My Mando Planet House Concert -- Tim Connell and Jack Dwyer

 

Photos by Richard Condon 

 

I have been attending a lot of house concerts this year--they're kind of a trendy thing in musical Portland these days--and it seemed like it would be fun to host one on my houseboat. I'd met mandolin player Tim Connell when he performed with guitarist Eric Skye at another house concert. He plays with a number of different musicians in different configurations, but I'd bought his Mando Planet CD, collaborating with singer/songwriter/mandolin- and guitar-player Jack Dwyer and liked it so we decided to go with that. We arranged for him and Jack to do a Friday night concert on August 8th. I measured my space and figured out that I could fit 30 people, so I allotted 25 seats to sell, plus four "free" spots for island people who would loan me chairs and help me move furniture and sell CDs. I made up a flyer and sent it around to friends. My 25 spots got filled right away and I had an 8-person waiting list. We decided that if all those folks could come on Thursday we'd do a second concert. We both sent around another set of invites and pretty much filled the place again. 

 



 

These house concerts are set up in different ways and I decided to have a BYO snacks and B for the intermission. It was a lovely evening and people gathered outside on the deck for food and drinks. I issued a warning that I wasn't thinking and set out my good silverware and asked people to please try not to donate it to the river gods. Friday I set out the Goodwill-silver-colored-party utensils.

 

 

I loved having my place filled with such marvelous music and people having such a good time. It is like the very walls are alive with music and the sound rings here long after everyone is gone. I almost wanted time to stop during the second set of the second evening knowing that it would soon be over. Tim and Jack liked doing back-to-back concerts and we're planning another two-night-stand for February. You can see them on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h19EoBnAfl4 and check out their website at www.jackandtim.com.