"Honky Tonk Maniac from Mars" opens Jason Ringenberg's performance—in Rick Wood's Clayton home
By Bryan A. Hollerbach
That last phrase may confuse those unfamiliar with something gaining popularity: the house concert. Ringenberg, the famed Nashville cowpunk, is indeed rocking a residence instead of a lounge or club, and he’s scarcely the first or last musician to do so.
University City resident Earl Higgins and Affton musician Joe Thebeau have also hosted house concerts. Several months before the Ringenberg concert, Wood and his wife, Nancy, welcomed country crooners Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell. At the Ringenberg gig, Wood mentions that rockabilly filly Rosie Flores will soon visit.
More casual than residential chamber music, less controversial than raves, house concerts can benefit both hosts and musicians in various ways. As inspirations for hosting them, Wood cites their BYOB community air and a love of “acoustic-based music that often falls beneath the radar of mass popularity.” Because house concerts customarily involve both a potluck and a suggested donation approximating a cover charge, musicians can nosh with fans and take the whole gate—there’s no cut to management.
Sound interesting? If you’re a prospective host, “try to get a realistic idea of how many people your house can accommodate,” Wood suggests, “and keep track of how many people are planning to attend on an R.S.V.P. basis. Talk to your neighbors so they won’t be surprised by what’s going on. Advise your guests on where to park.”
Otherwise, beyond publicizing the concert by word of mouth, on listservs and on websites such as Musi-Cal, hosts should perhaps pray, depending on a given performer’s showmanship. At the Woods’, for example, Ringenberg promises to behave himself, assuring the audience, “I’m not gonna stick my foot through the drywall.”
Find further house-concert listings at www.musi-cal.com and get advice on hosting your own (from Irish piper Michael Cooney) at www.alanrowoth.com/ProductionTips.html.
