A new concert series is looking to move into Penticton and make itself at home.
Home Routes is North America’s only house concert circuit and they are looking for volunteer hosts. A national non-profit arts organization dedicated to popularizing the house concert experience across the country and bring live music performances to rural and remote communities as well as urban centres throughout Canada, connecting professional artists with audiences.
Home Routes volunteers bring top-notch Canadian and international musicians to perform in their communities and the organization is seeking a limited number of new volunteer hosts across Canada for the upcoming season.
House concerts are just what they sound like, a complete concert performance with professional musicians located directly in the biggest room of a house, giving audiences an up close and personal experience along with an opportunity to meet the artists and hear the stories behind their songs.
House concerts are not free events. These shows are delivered by professional touring artists who have spent their lifetime learning their trade. House concerts have a triple function. They support artists’ ability to make a living, they make music accessible on a grass roots level, and lastly, they connect people; a social engine that builds community.
Admission is charged at the door. The artist keeps the admission of the shows as well as money from their record sales. All revenue from ticket and product sales from every concert goes directly to the performers. Volunteer hosts contribute by supplying board and room for the artists, and promoting the shows in their community through their personal contacts, by phone, email and word of mouth.
Concert hosts invite their friends, family and community to their home to enjoy a series of six concerts each season, part of a network of more than 200 volunteers in over 160 communities from across the country. Each act performs 12 concerts in two weeks and more than 90 acts will tour through 14 regions during 2015-16, performing for more than 25,000 audience members.
Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous was formed in 2007 with the support of folk music legend Mitch Podolak, who helped found the Winnipeg and Vancouver Folk Festivals, as well as the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival.
To find out more about Home Routes or to volunteer, visit them online at homeroutes.ca or contact Selena Bewsky at info@homeroutes.ca.
