An Indie Artist’s Hidden Gem

As summer fast approaches, the season of touring kicks into full swing. It’s the time when as music consumers, we hear about all the big arena tours and festivals happening and that’s all well and good. BUT, it can also be a time for self-doubt and feeling stuck as an independent artist wondering “when will I get to have a packed tour schedule!?”

Well, artists, there is a way to pack your own calendar full of tour dates, while making meaningful connections with your fans, while being housed for free, and while making money. The answer…

HOUSE CONCERTS!

You may have heard this concept before - lord knows I’m not the first one to talk about house concerts - but it blows my mind how wildly under-talked about and mystifying house concerts seem to be to artists. So, let me break it down for you.

1. A great way to find your Superfans! 

When starting a career as an artist, one of the most important things to do is make meaningful connections with fans who will turn into superfans. Superfans are the people who are going to become your street team. Not only are they going to buy everything you offer to them and tickets to every show, they are going to tell their friends about you! The true organic marketing strategy. You simply can’t beat it. 100 Superfans are going to be wayyyy more profitable for you than 1000 followers who like or scroll past your posts. 

House Concerts are an intimate way to engage with your audience. They get to hear your songs and the stories behind those songs AND THEN they get to chat with you afterwards in the comfort of their friend’s home. These people are going to connect with you in a way where they feel they are your friend. Not in a creepy way. But they will be more invested in you going forward because they got to chat with you about their dog, their favorite artist, how good the charcuterie board is you both were munching on when you had the conversation…have I made my point? Superfans are gold. Oh, and don’t forget to collect their emails/phone numbers so you can keep in touch with them!!

2. Barely any overhead. 

To put on a house concert, you simply need your instrument, a microphone, a stand, some cables, a simple PA system, some merch to sell, and a way to get to your destination. THAT’S IT. And most of the time, the host will lend you a room for the night so you don’t need to pay for hotels! (Please use your judgment here and trust your gut. If someone is creepy, do not enter their home, let alone stay the night. I had to say it.) You don’t need to pay a band and you typically don’t even have to pay for food since the host is throwing a party. If you put on a house concert tour, get ready for all the cheese and dips from your hosts…have I sold you yet?

3. Donations. No Tickets!

Make sure you have your host announce in the initial invitation that the artist(s) will be accepting donations to help fund their tour and then also have them come up on stage to close out the concert and thank everyone/remind guests to make a donation. If you sell tickets instead of accepting donations, guests will only think to give you the amount you charge. But if you keep it open ended, you’ll find that you will come away with far more money in your pocket and a greater understanding of just how powerful and impactful your music is to people. 

4. You get to call the shots. 

You may be reading this and think, this all sounds great, but who the heck am I going to get to host a concert for me? Y’all - start with your biggest fans - family and friends. There is absolutely no shame in using your inner network of supporters to help you launch your tour because you better believe that they are going to invite some other friends of theirs to the show who have never heard you play, who will fall in love with your music, and then want to host a show at their house next time. Suddenly, you are tapping into a whole NEW network! The ripple effect of these house shows is incredible. They essentially book themselves once you get the first few started. Make sure you keep track of the conversations you have with guests who mention they are interested in hosting next time so you can reach out and get a date on the calendar. 

5. Your time is precious - maximize it! 

House concerts typically last around 60-75min and you get to choose what you sing. Meaning, you get to share your beautiful original songs as well as whatever covers you might want to throw in there. How many of you are currently playing 3-4 hour gigs with 1 or no breaks, where you can’t play your original songs and you go home exhausted with only a couple new followers? Probably the majority of you reading this….Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with cover gigging, but would you rather make $500 creating meaningful connections with potential superfans, sharing your original music, playing for 1 hour and not blowing out your voice? OR get LUCKY and make $500 singing for 4 hours as background music, not meeting your listeners, and going home exhausted? Exactly. Your time is money. Your time and your songs are valuable. It’s time to claim your worth. 

I have toured the country coast to coast with house concerts. I found an investor in the backyard of a friend's house after we finished performing. I drove the entire coast of California with my best friends. The list goes on…house concerts have provided me the freedom to grow my confidence, my fanbase, my wallet, and my touring experience. So, go out there and start making those phone calls! It all starts with one concert. You’ve got this. Please be sure to let us know how it goes for you! 

I also highly recommend this super helpful book by Shannon Curtis on all things house concerts called No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender: How I Made $25K On A 2-Month House Concert Tour (And How You Can Too).