No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender: How I Made $25K On A 2-Month House Concert Tour (And How You Can Too)

This book provides the perfect blueprint for all true musicians that want to make a living in a non-traditional way that’s the most beneficial to the two most important people in the live music industry: the artist and the audience. This gives you all the steps needed to plan your next House Concert Tour. May it be rewarding!

this is a game changer. hopefully more musicians start doing this. i wish I knew about this back in 2008 when i started being a musician.

With all the years of experience I have had as a musician (about 45), I have only recently become aware of the "House Concert" phenomenon. I had done about 4 house concerts already, and I didn't believe that I could earn enough to make a living. Then I ran across Shannon doing a webinar on the topic. She was fantastic! I learned so much during the webinar, that I decided to buy her book. My plans hit a glitch when I found that the book was on Kindle and I had a nook. But, not long after that Amazon made a Kindle app available to android users, and I anxiously bought her book.I give this book 5 stars, because it was so well written and straight forward in the way it offered what turned out to be vital information! I found out that some of the things I had been doing were just plain wrong. I thought that I had a reasonably decent amount of common sense. But, Shannon tactfully informed me in this book where I had made some mistakes, and she gave me a structured approach to doing house concerts that brought me the confidence I will need to know that I'm not wasting time or money.I have been a musician all of my life. I have no savings and I know that I will work until my last breath. But thanks to Shannon I will be make a living playing the music I have always loved! Shannon has taught an old dog some new tricks!

This is the first time I have seen a “ modern “ approach to the house party. Before Shannon’s book, the only performer based house party I was familiar with was the old “ drink house parties” .well, and Hollywood portrails , like the Marx Brothers in their movie “ At The Circus” when they took pieces of the show to a wealthy estate for a house party. Shannon’s take is decidedly less chaotic! . This book is very inspiring. What a clever work around for a musician, or even an author, to cultivate mutual relationships with super fans and bring your “ act” right to their homes.

Shannon has captured the essence of the house concert touring model in this compact book. She's packed it with been there-tried that-tweaked that and now you can do it too insights and how-to's. Shannon mixes business savvy with her artist's heart and soul and I loved that. She walks you through her income numbers from one year to the next showing you how to maximize everything from gig income (donations) to merchandise sales to increasing the number of house concerts from one year to the next. She's got the systems down pat from the first email "ask" letter to your potential hosts to sending the after show thank you note. If you want to start a viable performing career and are finding it to hard to get your foot in the door at all those mainstream venues, then check out Shannon Curtis' book. It's smart, concise, heart-centered, entrepreneurial, accessible, thoughtful and easy for any artist to put to use immediately to start building your community with house concerts. She's figured out quite a bit, and yet leaves room for nuances yet to come, methods you can incorporate that work for you. Finding your own niche, tapping your own family, friends and audience takes you out of the mainstream booking frenzy and puts you in charge of your own touring destiny. Use this book to refine your house concert strategies, then get out and tour.

Shannon Curtis' No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender book is a revelation to an old school Gen X' musician like myself. I came up in the early 1990s making chump change in NYC clubs. My indie band spent tons of energy booking gigs, trying to bring in enough fans to get a follow-up gig and sharing the bill with a ton of other bands doing the very same thing. While it was certainly good to pay my dues this way, it was also cumulatively very discouraging and exhausting. When I started hatching a plan to promote my debut solo album this year (2015) by playing solo gigs, my friend highly recommended I get Shannon's book. I read this simple but illuminating text in one session on my couch. Now, I have been inspired to throw out everything I thought I knew about touring and start fresh with this direct-to-fan/Long Tail approach. I'm now busy studying road maps, getting ready to buy some cheap but quality road gear and preparing to bring my music to the people the Shannon Curtis/21st Century way. Independent Musicians Of The Local Planet, Unite and buy this book right now. Your Muse will thank you for it!

What a revolutionary book! I love the concept, and I love even more that the author herself has done house concerts, not just once but several times with success. I love how this gives hope to the everyday musician who may be struggling to make a living. This should be a major eye-opener for them. I know it was for me. I am definitely going to be trying the whole house concert thing next summer. Thank you Shannon Curtis for paving the way with house concerts! Anyone reading this should know that Shannon is legit. I have even listened to some podcasts with her being interviewed about this topic. Very enlightening indeed. Any singer-songwriters out there who are reading this? Here is a wonderful opportunity to perform in an intimate setting, and making good money doing what you love. How can you go wrong? Kudos again to author Shannon Curtis! Shannon, I love your songs as well. No wonder your house concerts continue to go viral! :) Keep up the great work! I'll let you know how it goes for me when I do my own house concerts next summer.

Definitely going to give house gigs a go after reading this book!Seems like so much fun and very fulfilling.

Fantastic little book. Clearly written with a great balance of experiential knowledge and common sense. Everything in it is relevant toproducing a successful house show. It’s a no brainer.........get it.

I have hosted and played many house concerts in South Africa, California, England and Germany, although never as many as Shannon.Reading this book was a God-Send. I found a lot of information I knew about but a lot I didn't too. It's easy to understand, gets to the point and can be read in a very short time.As a professional musician I have been wanting to add house concerts as a large part of how I perform and this book has given me the final push I needed to commit fully to house concerts over the regular club circuit.I don't think playing house concerts are for necessarily for everyone, as people who play in a full band will certainly struggle to find homes which can handle their setups and noise...but still, they could do stripped-down sets.Personally, every single house concert I have ever hosted or played has been a shining gem of experience, which glitters still in my memories. I have shared laughter and wept with audiences and have made friends I will carry with me through all my days. House concerts are AWESOME!I am very grateful to have come across this lil' house concert bible.Thanks Shannon!Warm regardsNate Maingardglobal nomad - modern troubadour - storytellerhttp://natemaingard.com

An excellent book that demystifies doing house concerts and all that you need to know.

Loved reading this. Learned so much. Thank you Shannon for the information!! I will take this with me always in my own endeavours as a house concert musician.