I thought it was time, says Callaghan from her Nashville home. We’ve been doing it for a few years now in the States, and this latest tour has been bigger and more successful than ever.”
This years tour in May and June saw Callaghan taking in over 35 shows in 16 states, and covering over 10,000 miles across the USA. It’s her 3rd year doing the tour, which has repeatedly caught the eye of Billboard Magazine who in 2013 credited her with helping reshape the business of touring, if not music consumption entirely”
The original idea for playing in people’s houses came after Callaghan first moved to the States to record her debut album with Shawn Mullins.“ As an independent artist funding everything myself I had to balance the excitement of getting out there to play to as many people as possible with the financial reality that touring had to make sense. So the question was, how could I tour in new markets where very few people had heard of me?”
The answer was house shows. “I hadn’t heard about them before I came to the USA, but a lot of musicians have been doing them here for years and they’re becoming an increasingly important part of the music scene, particularly for independent artists.”
The idea is a simple one. A fan or music enthusiast hosts a show at their home, they invite friends and fellow music lovers to come and hear the artist play, all the guests make a donation to keep the artist touring, at the end they sell merchandise and hang out with the audience.
Callaghan’s has embarked on this simple idea and taken it to a whole new level, delivering three multi-date, coast-to coast house show tours in the US since 2013. House shows have helped her sell over 10, 000 albums in the States, and build a solid and loyal fan base who support her headline shows in multiple US markets and also helped crowd fund her most recent album, ‘A History of Now’, out earlier this year. Marking the progress of her house show tour Billboard concluded Callaghan has“ Perfected a model that few artists would dare endeavour, or possess the will, and skills, to pull off ” (Billboard Magazine, April 2015) .
As fan and supporter Bob Harris comments in his recent autobiography Callaghan has been “gradually building an amazing database of fans and reinvesting every dollar earned. Crucially Callaghan has retained financial and artistic control of her career. I would suggest to any aspiring artist that this is a template to follow.”
“House shows have been a really important part of the growth in my touring. There are some artists who only do house shows and some who never do them. I see them as part of the mix. I love the intimacy of a house show, but I also love an opportunity to play a show with the lights, sound and atmosphere of a great venue. I’ve found that in new markets 2 or 3 great house shows give me a foundation to go back and play a successful headline public show. So for me house shows compliment traditional touring and help it grow.”
Here in the UK, Callaghan has already been playing high profile shows, including a recent sell out headline show at London’s iconic Greenote and a set at the massive C2C Festival at the O2. Her return trip in July also sees her booked for The Cambridge Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party and Summertyne Festival. So why the need to bring the house shows here?
“I really wanted to bring the intimacy of the house show back home” says Callaghan“ and as a form of social marketing House Shows are hard to beat. Essentially each show is about one or two fans recommending your music to 50 or more of their friends, who you can then engage with in person. Over the last few years I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of people opening up their homes for me. You meet some of the most engaged and generous-hearted audiences you’ll ever come across. I’m looking forward to having that experience in the UK too.”
Find out more about her upcoming house show tour here:
www.callaghansongs.com/house-concerts
And if you’re interested in booking Callaghan to play in your house, get in touch on twitter @callaghanmusic
Callaghan’s new single ‘We Don’t Have to Change the World’ is out July 17th.
July House Tours confirmed
Fri July 17 – House Show Wymeswold Leics
Sun July 19 – House Show – Great Haywood – Leics
Friday July 24 – House Show – Bardsey, Yorkshire
Sunday July 26 – House Show – Harpenden, Bedfordshire
Other Live Shows
Sat July 18 – Summertyne Fest – Sage, Gateshead
Thurs July 23 – Country Collective, Canary Wharf, London
Saturday July 25 – The Secret Garden Party
Thursday July 30 – The Cambridge Folk Festival
