Night&Day cover: Mi casa es su casa

House-concert hosts open their doors for concerts that are literally in your face –'The interaction between audience and artist is really personal'

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 16, 2006

Back before the House of Blues and Ticketmaster were even twinkles in a corporate executive's eye, home entertainment consisted of friends and family sitting around playing music together. The household was the home of music. From families gathering around the piano to sing hymns to scraggly hippies hosting impromptu jam sessions, live music has always thrived in the homes of music fans. Since the advent of the modern music venue, live music moved from homes to clubs. But despite the obvious bonuses of large sound systems and big-name acts, the concert-going club experience does have its downsides.

Performers have to split proceeds with clubs. Bands often run off the stage and jump into tour vans, leaving only a cloud of dust in their wake without any personal interaction with the audience.

Noisy crowds, impersonal settings and high ticket prices are driving audiences out of traditional music spaces and back into homes. In San Diego County, a handful of homeowners host concerts, harking back to a less-corporate music world.

“House concerts used to happen back in the days of the Kingston Trio; even Bob Dylan played a lot of house concerts,” said Jeff Berkley, a local musician who has helped start more than 25 house-concert venues in California. “A lot of that '60s folk music was spawned by these events. 'Come on over and pick a spell.' You know what I mean? That's where house concerts' roots are.”

After touring the country, San Diego folk duo Berkley Hart noticed the nationwide trend of people hosting concerts in their homes. The duo played a few house concerts and the experience stuck with them. After realizing the potential in terms of gaining new fans, the duo started organizing house concerts in San Diego and the rest of California.

“The interaction between audience and artist is really personal,” said Berkley. “The people that experience us at house concerts are always returning fans, and they're fans for life. They never stop coming to your shows after that because they've been turned on in such a personal way.”

Not only do artists gain devout fans, they also make more money with less stress than regular music venues.

“From the artist's perspective, there is no soundcheck or sound system at most of them,” said Berkley. “So, we just walk into the room with our instruments and everything is all set up for us. Then, at the end of the night – and this is not meant in a selfish way – they hand us all the cash that (the homeowner host) collected at the door.”

Lizzie Wann, a local live music promoter and poet, helps Berkley Hart set up new house-concert venues. If someone expresses an interest in hosting a show, Wann can assist in the process. Said Berkley: “Lizzie Wann – the house-concerts guru – trains our house-concert hosts on ways to make it really inexpensive for them.”

“We've developed a guideline sheet – six or seven pages of what our expectations are of the show and giving the potential host an idea of what they need to do to prepare,” said Wann about the learning curve of hosting shows.

Jimmy Duke has been hosting shows at his home in El Cajon since 1998. His Dark Thirty Productions – named for the starting time of all shows, a half an hour after dark – has brought traditional string music and folk artists like Hot Club of Cowtown, Chris Smither and Louise Taylor into his home. But his musical tastes are not limited to folk music.

“Our performances also include jazz, country, classical, opera, pop, bluegrass, Western and world music. Each style of music and its performers bring different groups of supporters to my house. But the mainstay is the large number who have become friends through this project and the local musicians who believe in what we are trying to do.”

For Duke and the other house-concert hosts, this is a labor of love.

“Hosting house concerts is a lot of work and expense,” said Duke, who has built a stage in his living room complete with light and a sound system. “It entails more than setting up a few chairs and making a pot of coffee. Of course, not all house-concert hosts get as carried away as I have been. But the enjoyment of making contact with old friends and meeting new people who love music is spiritually rewarding enough to make the effort worthwhile.”

Chris Clarke – a musician who hosts shows at his home in San Diego's Kensington neighborhood – understands the trials and tribulations of the modern musician trying to make a living.

“I'm also a musician,” said Clarke, who plays guitar, mandolin and upright bass with his old-time string band trio, Monroe Avenue String Band. “I understand very well the financial aspect of the profession and how difficult it is to get audiences engaged, especially out at bars.

“House concerts provide musicians a decent paying night as well as an audience that's engaged. An added bonus is every now and then I get to sit in with musicians in my living room. It's certainly not why I (host concerts), but it is a lot of fun.”

When you boil it down to its essence, the key ingredient to house concerts' success is developing the emotional interaction between musician and audience.

“People come to the shows and they feel like they know the artists, and in some ways they do,” said Wann, who also hosts shows at her own home. “They end up chatting afterward or during the break. So, it's just a much more real connection to the music and the artists.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.


FIND AN ACT AND PLUNK YOUR MONEY DOWN
There are basically two kinds of house concerts: the private parties hosted just for friends and the house concerts open to the public. Here are some of the house-concert venues in San Diego County:

Dark Thirty Productions; run by Jimmy Duke; ww.darkthirty.com; (619) 443-9622; e-mail, jimmyduke@cox.net:

The Buccaneers – 7:30 tonight; $15

Venice (the Lennon Boys) – March 25; $20

Whit Smith's Hot Jazz Caravan – May 7, $20

Chris Calloway – May 21; $20

Jeff Berkley: “Jimmy does a great job. Jimmy's is very intimate, very professional. He's got a stage and lights.”

Chris Clarke: “Within a few months of moving to San Diego, I went out to Jimmy Duke's house. My tendency is to immediately try and figure out how things are run, how it's done and it works. It seemed like Jimmy put a lot into making it a performance as opposed to a party at someone's house. It was very much all about listening, the music, the performance, the artistry and the songwriting. That was the focus.”

Canyonfolk House Concerts; run by Bill and Shirlee McAndrews; www.canyonfolkhouseconcerts.com; (619) 659-5753; e-mail, canyonfolk@cox.net:

Berkley Hart – May 13; $15

Peggy Watson – July 29; $15

Steve Poltz – Sept. 30; $15

Tim Flannery – Nov. 11; $15

Joel Rafael – January, 2007; $15

Berkley: “We were their first act. Their house burned down in the Harbison Canyon fires. They just rebuilt it, and they actually put in the plans a design to set it up for house concerts. It's a blast. It's always our core group of fans. Those people love music, with all of their heart and soul.”

Clarke House Concerts; run by Chris Clarke; clarkehouseconcerts.com; (619) 291-4954; e-mail, stringmusic@gmail.com:

Chris Clarke doesn't have concerts booked for the next few months, but has plans to add more shows to this year's schedule. Check his Web site for updates.

Berkley: “That's also a Berkley Hart House Concert Revolution (venue). The Clarkes, they are lovers of music. Chris has gotten a lot more involved in bluegrass since starting it, because that's their real love. They like folk music, but their love and passion is all about bluegrass. He's brought in some pretty heavy bluegrass cats. But he also has Gregory Page and us at it too. They've got a really cool old house. They're a young couple, so the audience is very young.”

Meeting Grace; run by Lizzie Wann; meetinggrace.com; (619) 787-8242;e-mail, lizzie@meetinggrace.com:

The Dreamsicles – 8 tonight; $15

Dana Cooper – April 20; $15

Berkley Hart – May 14; $15

Calman Hart: “Lizzie's a poet, so she tends to draw a lot of people who are very artsy. So they're way into the words. It's interesting. You get a different crowd depending on what part of the town or what part of the county you're in. The crowd you're going to get out at Canyonfolk is different from the crowd that shows up at Meeting Grace (urban).”

Berkley: “It's urban. There's a bar across the street. And you can really hear the sounds of the city outside as the show is happening. It's an old San Diego Craftsman home, so it's all hardwood floors. The thing was built in 1918.”

– CHRIS NIXON


HOW THE INTERNET MAKES IT ALL POSSIBLE
Over the 12 years since the Internet has been changing the way we communicate, the information superhighway has played a key role in bringing the hootenanny into the 21st century.

Online booking and ticket sales through e-mail allow house-concert hosts to reach out to new artists and audiences. Hosts also can post schedules and other information on homemade Web sites, spreading the word through technology.

“I would say this would be impossible to do without the Internet,” said local musician Jeff Berkley. “When Berkley Hart started, we had a snail-mail mailing list, and it was so expensive. When (technology) turned the corner and everyone got e-mail, it leveled the playing field.

“And it's the same thing with house concerts. People can literally buy tickets and make reservations online. The address can be sent out only to people who have tickets.”

The Internet has made keeping music fans informed and booking artists easier than ever, according to local house-concert host Chris Clarke.

“As far as interacting with the audience, it's all via the Web and e-mail,” said Clarke, who hosts shows at his Kensington home. “That's how the majority of the people who attend are informed. I do have a phone list for folks who do not have Internet access, and I will give them courtesy calls from time to time. For booking artists, it's really essential.”

– CHRIS NIXON

The greening o' the street: ShamRock 2006

The Gaslamp Quarter lays down a carpet of AstroTurf for ShamRock bash

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 16, 2006

The saying goes: “Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.” Maybe, but not everybody's St. Patrick, a man credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. March 17 marks the day of St. Patrick's death in 462. It's also the day Americans figured it would be a good day to drink lots of green beer. Go figure.

San Diego took it one step further, covering the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter with AstroTurf and throwing a party downtown and it's been going that way for the past decade.

This year ShamRock rolls out the green carpet for an expected 10,000 to 15,000 party-goers, with DJs and live music to help celebrate Irish heritage (even if you're not Irish) for just one day.

“From the start I actually came to the (Gaslamp Quarter Historical) Foundation with the idea of the block party, the AstroTurf on the street, the name, concept,” said Laurel McFarlane, president of McFarlane Promotions.

ShamRock has booked groups like Flogging Molly and the Young Dubliners to headline the event in years past. The creative booking and top-notch bands give the festival substance.

“We try and keep it Irish-based, but more on the rock side then the traditional side,” said McFarlane. “However, we know people do like the dancing so we always start the block party off with the traditional Irish dancing and then build momentum from that point on.”

McFarlane's one hope, of course, is that people have a good time.

“We just want (people) to be happy and have a great time running around on all that AstroTurf,” she said. “People seem to always just have a great time at this block party more then any other event and leave feeling as if they really had a great St. Patrick's Day.”

The Fenians (Irish rock), the Downs Family (punk) and Skelpin (Irish fiddle music) will head the cast of characters holding down the main stage this year.

Headed by fiddler Patric Petri, the quintet Skelpin combines traditional Irish tunes with Spanish flamenco overtones.

“I've been playing fiddle since I was roughly 4,” said Petrie, who comes by her musical tendencies honestly. “You know, my family has been part of traditional Irish music for at least the last 150 years.”

Petrie – along with Tim Foley (Uilleann pipes, whistle, bodhran, guitar, saxophone, vocals), David Maldonado (flamenco guitar, mandolin), Hector Maldonado (guitar, bass, vocals) and Rowshan Dowlatabadi (button accordion, darbuka, bodhran) – recently returned from a tour of Japan in support of the 2005 release “Rua/Roja.”

St. Patrick's Day has a deeper meaning for the fiddler with Irish roots.

“For some people, it's just an excuse for partying until you puke,” said Petrie. “For my family, it's a day of celebration. Slightly more than one hundred years ago, there were signs everywhere saying, 'No Irish Need Apply.' Through famine and persecution, we've persevered.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Tina Dico expands beyond world of Denmark, Zero 7

Singer Tina Dico, straight outta Denmark

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 16, 2006

Since growing up in Denmark, vocalist Tina Dico's world keeps expanding as more music fans worldwide gain exposure to her simple, sultry vocals.

The daughter of a nurse and carpenter raised in her country's second largest city Arhus, the 27-year-old soulful singer found an American and European audience over the past few years working with producers Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns in Zero 7.

But her track record reaches beyond the high-profile collaborations. Dico started her own record label (Finest Gramophone) in 2000, recording a couple of critically acclaimed discs in her homeland.

“Zero 7 was always a side project for me,” said Dico, currently on tour supporting her latest release “In the Red.” “I had already released two albums in my home country when I started working with them.”

While singing on Zero 7's 2003 disc “When It Falls,” and hitting the road on the subsequent tour, Dico learned some serious lessons hanging with the British downtempo group.

“Most important to me, it was amazing to get insight on the lives of artists signed to major labels,” recalled Dico. “How does it all work? What kinds of problems do they face and how much do they have to compromise? It was very inspiring for me, because they were really adamant about what they wanted to do. It was good for me to see that it is possible to not get lost in the big system and just be yourself.”

Despite a long list of influences and influential musical experiences, Dico has focused on remaining true to her roots in the singer-songwriter tradition: “I suppose my guitar is my natural element at the end of the day. That is the tradition I grew up with as well, listening to Dylan and (Leonard) Cohen.”

After signing to a major label in Denmark, Dico attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music but wasn't a good student. Instead of conforming to the school's idea of singing (“jazzy vibrato” as she describes it), the young musician instead moved to London with her guitar and a guitar case full of songs.

After recording and touring with Hardaker and Binns, Dico set off to record her first post-Zero 7 album. Along with Zero 7 collaborators Mozez, Sophie Barker and Sia Furler (coming to the Casbah April 1), the partnership of Binns and Hardaker provided a springboard to bring her own music to new and larger crowds. The resulting album, “In the Red,” showcases Dico's sweet and pure vocals, surrounded by subtle and bittersweet pop accented by electronic touches and lush production.

In contrast, Dico is traveling with just her guitar on this tour, which stops at the Casbah Sunday. Unlike her last stop in San Diego (at 4th & B with Zero 7), Dico will be center-stage.

“I suppose the nerve-racking part of being on your own is you have to hold everything together,” said Dico. “When there are 10 people onstage you can just drift away.”

While she's only 27, Dico's success hasn't come suddenly, so she's been able to stay focused and centered on the most important aspects of her career: singing, songwriting and performing.

“Fortunately, it has been a very healthy slow buildup in a way,” said Dico. “It's not something that's come out of the blue. It's slowly been getting busier and busier over the past three years, so it feels kind of natural now. Having said that, it is something that's really hard and you have to give yourself to it 100 percent.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Add it up: Minus the Bear

Plus signs

'Minus the Bear' shows its prowess – on record, and on stage

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 9, 2006

Erin Tate – drummer for the Seattle band Minus the Bear – sounds like a man trying to deal with a surreal scene unfolding around him. His band is in the middle of a video shoot for “Pachuca Sunrise,” the second single from the band's second full-length album “Menos El Oso.” And the experience is getting a little bizarre.

“All of our dads are here to be a part of the video,” said Tate. “They're all shooting marbles right now like a bunch of kids. It's pretty hilarious. I'm not a huge fan of seeing myself on camera, so it's a little awkward and weird (shooting a video). There are 15 people running around to make sure you look good in your video, and they don't even know your name.”

A lot more people are starting to recognize Tate's name, or at least his band's. On the heels of the beautifully crafted “Menos El Oso,” there's a buzz around Minus the Bear. And rightly so.

By recording most of the album at lead singer Jake Snider's home, Minus the Bear freed itself to experiment with sound and get just the record it was looking for: “We'd spend seven hours on a guitar tone to make sure it was the exact tone that we wanted.”

Tate and bandmates Cory Murchy (bass), Dave Knudson (guitar) and Snider (vocals, guitar) create layers of textured sounds without losing their rock punch. Balancing deft musicianship and sweet pop hooks, “Menos El Oso” ranks among last year's best rock albums. The band's Web site describes Minus the Bear's music as “poppy, driving, techy, indie rock,” summing it up nicely.

“El Torrente” – one of the standout tracks on the new album – stands as a moment of calm in the middle of a stormy record. Over a placid downtempo background, Snider tells the story of a seasoned detective troubled by a homicide crime scene. He's upset because the girl involved is the same age as his own daughter. The detective hopes he can shield his daughter from the evil things he's seen: Please let my girl go without knowing what I know / Don't let her read this day on my face when I come home.

“Jake has a way of telling a story with his lyrics,” said Tate. “He's an English major, so he tends to write lyrics with stories about fictional characters. 'El Torrente' is definitely a fictional story.”

“That song is obviously very different from a lot of the other songs on the record,” said Tate. “It's one of my favorites. It's funny: When the record came out, all we heard from everyone as far as fans was how they hated that song. They really ragged on it. We were just trying to do something different. It's a story about a detective, so people were like: 'What is this, CSI Seattle or something?' A lot of our friends think it's the best song on the record.”

Minus the Bear sold out its last show at the Casbah a few months back. As most local music fans know, sell out the Casbah and you're on your way to more listeners and bigger paydays. Despite the groundswell of interest in the band, Tate doesn't expect a rock star lifestyle.

“We don't even think about reaching a bigger audience: We just play,” he said. “Bigger audiences generate more revenue, which leads to an easier quality of life. So it's the kind of thing you want – in theory. But we're not dying to achieve stardom.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Low emerges from northern Minnesota with sharp new album

Road trips a high point in the Low life

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 2, 2006

After a few weeks on the road, indie rock trio Low is heading home to the frosty confines of Duluth, Minn. Guitarist Alan Sparhawk – along with his wife, Mimi Parker (drums), and Zak Sally (bass) – talk about the family road trip that is a Low tour.

“Our eldest is almost 6, and she's been coming with us since she was 6 or 8 months old,” said Sparhawk, who brings his two children on the road with him everywhere the band travels. “We have a nanny. We're real lucky that we can get out and do this without losing our shirts. We're a family and we just try and do everything we can together.”

Despite the hardships, Sparhawk feels touring as a family is important to his band's existence.

“We generally enjoy being on tour,” said the singer-guitarist. “We feel like it's important for us and integral to who we are. We toured a lot when we started out, and it was the best way for us to progress and reach bigger audiences.”

The band is currently touring behind “The Great Destroyer,” one of the better releases to emerge from 2005. On the group's first album for SubPop records (its eighth overall), the threesome paired with Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann. The result finds Low exploring a more aggressive sound compared with the hushed mesmerizing music that gained the band notoriety.

Much like Low's touring mentality, “The Great Destroyer” emerged from Sparhawk and Parker's family first mentality.

“We actually tracked a lot of the album at home,” said Sparhawk. “We have a reel-to-reel eight-track machine we use. From early on, we've always had some form of recording device at home. At the same time, I really like working with people who really know how to use that stuff. It makes a big difference.”

Part of Low's charm comes from the vocal pairing of Parker and Saparhawk, whose harmonies add emotional depth to the band's stripped-down rock sound. The pair's seeds were sown in a small community outside the northern Minnesota outpost of Fargo.

“I've actually known Mim since we were in fourth grade,” said Sparhawk. “We grew up in a smaller community. It was just a small class, so basically you're with the same kids through grade school, junior high and high school. We started dating when we were 16.”

Like any spouse, Sparhawk can't help but spill a story about Mimi's singing resumé before Low.

“Mimi had been singing a lot,” said Sparhawk with a chuckle. “She and her sisters used to sing a lot. Her mother would take out the accordion, dress them in matching outfits and make them entertain friends.”

After high school, the duo moved to Duluth to attend college. Parker stayed in school while Sparhawk began to tour with bands and cut his teeth in the music business: “We'd sit around and sing songs, but we didn't really go for it as far as working together until after we were married.”

Low made noise on the indie circuit with its combination of angelic vocals intertwining with low-fi song structures. Despite the comparably supercharged intensity of “The Great Destroyer,” the band still finds its artistic ground zero in its vocal harmonies.

“I wasn't even singing or writing songs until we started Low, so Mim was always the harmony,” said Sparhawk, who like a good spouse knows when to give credit to his wife. “I would say Mim is really the key when it comes to the vocals. I've always struggled with singing. Over the years, I've learned a little bit more and gotten a little bit better. She's a big factor in how our vocals work together.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Big fish in his own pond

Matt Pond et al. are gaining fans from media play as well as a new, joyful sound

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 2, 2006

'Is there a reason we're swerving so much?” barks Matt Pond at the undisclosed band member driving his van. “It's windy? Well, when it's windy we slow down.” Pond – along with Brian Pearl (guitar, piano), Dan Crowell (drums), Daniel Mitha (bass), Dana Feder (cello) and Steve Jewett (guitar) – are traveling from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati as the band Matt Pond PA.

“It was never my intention to be here in a van telling people to slow down on the way to a show,” jokes Pond, the hum of the van – probably moving slower at this point – in the background. “My intention was probably to be a history professor or something much quieter and calmer. I think I just wanted the brown tweed jacket and the pipe. I could have it, but it wouldn't work in the van. I think everyone would object to the pipe smoking.”

To give Pond credit, he'd just woken up from a midday nap to find a journalist from San Diego on his cell phone and his tour van skittering along a Midwestern back road.

As Pond and his band's music filters into the public consciousness, American audiences are starting to get a far more pleasant wake-up call. The group's 2005 album, “Several Arrows Later,” finds it stepping away from its uptight intellectual indie rock background, putting forth a more joyful set of tunes. Everything sounds more relaxed, resulting on a truly beautiful and accessible record.

As a testament to Matt Pond PA's ability to reach a mainstream audience, the quintet can add its name to the ever-expanding roster of excellent bands gracing the soundtrack of TV's “The O.C.”

Matt Pond the man hails from New Hampshire. Matt Pond PA the band started in Philadelphia in 1998. After numerous lineup changes, the group calls Brooklyn home after moving to New York in 2003. Asked about his band's name, Pond takes a second to reflect on his changing perspective on his music and his career.

“We have a strong Pennsylvanian following,” noted Pond, after playing Pittsburgh the night before. “I think they're just as confused as everybody else by our name. I used to like the name of our band because I think I enjoyed the confusion and the alienation it caused. But now, I think we're just going to stay with this name. So we're not going to be Matt Pond NY anytime soon.”

In Matt Pond PA's previous eight albums, the string arrangement stood front and center alongside Pond's clever songwriting. On “Several Arrows Later,” the work of cellist Eve Miller (Rachel's) and violinist Margaret White (Sparklehorse, Comas) integrates seamlessly with catchy pop hooks and sharp interplay between all five band members. Cellist Feder now tours with the band.

“We've always had cellists in the band so it sounds like we really concentrated on strings,” said Pond. “It's a really cool instrument to work with, it blends well. In a larger sense, we try to incorporate orchestration, not just strings but all kinds of instruments, especially on the last record.”

Matt Pond PA's ninth album displays a pleasing balance between Pond's sweet vocals, subtle strings, wistful pedal steel, upbeat drumming and delicate guitar lines. The balancing act found other band members stepping up to take charge: “For the last record, Brian and Dan put a lot into it in terms of arranging and putting their energy into it. They really treated it as their own, which it is.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.