While each concert is different, here’s a rundown and things you may want to know when you come to a house concert at Forest of Bliss.
About concert day
The room and capacity
Our living room holds 35 seats. As we receive your RSVPs, we’ll hold a chair for you, count on your donation, and post the number of seats remaining on the concert page if there are few left.
What’s the vibe?
Come a little early, get a good seat, meet some new friends. And usually, the artists stay for informal chat afterwards. This is a relaxed hang with friends, neighbors, and music lovers, which describes you, whether we have met you before or not.
Sometimes we may be introducing artists you don’t know. We like it when that happens. We’re interested in supporting musicians on their way in the world, people that we think bring genuine feeling to their writing, playing, and performing. We hope there will be some happy surprises.
It’s BYOB and share with others. We’ll have cups and water for you. And Laurelyn bakes (outstanding) cookies. She used to bake them as her full time job, so these are not your mother’s cookies!
There’s no real Talent / Audience divide here. In fact, we think these afternoons are a way to connect folks, because we’re all kind of amazing in what we share and ways we’re different. You’re welcome here.
Relax, hang, chat!
How should I make my suggested donation?
One hundred percent of the donations – a.k.a. “tickets” – goes to the artists. So, cash is king!
Bring some folding money with you when you come. If you love the music you can tip the band. Think of your donation and any additional tip as a tax-free gift to the artists.
What if I can’t make it?
One of the questions I gingerly ask musicians who play here is, “How’s it going, this making a living thing?” Honestly, I worry about these folks. They work so hard, have accomplished so much, and offer us much more than I can give them. A lot of the other music in our lives is a commodity – unlimited and “free.” But we started hosting artists here because we want to have a relationship with these folks and their music.
Our request to you is to treat your connection with these artists as a relationship, too. Decide ahead of time that your RSVP is more than agreeing to pay for a seat. This is human-to-human exchange, a warm handshake, a friendly embrace. Think of your RSVP as a firm commitment to be present. Your absence also matters. If you cannot it make it – for any reason, no guilt – commit to support the artists anyway.
If you have to cancel your RSVP, we’ll offer you a couple ways to pay for your seat remotely. We know you have the best intentions, and we know very well that stuff happens.
Will there be merch? You know, tee shirts, CDs, vinyl, stickers?
We hope so! We encourage artists to bring their recordings and any other cool stuff they’ve produced for sale. Get ’em signed? I bet you can.
Where is the concert, exactly?
Carlisle, MA. And about one week before the date, we’ll email you a reminder note with the street address and some parking advice. If you received a concert announcement by email, the address can be found at the bottom of that note.
Accessibility
Parking is on the street. The driveway inclines to the house. There’s one step to enter the house and four steps up the living room where the music happens. If you want help negotiating this terrain, let us know. We’ll do anything we can.
More questions? Go to Contact and send us a note.
