Musicians looking to play a concert in your living room

A tour company that pairs musicians with people willing to use their houses as concert venues is trying to expand to the Atlantic provinces.

Home Routes, theWinnipeg-based company, has put on thousands of shows in Western Canada, and is now looking for Islanders who are interested in hosting a concert, and putting up an artist.

Everyone is right there in the room together and really everyone contributes to the experience.- Leonard Podolak

Leonard Podolak, executive director for Home Routes, says the experience is unique for both the artist and their audience.

"The idea of this is to create intimate, focused, respectful performance spaces for artists and really it's the artists we're doing it for," he said.

Mini venues

Podolak saidthe group is looking for houses that can have at least 25 people in the audience so that with $20 tickets, the artists makea fair wage.

Home Routes takes 15 per cent commission from ticket and merchandise sales and the rest goes to the artist.

He said people usually move some furniture around, fill their living room with fold-up chairs and invite friends for a party.

"Literally like a mini concert venue. And none of our shows have PA systems, they're all acoustic and it's completely intimate, there's no fourth wall between the artist and the audience," Podolak said.

"Everyone is right there in the room together and really everyone contributes to the experience."

Podolaksaid most shows involve two 45-minute sets, and people often turn the evening into a potluck so during the intermission they can mingle with each other and the performer.

"Unlike most shows where the artist will you know go backstage and hide away until the second half. Basically the audience would get to relate with the artist just like they're relating with the other neighbours and friends that are there at the show," he said.

"It really takes a lot of airs out of what musicians do in the sense that people get to see that they're just regular human beings doing their thing."

If you're interested in hosting, visit the Home Routes website.

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