Joy of the House Concert

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a small but very positive and promising trend gathering some momentum here in Northern Michigan: the growing popularity of the house concert. As the name implies, house concerts are simply concerts that people hold at their private homes.

This is on my mind because yesterday evening I had the pleasure of sitting on a gorgeous hilltop under a clear sky while listening to music by The Jems, a singer-songwriter duo. The female lead, Emily Lively, grew up in Leelanau County but now lives in Texas, while her partner, Jay Whitehead, is a Texan through and through.

The concert had all the characteristics of what I love in a house concert. One, it started with a potluck, so we took time to sit on a deck with friends, share food and wine and catch up from a summer that seemed to be marked by everybody being too busy. Two, we sat in a beautiful and comfortable venue. Granted, this particular hilltop offers marvelous views that fall away to a lush wooded valley, so it is one of the most beautiful places around, but any friend’s yard or living room would do. And three it was just so warm and casual.

Emily’s parents have been holding house concerts for a few years now, and they are the ones who introduced my family to the idea. They apparently read about it in an Utne Reader a little while back. The first ones we went to there were in the dead of winter, and it was a great way to warm up cold northern weekends, listening to accomplished musicians in the home of friends while surrounded by friends.

You’d be surprised, too, at the quality of musician you can attract to a house concert. They like the relaxed feel of the gathering as much as the audience does, and it gives them a chance to establish a nice relationship in the more intimate atmosphere of a home. Emily’s parents have hosted musicians traveling the house concert circuit—yes, there is one. In those cases, the musician might stay the night at the host’s house.

Typically at a house concert, the hosts suggest a donation or simply charges a fee, with all the money going to the musicians. House concerts I’ve been to have tended to be about $10 for adults and kids free, and they’ve all been potluck and byob.

My family enjoyed the house concert idea so much that we decided to host some ourselves and have had maybe a half-dozen in the past few years. It’s a really wonderful experience having your friends over while hearing good music filling your home. Plus, of course, you are helping support local musicians with the cover charge and CD sales.