House concerts are a way for up-and-coming artists to get heard by an appreciative audience, and for an appreciative audience to hear new music in a relaxed and intimate setting. At Magpie House Concerts we ask for a donation at the door, and all of this money goes to the performer(s). They also generally have CDs and other merchandise to sell. Buying direct from the artist means that they get to keep a greater percentage of the CD price.
The short answer is: because we love the concerts, we love the performers, and it's our small way of giving back to a community that has brought us so much joy over the years.
A house
concert is a performance by musician or group in a private home.
In Canada, these are often known as "Kitchen Concerts". Usually the "stage" is the living room, with folding and other chairs set up for the audience. House concerts almost always involve performers
who live elsewhere, as local artists have many other venues to choose from.
To learn more about house concerts, visit http://www.concertsinyourhome.com/.
Here are links to some articles on house concerts:
We don't make any money from hosting a house concert. All money gathered from admission donations and CD sales go directly to the performer, and we do not charge the performer a fee. We pay all the expenses ourselves. Our house concerts are not business ventures; they're parties that focus on an excellent live music performance.
It's fun! For a small investment of time, food and beverages, we get to see performers we enjoy who wouldn't ordinarily play Salt Lake, (due to the lack of venues featuring this type of music). We are also interested in introducing talented performers to audiences who may not be familiar with their music. Finally, it's a great opportunity to spend time with old friends and make new ones.
With a
chunk of ingenuity and dollop of elbow grease.
Seriously, it's no worse than cleaning the house for the inlaws to come over, apart from moving the furniture around.
Mostly independent singer-songwriters. If you listen to KUSU, especially the folk programs such as Fresh Folk, you'll hear a number of the people we've hosted in the past. Otherwise, you'll find our performers sound like artists such as Shawn Colvin, Tim O'Brien, the Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith and Sheryl Crow. We book only non-local artists, as other venues exist for local artists. (That said, you will often find a number of local musicians attending our concerts to catch their faves!) Click on the links to the left for more information.
Our audiences typically range from 20–30 people. We can seat up to about 30.
We're located in Salt Lake City. For security reasons, we do not post directions to our home on our website. The address and directions are available on request and will also be sent to you when you make a reservation.
We love kids, but we ask that you do not bring children under 10.
First of all, pick a seat! Then you can relax, chat with the other folks, come and nosh in the kitchen, or hang out on the front porch. As we encourage people to bring grazing food to share along with their preferred beverage, that's often the place to meet new people who would be happy to discuss music (or many other topics!) with you, including and especially the hosts.
There
are indeed! Here is a list of the ones we know about
(I'm sure there are other -- let us know!)
IAMA: Guy Benson; GuysFlies@aol.com
Ricochet HC (https://www.facebook.com/Ricochethouseconcerts): Ruthie Naccarto; ricochethouseconcerts@gmail.com
Check our schedule page like our Favebook page, or sign up for our mailing list on our contact page — it's easy!
Contact
us by email (rsvp@magpiehouseconcerts.net)
or phone us at (801) 487-5552.
There is a lot of good advice available on the Internet. Try Fran Snyder's web site: http://concertsinyourhome.com/index.php; or Gaia Consort's site: http://www.gaiaconsort.com/house.html. We're always happy to help; feel free to send us an e-mail with your questions!
April 2008: the SL City Weekly (and its readers) voted Magpie House concerts as having the "Best Intimate Concerts" in Utah. What a great honor!