"The world tour began with a two-day drive to a house concert in Media, PA on April 12th. I had a wonderful evening, and my hosts were a joy to work with. For those of you who do not know what a house concert is, let me explain. A house concert is literally a concert in a private home. It is a VERY intimate evening with the artist. I know a lot of artists that hate doing them because of this intimacy, and I used to be one of them. But I have had a major change of heart. In fact, I now love doing house concerts.

I love doing them for a couple of reasons. For one, I have grown to enjoy the intimacy of performing in a living room without a sound system. It really gives my songs a workout, and I am proud that they hold up in this type of no frills situation. I guess I have grown as a performer over the last year or two, because I used to be terrified of playing without a PA, in fact, I couldn't do it. I guess I used to need the distance a sound system created between the audience and me but now I don't miss it when it's not there. I love stripped down naked songs that can stand on their own without any crutches.

 

I like playing in living rooms because people really listen when they come to a house concert (at least that's been my experience so far). People pay to come sit down and listen to songs that they most likely have not heard before, and this requires effort on their part. People who attend house concerts are willing to meet the artist half way, and I for one am grateful to find people like this. In bars, a lot of the audience is there to drink, and when they drink they want spirited, happy songs, which is fine, but I don't write that way. And so I find it very hard to play in bars in America. I don't know how to keep an audience attention when they are full of booze. At a house concert, they may drink a few beers or some wine, but they are there to listen. I guess house concerts have become one of my favorite type of situations to play in, they just work great for the type of music that I do. And to think they used to scare the hell out of me."