My parents live on a beautiful piece of property. The best part of the property is that they have few neighbours, and if you don’t want to see or talk to anyone; you don’t have to.
One of the few neighbours they have was a military man; when he got posted, he rented this home to a wonderful couple named Sean and Karen.
Sean and Karen are amazing people. They are amazing cooks, world travelers, and very social. We have been over to their place many times for dinners; we have had bonfires during the summer, and helped each other out during the winter snow storms. So when they invited us all over to their place for a ‘House Concert’ I was intrigued. I had never heard of a house concert… at least in this day and age. But if Karen and Sean were organizing it, then I was IN.
The night would was hosted at their place; the food prepared by Sean; it was BYOB; and the evening would cost us $20 (all the cover money would go to the artist).
My parents and I walked over to their home at 7:30 pm. Many people were already there, and we started by mixing and mingling. I didn’t know anyone there (other than the hosts), but my dad randomly saw his doctor (not that he recognized her at first). It was really nice to get to know people that we otherwise might have never met.
We were told when we arrived, that the planned artist had taken sick and that a replacement had been found. I was not bothered by that, because in reality I had not even had time to look up the original artist due to my work schedule. Sorry Karen… I did appreciate the link you sent.
Our new artist for the evening was Rick Fines; a blues/folk/soul performer, who is a Juno nominee (and a Maple Blues Songwriter of the Year Award winner). Not that he told us this during the evening, so I had no real expectations for the night. I was a little worried when he said he was going to start with a Christmas song, but he introduced it as a true Canadian would; by apologizing for doing a Christmas song in October.
His songs were great, his in- between song banter was funny, and the whole evening was a joy. The night was intimate, relaxed, and social.
I have never heard of a house concert before. I know they used to do them back before TV and radio became a ‘thing’. When I heard of it, it seemed old fashion; like something you would find in a Jane Austin novel. Maybe they are old fashion, but some of the best things are.
If you are an artist, or know an artist, and have a decent size living space, this is an activity for an evening.
So feel free to take this idea and run with it: why not do house plays or house lectures? Also feel free to visit Rick Fines website. Some of his music is on the site and it is a joy to listen to.
