I had an extremely interesting and invigorating conversation today with a member of my church and a local organizer.  We talked about many things, one of which ended up being this idea of house concerts.  Since my friend suggested this to me, I’ve been thinking and thinking about it.  It won’t escape me, and that’s a sign of something.

Tonight, I asked myself, “Is this even a good idea?”  I mean, it’s a reasonable question. If I’m never going to be on a big-time label, I need a way to share the music I write.  I need a way to artistically communicate with people.  And every time I imagine myself in a big stadium playing for thousands and thousands of people, it makes no sense.

Because I want to talk to the people listening to my music.
I want to see their faces.
And I want them to see the faces of the people listening along with them.

Here’s my attempt at answering my question.  It’s semi-mathematical, and not rigorous, but it’s an outline.  If ever I am called upon to complete it, I will.  But really, I’d rather just do it and tell you about it…anyway, here goes.

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CLAIM: House concerts are a way for a community/family to experience music in a way that facilitates authentic and holistic transformation

Situation: a community and time in which God is revealed.
For every situation, there is an appropriate response to God’s revelation.

Good art is situational. Good music is situational; that is, good music is aware of the community and time in which it exists:

• Ps137.1-6: When that situation is lament.
• Ps 84.1: When that situation is longing.
• Ps40.1-3: When that situation is redemption.
• Ps 33.1-7: When that situation is remembrance.

One way to make art that accurately responds to a situation is to make that art accessible to the affected community.

Community = family = tribe (via Bryan Kim).
Families can loosely be characterized by 4 qualities…

• Values: The things that the family cares about in which it invests
• Ethic: The general governing behaviors of the family
• Discourse: An important subset of ethic, specifically focused on the family’s language
• Expression: The outpouring of the family’s experience, both original or representative

The things that happen in the house are what define and shape the family’s values, ethic, discourse, and expression.  A family’s exposure to situational art via the house concert can make space for God to transform the family, both its people and its function.

• SETTING: The venue in which you perform your music says a lot about your intentions as an artist, as well as the intentions of your art.  The house setting is crucial because it implies that the artist wants to be seen and heard, and that the artist wants their art to be seen and heard.
• CONVERSATION: The house setting also implies a level of actual human interaction among the attendees; the discourse of the evening is actually important to the evening itself.
• THEME: Each concert needs to have a theme that is relevant to the artist, community, or (ideally) both that frames the music and (at least part of) the conversation.
• MONEY: The artist should be compensated for the work that they do in creating the art and visioning for the space.   But, the community that is gathered to receive the art should also be able to use the evening to invest in something in which they have (or want to have) relational and monetary capital (a non-profit organization, individuals that are in need, a special project, etc.).
• HOSPITALITY: The setting is not a formality.  There are elements of hospitality that are possible in a house that aren’t possible in a theatre, arena, etc.  There should be great food, interesting ambience, and people making sure that every individual is comfortable.

At the end of the day, if art is received in the right spaces with the right people, I believe that transformation is imminent.   Too much attention is placed on the aesthetics of the art instead of the details of how it is received.  It’s really easy to make art that makes people like you.  But the artists who desire to have their art transcend themselves can’t just make good art.  We have to place good art in good spaces.