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4 Tips For Knocking on the Door of a House Concert

‘Tis the season for house concerts! Today’s post comes from Lancaster-based artist and house show host, Jason Mundok. Based on his experience, he shares some especially useful information on what it takes to successfully book a house concert.

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For the past few years, my wife and I have been hosting a house concert in Lancaster, PA called Wood Stove House concerts. If you’ve ever been to a house concert or performed at one it’s hard to deny that it can be the best way to experience live music. The shows are personal, intimate, and focused. It’s an opportunity for the audience to be truly connected to the music and for the artist to deliver his or her message directly to listeners with no barriers.

We started our series with a few local/regional bands but soon began hosting touring bands and tapped into the greater house concert circuit. Since then we’ve learned quite a bit about how artists present themselves and what helps them cut through the filters to be considered for one of our shows. Here are my thoughts on presenting yourself to a potential host:

BE PERSONABLE
Always remember that you’re asking to perform in some one’s home (I’ll keep coming back to this) for a special event that can take over a whole household for a couple of days. So, it’s important to make a personal connection during your first communication. Even if you work with an agent, it still means a lot to get a personal email directly from you, since you’ll be the one visiting the host’s home.

Let the host know about your previous experience playing house concerts and any experience you have playing in the host’s home town. Any connection with a previous venue or other people in the area is very helpful since you’re asking to perform in some one’s home.

MAKE IT SUPER EASY
Nobody has extra time these days, so make it super easy for a house concert host to see a live video performance or hear a couple of tracks. A link to a simple website that contains photographs and both a sample video and streaming audio player is best. At this stage in the process, asking the host to download files from a link or attachments can be both cumbersome and limiting.

Also, be flexible on dates. If you’re booking a tour and have a specific date to fill, you’re much less likely to get invited to play at a house concert than if you can offer a few dates or provide a date range. Get your house concerts on the calendar first and then book more flexible venues around them. House concerts are typically scheduled on the weekends and around a family’s busy schedule, so the more flexible you can be, the better. Remember, you’re asking to perform in someone’s home, not a venue that has music 3 or 4 nights a week every week.

GET REFERENCES
The absolute best and easiest way to be considered for a house concert is through references. If a band that has previously performed at a house concert series suggests you for a performance, you’re automatically on the short list. Why? Because they’ve been there and know the audience, the room, and the host. And their reputation is on the line based on that reference!

If you’ve performed at other house concerts, be sure to ask the hosts if you can use them as a host reference and include that in your initial email. I’m always happy to vouch for an artist who has performed at the Wood Stove House and welcome an opportunity to shoot an email to someone who has previously hosted a prospective artist. It’s a great way to build trust since, after all, you’re asking to perform in some one’s home.

BE PATIENT
Although you may have a great act that fits perfectly with a house concert venue, you may have to wait a while before playing. Most house concert venues produce 4 to 6 shows per year, and often a host gets several inquiries per week from artists. I wish I could host all of the great artists who are interested in playing at the Wood Stove House, but it’s just not possible. I keep a list of those acts I’m interested in and never mind if artists touch base every once in a while when doing their booking. Just keep in mind that while the experience can be magical when it happens, there are a lot of moving parts that have to come together when you’re asking to perform in some one’s home!

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Jason Mundok is a producer of creative projects at the Wood Stove House in Lancaster, PA including the Wood Stove House concerts and Around the Wood Stove, a music interview podcast series. You can contact him through his twitter handle @woodstovehouse.