[Dixielandjazz] Playing in People's Homes.

[Marek Boym]

How true!  I know that our Good Time Jazz does it.  Not sure about
Isradixie, but it does play at private functions.
SUPPORT LIVE JAZZ
Cheers

On 08/06/2008, Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
> As some Dixieland bands know, in home parties work just as well for us as
> they do for the Rocker in the story below. Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.,
> are a very viable event for us. Take a look at the website of "Concerts in
> Your Home" mentioned below if you are not booking yourself.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.barbonestreet.com
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
> June 8, 2008 - NY TIMES  by Kristina Shevory
> When the Mosh Pit Is Your Sofa
>
> IT had come to this. On a recent Saturday afternoon, Pat DiNizio, the lead
> singer of the Smithereens, was singing his greatest hits in front of a
> living-room fireplace in Short Hills, N.J. Hired to celebrate a fan's 40th
> birthday, Mr. DiNizio, 53, thought he would be performing for devotees who
> knew his '80s hits like "A Girl Like You." Instead, he got Romper Room.
>
> From the microphone, he told wild stories from his heyday, but kept stopping
> to censor himself because there were so many children sitting on the floor
> or in their parents' laps. At one point, Mr. DiNizio asked, "Are you O.K.
> with my weirdo stories?"
>
> "That's why we're here," someone yelled from the kitchen.
>
> There were hot dogs, balloons, cotton candy, a clown and even an inflatable
> castle in the backyard. Later, he wondered aloud if he had been upstaged.
>
> "I can't compete with hot dogs," Mr. DiNizio said.
>
> For the audience, home concerts are a way to bring a tiny bit of showbiz
> glitz into their living rooms. For performers, they are a way to connect
> with their fans, and make a living at a time of tapering music sales and
> diminishing options.
>
> "Living-room concerts have enabled me to keep my head above water in an era
> when rock and roll seems to be dying," said Mr. DiNizio, who started his
> second annual home-concert tour last month.
>
> As artists like Mr. DiNizio struggle to establish themselves or to resurrect
> former success, they're booking themselves into private homes, and inviting
> (or charging) fans to see them perform in these ad-hoc settings. Pollstar, a
> concert trade publication, does not keep track of these shows, but at least
> 6,000 are estimated to take place every year, according to Fran Snyder, the
> founder ofconcertsinyourhome.com, a Web site that connects artists and
> hosts.
>
> While record companies continue to struggle financially — album sales
> plummeted 15 percent to $500.5 million last year, according to Nielsen
> SoundScan — musicians are now making more money from tours than from their
> albums. Concert ticket sales climbed 8 percent last year to $3.9 billion,
> according to Pollstar.
>
> Marquee artists like Madonna and Jay-Z may be able to dump their old record
> companies and sign hundred-million-dollar deals with concert promoters. But
> musicians with less name recognition and drawing power face greater pressure
> to market themselves in unique ways.
>
> It was a long way away from Mr. DiNizio's previous success in the late '80s,
> when the Smithereens hit it big with songs like "A Girl Like You," which
> broke into the Top 40 on the Billboard chart. But their album sales tapered
> off as grunge became popular in the early 1990s. Over the years, Mr. DiNizio
> ran for a seat in the New Jersey Senate and worked as a music programmer for
> XM Satellite Radio. He has also recorded a few solo albums.
>
> The Smithereens' best-selling album, "Blown to Smithereens," has sold
> 188,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan; Mr. DiNizio's best-selling
> solo album, "Songs and Sounds," has sold 6,000 copies.
>
> Mr. DiNizio learned about the living-room circuit from another musician
> eight years ago. He sent e-mail messages to Smithereens fans to see if they
> would be interested in having home concerts. Within two weeks, he was booked
> into 90 living rooms across the country for around $2,000 a show. He rented
> an S.U.V. and for the next five months crisscrossed the country without a
> map or a roadie.
>
> Now he performs solo in around 50 living rooms a year. If a show is close to
> his home in Scotch Plains, N.J., his only expense is gas. For performances
> farther away, the hosts must pay his air fare, hotel and ground
> transportation. Sometimes, he spends the night at the home. While Mr.
> DiNizio said his fee depends on the client and location, he generally
> charges a few thousand dollars for a concert.
>
> "I don't just show up and say, 'Hi, I'm Pat,' " Mr. DiNizio said. "I arrive
> hours beforehand and get to know everyone. Before I can do the show
> successfully, I have to sell the show to everyone so they are thoroughly
> comfortable with me as a human being."
>
> Ralph Zisa of Cedar Grove, N.J., hired Mr. DiNizio to play at his home last
> month to see one of his favorite musicians up close.
>
> "We had a few bucks lying around and thought this would be a great way to
> celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary," said Mr. Zisa, 50, a field service
> engineer for CAT scan machines and a longtime Smithereens fan. "Who knows,
> maybe a year from now, I'll be able to say, 'Hey, he was at my house.' "
>
> Ruth Gerson, a folk-rock singer from New York City, started doing home
> concerts to avoid the long hours and low pay at clubs. "As a single female
> performer, I didn't have the nerve to stand up to a booking agent," said Ms.
> Gerson, who has been performing home concerts since 2000."I had to find a
> business model to operate outside of the box."
>
> Ms. Gerson said she performs in about 80 homes every year. With a minimum of
> 40 people at a house concert, and a suggested donation of $15 a person, she
> says she often makes more than she would at a club.
>
> "People always ask how I do these," she said. "But I do them because I love
> them. The host is really helping me. They pick me up, I eat, I take a
> shower, I have a good time and I make money."
>
> Most home concerts are decidedly home-grown affairs, with potluck meals,
> folding chairs, donations collected in baskets and musicians' fees that
> generally run in the hundreds or low thousands of dollars. About two-thirds
> of the shows are unadvertised, Mr. Snyder said, though some concert hosts
> use fliers and Web sites to spread the word.
>
> Concertgoers say they get to see some of their favorite artists without the
> hassle of crowds, smoky barrooms and two-drink minimums. "I don't want to
> see someone at Madison Square Garden and sit in the nosebleed section," said
> Jason Grebin, the general counsel for a real-estate company, who played host
> to Pat DiNizio at his Short Hills, N.J., home. "I like to sit up close."
>
> Phil Roy, a Philadelphia singer and songwriter who has written for Aaron
> Neville, Wyclef Jean and Ray Charles, offers home concerts where, for $100 a
> person, he also cooks a buffet dinner.
>
> Before a recent show in Grand Rapids, Mich., he assembled crostinis, seared
> chicken breasts with root vegetables and leeks, sautéed mushrooms and
> roasted fingerling potatoes. "Most musicians have to deal with set lists,"
> Mr. Roy said. "I have to go through grocery lists."
>
> When Mr. DiNizio performed at the Grebins' home last month, his setup was
> decidedly more modest than at the large concert halls where he and the
> Smithereens still occasionally play.
>
> Before the show, he walked around with a beer in hand, shooting jokes with
> some of the 100 investment bankers, lawyers and housewives who came to
> celebrate Mr. Grebin's belated 40th birthday (he is now 41), and the
> completion of renovations on the home he shares with his wife, Lorie
> Kombert-Grebin. (After nine months, they had transformed their modest ranch
> house into a McMansion.)
>
> "Someone told me this morning that the Smithereens were playing at Jason's
> house," said Howard Margolis, 42, the managing director of a private equity
> firm. "But I didn't believe them. This isn't Vegas."
>
> During intermission, a throng of people surrounded Mr. DiNizio in the living
> room to talk. He fielded their questions about old concerts and song lyrics,
> while some listeners filed out to grab a hot dog from the grill.
>
> Mr. Grebin, who had spent the first half of the concert singing along with
> Mr. DiNizio, was still singing during intermission. Mr. DiNizio walked over
> to his host and asked how he liked the show.
>
> "Dude, you're a rock star and you're in my living room," Mr. Grebin said.
> "How awesome is that?"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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