We’ve been hosting house concerts for twelve or thirteen years now – usually one a month from September through May.  It goes without saying that every one of them is different.  The variables are multitudinous, from the musician(s) and their performances to the particular mix of audience members and right down to the potluck dishes and the conversation afterwards.

Last night’s concert featuring James Hurley, “Performing Songwriter at Large,” was one of the most different and one of the best!  Let’s start with the food which, at our concerts, happens last.  Almost before the final strains of music are heard, hot dishes are coming out of the oven, salads out of the refrigerator, foil and shrink wrap coverings are being discarded and folks are lining up (musician(s) first!) to load up their plates.  Last night, for the first time ever, there were no desserts!!

I need to say here that we don’t make food “assignments” using the theory that with twenty or thirty people coming and bringing something, it will all work out.  And it always has.  In fact, we joke, “What is the worst that could happen?  All desserts?”  I don’t think it has ever occurred to us that there would be NO desserts?  I didn’t hear any complaints – just the observation that people are eating healthier these days.

And before the concert ever began, a guest of some friends settled herself on the couch in the library with a small volume she had spied on a nearby shelf.  “I hope you don’t mind,” she said in her soft German accent, “but I’ve been looking for a copy of this book for years.”  She pointed out to me that it was published in 1908 (about the time my grandmother put the library together) and it was written in “old fashioned” German.  What a nice bit of serendipity! ( Carefully handwritten in front was “Cecil Espy,” my grandfather’s youngest brother, who was a college student during that time period.)

The concert was grand.  James is one of those singers who “connects”  easily with people and, in fact, last night one of the guests engaged him in a brief conversation that he said involved the “best question” he’d ever had from an audience member.  Unbeknownst to us until after the last guest had gone was that that particular conversation may well lead to a residency opportunity for James down the road!

At the intermission and during the dinner hour afterwards, more networking and connecting was going on.  People lingered (and not over their dessert, either!) and exchanged contact information or renewed acquaintances.  Coffee dates were made.  We were asked when the next House Concert was coming.  (Answer:  Double J and the Boys on May 19^th.)

James and Nyel and I topped off the evening by laughing our heads off at some of our favorite YouTube offerings – “The Brain as Explained by John Cleese,” “A Tale of Two Brains” by Mark Gungor and “Donna the Deer Crossing Lady” radio call-in shtick.  Oh, and not to forget “How to Piss Off Your Dog.”

All in all…  it was a great evening with James Hurley!