Not Your Father’s House Concert
House concerts are typically thought of as a staple of the folk music scene, not as a concert setting for indie or rock artists like Husker Du’s Grant Hart, Graham Parker or American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel. Yet more artists are seeing the house concert as a way to connect with their audiences on a more intimate level. Examine this viable concert venue for the developing and established artist.
Presenters
SUSAN TANNER's career began in the late 1980's as an intern at IRS Records, and she has worked in sales for MCA Records, Universal Distribution, The Bottom Line Record Company, and until 2010, at Righteous Babe Records in Buffalo NY. Susan currently consults for Righteous Babe as well as for ESI Events, a Buffalo-based promotion company that books a number of rooms in Western New York, including the Tralf Music Hall, Asbury Hall and The Ninth Ward at Babeville. In her spare time, she and her husband Marty Boratin host touring bands at their home and present a summer house concert series.
"If you don't know the name KC Turner, you don't know the bay area music scene." - John Craigie
"I took a shine to KC the first time I met him. I don't know what it was, but he became one of the crew right away. Just gave him my number and said call me anytime and I'll put you on the list. That's a very special quality that I've only seen in a few people and KC's got it in spades." - Bob Schneider
Residing in San Francisco, CA.- KC Turner keeps busy by presenting live music throughout the San Francisco Bay Area; billing shows at venues & coffee houses, producing his own house concert series, hosting 2 open mics, representing & booking a handful of independent artists including Megan Slankard, The Welcome Matt & The Courtney Janes, helping connect people to new local talent, heading a songwriting club and strumming a few of his own songs from time to time.
Turner consistently sells out shows at well respected San Francisco venues such as Cafe Du Nord...packs every house concert he produces & books national tours for a handful of artists...including himself. He has recently partnered with San Francisco radio giant "KFOG" to put on a series of house concerts representing the San Francisco local music scene while also raising money for "Music in Schools Today", a local organization that focuses on funding music education in public schools. In addition he produces an annual showcase at Bazaar Cafe called "Bazaar Stock", which is a free all day event that features 36 local musicians and also helps to raise money for "Music in Schools Today".
KC is genuine and focuses on 1 simple goal when producing his events...he showcases music that to him is above par and simply great. The goal is to establish a name, (KC Turner Presents), that people know they can trust and associate with good quality music worth taking a "risk" on.
Turner’s most talked about claim to fame is the “KC Turner House Concert Series” which has included artists such as: Matt Nathanson, Bob Schneider, Ben Kweller, Steve Poltz, Griffin House, Sean Hayes, The Mother Hips, Hot Buttered Rum, John Vanderslice, Jon Dee Graham, Chuck Prophet, Garrison Starr, Adam Levy, Tom Freund, David Berkeley, Matt The Electrician, The Paper Raincoat, Amber Rubarth, Billy Harvey, Danny Schmidt, Jerry Hannan, – And the list goes on.
Name: Freedy Johnston
Birthplace: Larned, Kansas
Home: New York City; Madison WI
Some Facts:
- I love playing house concerts and have never had a bad one.
- I first came to SXSW twenty years ago to promote my Can You Fly album.
- Since then I have made five records of original music (This Perfect World; Never Home; Blue Days, Black Nights; Right Between the Promises; Rain on the City) and one cover record (My Favorite Waste of TIme), and done the musical score for the movie Kingpin.
- My current project is a band with Jon Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill, The Hobart Brothers featuring Lil Sis. We will be playing SXSW this year. Our new CD At Least We Have Each Other will be released via iTunes on March 6th, vinyl and CD on May 15th.
- I am writing songs for my next record Neon Repairman, to be recorded later this year.
Don Bartlett is the founder of No Door Agency, an artist management company that concentrates on developing clients from the ground up and creating an infrastructure that encourages their business to grow with their art.
Saturday, March 17
