playing all the stuff I listen too, live! And the jamming! When can you come back? –Val Dodd

It was a wonderful event, and words fail to express the excitement and spirit of the whole evening! The Bards were magnificent in every way, and I urge ANYONE to consider hosting a house concert. People were throwing money at me; I issued ribbons tied to people's wrists as they paid, and I had NO ONE out of over 60 people attending who failed to track me down and pay the gate. It was a great way to kick off out preparations for the 5th year of the Louisiana Renaissance Festival, and I am grateful to Andrew and Marc for making is such a rambunctious and fun event. If you DO want to host a concert, email me and I'll be happy to share details of what made it work. –Jamie H.

Intro to House Concerts

House Concert Basics

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