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Why House Concerts?

Someone recently asked “Why should I pay $20 to see someone at a house concert that I can see for ‘free’ at other places?”

That’s a good question, and I hope you’ll consider my response.

When you go to a club or restaurant to see someone for “free”, it’s not really free. You have the costs of food/drink purchased while there, as well as tipping a waiter/waitress. That can quickly add up to $20/person or more, and THE MUSICIAN GETS NONE OF IT. So, don’t forget to add in the cost of tipping the musician when you go to that “free” bar or restaurant, because the bar or restaurant is paying the musician a minimal amount, and they need your tips to make any money.

At a house concert, you are provided FREE snacks and bottled water, and your cost of bringing your own beer or wine is a fraction of what you would pay for drinks at a bar or restaurant. AND THE MUSICIAN GETS 100% of all money collected.

So do you save any money when you go somewhere else to see a musician perform for “free”? Not likely. But the difference in income to the musician is huge.

But there is so much more difference than how much you will spend or how much the musician will make.

Tired of leaving a performance smelling like a stale cigarette? That won’t happen at a house concert.

Many venues are so noisy that you can barely hear the musician. If you are there for the music, the noise and distractions are as frustrating to you as they are to the musician. At a house concert you are free from the smoke, noise, and distractions.

But the biggest difference in these environments is the difference to the musician. Can you imagine the irony and frustration a musician feels when performing the song that broke their heart, or tells the story of their greatest love, or the song that came from the depths of their emotions, for the typical bar or restaurant crowd? Pouring their heart out and it seems that no one is listening? Feeling like they are just background noise? Musicians write and perform in order to relate. And sometimes traditional venues make relating to an audience very difficult and frustrating.

The best part of a house concert is the intimate nature of this environment. It is comfortable. You are close to the musician. And in this intimacy, something transformative happens. The musician opens up. They don’t just perform, they relate. They talk to you. They tell stories. You get to hear the story behind the music. The story of how this song came to be written. The story of how that song influenced their life. The story of how this person you are listening to became a musician, why they love it, and how much it means to them. You won’t get this anywhere else. And by the end of the evening, you not only appreciate the music a little more, you understand and appreciate the musician. A lot more.

It really does make economic sense to pay to attend a house concert. Economic sense for you, and especially for the musician. But what is really significant has nothing to do with economics.

What makes a house concert make sense is the total experience. It feeds your soul with goodness, pleasure, joy, smiles, and laughter. You will be touched by unexpected emotions. But what you don’t know in advance is that, at the end of the evening, you will have given back to the musician as much as you have received, simply by being part of a back-and-forth exchange between musician and audience that musicians crave, but rarely experience.

You won’t experience this in a noisy, smoky bar. You won’t find it over the clatter of voices and plates and silverware and glasses in a restaurant. A house concert is a transcendent environment, and the experience is unlike any other, for both you and the musician.

House concerts are open to everyone. You don’t need to know anyone there. You will meet some of the nicest people. You will be welcomed and your presence will bless both you the musician more than you could know.

Make plans to attend and support House Concerts at every opportunity. You’ll be glad you did!

Sarah McQuaid
Friday October 23rd

Sarah McQuaidClick here for more information or to RSVP

International performer Sarah McQuaid makes a rare Lubbock appearance on Friday October 23rd in an intimate HubCityMusic.com house concert.  All the way from England, Sarah has found a broad audience in the United States, and is in the midst of a nationwide CD release tour, introducing her fourth solo CD.  Entitled “Walking into White”, this newest release is receiving rave reviews.  Here are a few samples of the response this CD is receiving:

“Luminous … a soft but forceful record whose urgency is sometimes masked by the music’s acoustic serenity.” —The Boston Globe

“The more we spin this one, the better it sounds.” —BabySue

“Jaw-droppingly beautiful … tender and gorgeous.” —Invisible Ink Music Blog

We are extremely fortunate and grateful that Sarah’s schedule makes this concert possible.

Sarah’s voice has been likened to malt whiskey, melted chocolate and “honey poured into wine”. Her new album Walking Into White (2015) is her most honest and adventurous work to date, with a depth and texture of soundscape that are reflected in her beautifully crafted live shows. A captivating performer, she seduces her audience with cheeky banter and stories from the road, as well as with stunning musicianship; in her hands, the guitar becomes much more than merely an accompanying instrument.

You won’t want to miss her unique vocals and accompanying guitar, as well as the sound magic that accompanying sound technician Martin Stansbury brings to the room.  It will be an amazing performance!

Visit Sarah’s website here: www.SarahMcQuaid.com

Click here for more information or to RSVP

Admission is $20/person, with 100% going to our guest musician.
Concert information:
Sara McQuaid at Paul Johnson’s house
Friday October 23rd, 2015 from 7:15pm till 10pm (doors open at 6:30)
Location: Paul Johnson’s house (RSVP to receive directions)
BYOB
Complimentary snacks and bottled water will be provided

Click here for more information or to RSVP

 

6th Annual Harvest Moon concert
Friday September 25th 2015

3rd Annual Harvest Moon House ConcertThe RSVP/Invitations to our 6th Annual Harvest Moon concert will go out about mid-day on Monday August 31st.

It’s finally here!

Our 6th Annual Harvest Moon house concert, featuring Mike Pritchard and Mark Wallney, will be Friday September 25th at 7:15pm.

This concert is our 6th annual celebration of life, love, and friends, at the time of each fall’s Harvest moon, the full moon closest to the Autumnal equinox. Often, the harvest moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons, so it’s a great time to enjoy a romantic concert. And it marks the beginning of the change of seasons, reminding us of the passing of time, and how important it is to share our time with those we love.

The inspiration for this extra-special house concert is taken from Neil Young’s song “Harvest Moon”, which Mike and Mark perform better than ‘ol Neil himself.

No disrespect to Neil Young, but let’s face it, Mike Pritchard’s voice is so much smoother and stronger than Neil’s warbly falsetto, and Mark Wallney’s guitar mastery is similarly superior. Their performance of this romantic and seasonally appropriate song sets the stage for a relaxing evening of undeniable musical and vocal talent.

The ONLY way to receive an invitation is to be on our email list.  If you would like to receive an invitation, please sign up using the email form at the right side of this page.

This concert always sells out in less than 24 hours, so be watching for the invitation, and please respond quickly!

We appreciate the fact that so many people want to come to this concert, and to be fair to everyone, we are unable to take RSVPs in advance of that date.

We are looking forward to another wonderful Harvest Moon!  See you then!

John Batdorf
Wednesday March 4, 2015
(with Junior Vasquez opening)

P1060923-Adjusted - 300x230In 1975 John Batdorf headlined a concert as Batdorf & Rodney in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. Opening for them that night was Junior Vasquez and Peyote. Many of you were at that concert. If you loved the Eagles, Crosby Stills & Nash, and America, you should know that Batdorf and Rodney were part of that whole music scene.

Now 40 years later, history has repeated itself, as John Batdorf again headlined a Lubbock concert, which again was opened by Junior Vasquez. These two great musicians have each evolved over the years, but their music remains as complimentary as ever.

This is the first HubCityMusic.com house concert to ever have an opening act.

The weather outside was frightful – snow and freezing sleet all afternoon the day of the show.  But the fans braved the weather and showed up anyway, and John and Junior provided a magical evening of music and conversation.  For Junior Vasquez, this was a rare opportunity to perform all original songs, and he showed that his songwriting ability is as polished and professional as his singing and guitar work.

And when John Batdorf took the stage he demonstrated a commitment to excellence in vocals and guitar play that is second to none.  Seriously, you won’t hear a more flawless performance than John delivered on that snowy night in the warmth of our living room.

Watch this page for videos from this concert, to be posted soon.

Wednesday March 4, 2015
at Paul Johnson’s house

Click here to see our previous post about John Batdorf.

Visit John’s website and Facebook page:
www.JohnBatdorfMusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Batdorf-Music/279578037051
https://www.facebook.com/Soundtrax2Recovery

Visit Junior’s website and Facebook page:
www.myspace.com/therealjuniorvasquez
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Junior-Vasquez/80815053180

Watch John’s newest video on YouTube:

 

Heath Wright
Friday February 27, 2015

HeathWright-300x300Heath Wright is one of many South Plains College, Commercial Music Department, graduates who have gone on to some big accolades.

As the lead singer in Ricochet, Heath has performed on some of the biggest stages in the country, as well as having numerous Country top-40, top-20, and top-10 hits, including a #1 hit, “Daddy’s Money”.  He has also performed as lead singer in top band, Restless Heart.

Heath returned to West Texas to headline the 17th annual Scholarship Gala at South Plains College on Saturday February 28th, and thanks to our mutual friend Cary Banks, we have were given the opportunity to host a very special, intimate house concert for Heath on Friday February 27th!  What a rare opportunity to be in this environment, face to face in our living room, with a performer who is at home headlining concerts for thousands of people.

In spite of the biggest snow of this year on the morning of the concert, a good-sized group of people braved the weather to enjoy an energetic performance by Heath, Cary Banks, and percussionist and vocalist Chris Hempfling.  These three blended their talents beautifully!

 

Wendy Colonna
Saturday February 7, 2015

What an amazing concert!  And what a treasure Wendy Colonna is! She kept us captivated with her wonderful music and stories.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWendy Colonna had a phenomenal 2014, releasing a new CD (“Nectar”) to national critical acclaim, having her music chosen by Starbucks for national play in their stores, and having her song “A Happy Song” chosen by Coca Cola to back a national TV and movie theater ad campaign.  Recent highlights of Wendy’s trajectory also include: selection as a Wall Street Journal pick for “Best Music Acts” at SXSW 2014; featured co-vocalist in the Grammy/MusicCares All-Star Showcase; and interviews on both NPR’s Beale Street Caravan and WFUV’s Sunday Breakfast (NYC).  (and those are just a few of her many 2014 highlights!)

Wendy is looking forward to an even more amazing 2015, and we are blessed that she has chosen to include Paul Johnson’s house in her early-2015 touring schedule.

Wendy has long been one of our favorite musicians. A blend of blues, rock, soul and folk, Wendy has a surprise waiting around the corner with every song. She will take you from sultry and slow, to rockin’ and rollin’, and everywhere in between, with an emotional delivery that few artists even attempt. She gets lost in her delivery, and believe me, you will too.
Wendy Colonna is on her way to a very special place, all her own, in the music industry.  If you haven’t hitched your musical exposure to her star yet, get on board now.  It will be a wonderful ride!

Saturday February 7, 2015  7:15pm
at Paul Johnson’s house
$20 admission at the door
BYOB.  Complimentary snacks and bottled water are provided.

Watch Coca Cola’s new commercial with Wendy’s song “A Happy Song”:

Watch Wendy’s fun new “Dirty Things” video:

Here, in one of my favorite performances, Austin’s Wendy Colonna performs her original “Vacancy” at a previous HubCityMusic.com house concert:

Sarah McQuaid
Friday October 24, 2014

Requested by popular demand, Sarah McQuaidwe were pleased to host vocalist and singer/songwriter, Sarah McQuaid, in a HubCityMusic.com house concert on Friday October 24, 2014.  Sarah kept an enthusiastic audience spellbound with her silky smooth vocals, and engineer Martin Stansbury made his own unique and artistic contributions to the amazing sound.  Sarah McQuaid definitely delivered the most unique voice to the HubCityMusic.com stage that we have ever experienced, and everyone who was in attendance was entranced.  We will be hosting Sarah again in October 2015 for a CD release tour appearance, and you won’t want to miss that return visit!

Coming to West Texas all the way from England, Sarah was born in Spain, raised in Chicago, spent 13 years in Ireland and currently lives with her family in Cornwall, England.  Ireland is where she started her music career, and it is clearly a place that means a lot to her: “I do love Ireland. I lived there for 13 years, my children were both born in Ireland and my husband’s from Ireland.”

Sarah has toured all over the world, in places such as Ireland, England, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and across the United States.

She has released 4 albums, all to great critical acclaim, and has also authored a book, titled “The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book”.

Sarah McQuaid’s voice is amazing, with a range from low and sultry to sweet and high.  In many ways her voice is reminiscent of Carly Simon, as well as Joni Mitchell, and also reminds me of another vocalist from England with incredible vocal range, Julia Fordham.

But of course, despite inevitable comparisons, Sarah is her own artist, with her own unique sound.

A few quotes regarding Sarah:

“Rising star Sarah McQuaid’s voice has been likened to malt whiskey, melted chocolate and “honey poured into wine”.

Sarah’s third solo album, “The Plum Tree and the Rose”, has drawn critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic: “Impeccable” wrote fRoots (UK), while Midwest Record (USA) called it “low key but glorious and incendiary”, and Hot Press (Ireland) said it “should feature on many end-of-year best-ofs.”

Check back here for video clips from her October 24, 2014 HubCityMusic.com house concert.

Listen to samples of her music here:  http://www.reverbnation.com/sarahmcquaid/song/12437827-lift-you-up-and-let-you-fly

Watch this video of her song “The Sun Goes on Rising”:

John Batdorf
Wednesday October 15, 2014

John Batdorf retro - 240x306

If you loved America, Crosby Stills & Nash, Dan Fogelberg, Loggins & Messina, and the Eagles in the 1970’s, chances are you also heard a group called Batdorf and Rodney. Great songwriters, with a sound very much like the above groups, Batdorf and Rodney had two very successful albums in the 1970’s before going their separate ways.

We were blessed to have this opportunity to host a rare mid-week house concert featuring John Batdorf of Batdorf and Rodney.
John has continued to write, play, and record since those early days, and his music is better than ever.  And even if you’ve never heard of him, trust me, John is an amazing musician and songwriter.  If you missed this HubCityMusic.com house concert, you missed one of the best-ever concerts we’ve had the pleasure to host!

P1060923-Adjusted - 300x230

 

Some notable background – In 1975, John Batdorf visited Lubbock when Batdorf and Rodney played a concert at the (then) Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (now City Bank Coliseum), and shared the stage with opening act Peyote, headed by local music legend Junior Vasquez.

John & Junior - 300x225

So in a full-circle sort of coincidence, John and Junior once again shared the stage, this time to close out John’s house concert, performing an impromptu duet of “For What It’s Worth”.  What an incredible experience it was to see those two on the same stage together almost 40 years later!

Watch for a video of John Batdorf and Junior Vasquez performing “For What It’s Worth”, on this page in a week or two.

Visit John Batdorf’s website:  http://johnbatdorfmusic.com/soundtraxlyric.html
Find him on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Batdorf-Music/279578037051

5th Annual Harvest Moon concert!
Friday 9/5/2014 with The Hat Trick
Mike Pritchard, Mark Wallney,
and Mike Boyd

Our 5th annual Harvest Moon party!

Sold Out!

Just like last year, this year’s event sold out in about 24 hours.  And the concert was well worth all the anticipation.  Mike, Mark, & Mike never sounded better!  Their vocals were spot-on, and the musicianship was unsurpassed.  And they performed several new songs they have never done in public before.  We can’t wait for next year!  In the meantime, check back here in the next few weeks for a few videos from this 5th annual Harvest Moon concert.

3rd Annual Harvest Moon House Concert

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 5 years since we first hosted The Hat Trick in our living room!  This concert is our 5th annual celebration of life, love, and friends, at the time of each fall’s Harvest moon, the full moon closest to the Autumnal equinox. Often, the harvest moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons, so it’s a great time to enjoy a romantic concert. And it marks the beginning of the change of seasons, reminding us of the passing of time, and how important it is to share our time with those we love.

The inspiration for this extra-special house concert is taken from Neil Young’s song “Harvest Moon”, which The Hat Trick performs better than ‘ol Neil himself.

TheHatTrick2No disrespect to Neil Young, but let’s face it, Mike Pritchard’s voice is so much smoother and stronger than Neil’s warbly falsetto, and Mark Wallney’s guitar mastery is similarly superior. Their performance of this romantic and seasonally appropriate song sets the stage for a relaxing evening of undeniable musical and vocal talent by Mark Wallney, Mike Pritchard and Mike Boyd.

The Hat Trick needs no introduction to Lubbock music fans, as these guys are literally musical legends in Lubbock. All three have musical chops and talent that anyone can appreciate, a point well-proven when none other than the legendary Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, and Nash and The Hollies) joined The Hat Trick on stage to perform with them! As Mike Pritchard would later say, “It was surreal performing “Bus Stop” with they guy who wrote it!” Mark Wallney added “Wow, we are still excited about the show and honestly fulfilled one of our childhood dreams, playing with one of our greatest music heroes. Most of you know that CSN is one of our biggest influences that even got the Hat Trick started in the first place.”

Here is a video of their performance of “Helplessly Hoping” from their 2013 HubCityMusic.com Harvest Moon house concert:

Here is a video of these guys performing “Harvest Moon” at the prior year’s HubCityMusic.com annual Harvest Moon house concert on 9/29/2012:

Wendy Colonna
Friday June 13, 2014

Wendy ColonnaWendy Colonna is one of our favorite musicians. A blend of blues, rock, soul and folk, Wendy has a surprise waiting around the corner with every song. She will take you from sultry and slow, to rockin’ and rollin’, and everywhere in between, with an emotional delivery that few artists ever even attempt. She gets lost in her delivery, and believe me, you will too.

Naturally, we feel like all of our house concerts are “don’t miss” events. But this one was truly special. Accompanied by the versatile musical genius Cary Banks, Wendy lit up the stage, with emotive energy that matched the breadth and depth of her songwriting.  There’s just no one genre to contain this lady, and she brought us through a range of emotions and feelings, ranging from the upbeat joy of her surprise hit, “A Happy Song”, through the sultry recall of another era in “Dance With the Moon”, to the decidedly Texas-influenced “Texas Summer Love”.  As if that weren’t enough variety, she swung us to another shade of the musical spectrum with the ballad “Bring Me Water”, and definitely got the house rocking with “Dirty Things”.  And she kept us riding this roller coaster of emotional diversity all night long.

Wendy Colonna is on her way to a very special place, all her own, in the music industry.  If you haven’t hitched your musical exposure to her star yet, get on board now.  It will be a wonderful ride!

Visit www.WendyColonna.com to learn more.  If you would like to support Wendy and have special access to new music, videos, and other perks not available to the general public, you can support her directly at www.patronism.com/WendyColonna

Update on 6/12/2014 – Wendy’s song from the Coca-Cola commercial has now been released as a full-length single!  Get “A Happy Song” on CD Baby at this link: https://origin.cdbaby.com/cd/wendycolonna22

Breaking News!  Wendy has just announced that Starbucks Coffee has requested songs from her new CD, Nectar, for spin in their stores Nationwide.  How cool is that!  Be sure to listen for Wendy next time you’re in a Starbucks, and be sure to come to her HubCityMusic.com house concert June 13th!

MORE Breaking News!  Wendy was the featured guest on WFUV’s “Sunday Breakfast” show in New York City on Sunday 5/18. John Platt did a great interview, and Wendy played some of her favorite tunes. Give a listen! Here’s the link: http://www.wfuv.org/audio/archives/fuv-live/wendy-colonna-sunday-breakfast-2014 (Click the “Listen” button)

WOW! Still MORE Breaking News!  Coca-Cola is now airing an awesome animated television commercial in which Wendy both wrote and performs the music! Sweet! Watch it here:

Just released!  Wendy’s new “Dirty Things” music video.  This is a fun video!  Watch it here:

Here, in one of my favorite performances ever, Austin’s Wendy Colonna performs her original “Vacancy” at a previous HubCityMusic.com house concert.