Carrie's Concert Corner: House Show Memories

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Brendan James: Constellations

Brendan is one of those artists that can calm me, that can slice through the noise and find the silent place; his words and music are sometimes exactly what I need. As I read the unfolding news today, and then again as I heard from a friend who had a serious family emergency, I thought about Brendan and many of his songs. As I was debating which one to post tonight this is the one that jumped out, and it’s a good song to close out the night with so please enjoy a gorgeous version of Constellations, straight from my living room three years ago.

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Nathan Angelo: Mary Poppins’ Birds

One of the great things about having artists play in my living room is that you get to hear some of the stories behind the songs. You also get to hear some fabulous versions of your favorite songs. I have loved this song forever - and I love Mary Poppins - and hearing it live made it even better. I mean, Nathan sang the heck out of this last year and I’m sitting over here smiling at the memory. I’m also realizing that our clapping was not exactly stellar... Ah well, it’s still awesome...please enjoy...

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Robert Gillies: Hollywood’s a Vampire

I was first introduced to Robert Gillies when he opened for A Great Big World and I was immediately hooked. He’s a pure singer songwriter with a quick wit and a fabulous Scottish accent. This song was a favorite right away so when I had Robert come to my living room I made sure he played this one. Please enjoy then go buy it. As well as the rest of Robert’s music. It’s all good!

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Todd Carey: Bittersweet (cover)

I haven’t updated this blog in far too long but as it’s Todd Carey’s birthday I figured I should post something in his honor. This video is dark but the sound is good, as Todd sings a beautiful cover of Bittersweet during a house show for my birthday a little over four years ago. This was in my dear friend Tasha’s living room in Chicago, and it was truly a magical night. I actually love the darkness of the videos from this show because you can just close your eyes and focus on the music. And y’all know my favorite thing is acoustic music so this is perfect.

Please enjoy...

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Ernie Halter: I Would Look Good on You

I loved having Ernie play in my living room a few months ago. I’ve been following his music for several years and have seen him live a number of times, but there’s nothing like the spontaneity of a personal living room concert. I mean in the middle of this one we all got a music theory lesson! It was amazing. I love Ernie’s voice and his songwriting skills are top notch. He is the epitome of a singer songwriter and told us some great stories back in April. From the first moment I heard this song during Ernie’s 52 Songs project I knew it was going to be a favorite, and I was so happy when he played it live for us. Please enjoy...as you can see, we certainly did.

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Todd Carey: Light Her Up

Todd Carey has played Light Her Up at most of my house shows, but I believe this was the first time, back in 2012. Until this week the only way I could hear this song was to see Todd live or re-watch one of my videos, but a few days ago, Todd released Light Her Up for the whole world to hear and I couldn’t be happier for my friend. To see a song go from my living room to concert stages to iTunes to the radio is truly awesome. I’ll always cherish these living room concert moments but it’s great to have the song in my daily mix in the car and in my office. Todd’s star continues to rise and I can’t wait until the whole world gets to experience his immense talent.

Check the live house show version out below then download it on iTunes. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

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Robert Gillies: Color Me In

Sometimes when you have house shows you get to hear music that doesn’t exist on an album or an EP, and that makes the moment that much more special. I’d known Robert for a while when I asked him to play a house show for me, and I know he gained a few new fans that night. That’s one of my favorite things about having my favorite musicians in my living room; I get to expose my friends to new music. If you’re not familiar with Robert I suggest you get involved. His star is on the rise and you definitely want to catch it on the way up.

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Todd Carey: Ready

I love having Todd Carey bring his acoustic guitar awesomeness to my living room and the last time he was here he brought along the fantastic Seth Faulk. I have tons of house show moments with Todd but as he’s getting ready to release this song to the world it felt right to share this memory with you. This will be the third single from his forthcoming album, Future Throwback, and I can’t wait to have the recorded version. But until May 31 - preorder now! - I’ll just post this video on a loop and enjoy. 

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Brendan James: Hillary

This is my favorite song on Brendan’s Simplify album and I was so happy he played it in my living room. As I mentioned in my last post, one of the great things about having a house show is hearing some of the stories behind the songs. I’d heard part of this story before but on that night back in 2014, Brendan filled in the gaps and it made me love the song even more. So, without further ado...enjoy Hillary.

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Jenn Grinels: Can’t Stay Here

One of the greatest thing about hosting a house concert is hearing stories about songs and getting to know the artist a little better. I loved having Jenn Grinels in my living room two Christmases ago. It was an incredible and very intimate night, and this was one of my favorite moments. The song is beautiful, but to hear part of Jenn’s story along with it made it even better. Please enjoy...

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Nathan Angelo: Good, Good Father

Nathan Angelo played a show for me in January of this year (2016), and it was absolutely amazing. I was reminded today of one of the songs he played because we sang it in church this morning. When we set up the show I’d asked him to play a song of his that’s on a random compilation album but he played this instead and honestly, it was perfect. So, please enjoy Nathan Angelo’s version of Good, Good Father.

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Welcome!

I’ve had a lot of house shows over the last few years and there have been some amazing moments in each and every show. I’ve got most of them on video and I was thinking about a few today and thinking it might be fun to relive some of them for myself then decided I wanted to share with others. Thus, the creation of this blog. 

Friends recently dubbed my living room Carrie’s Concert Corner so I felt that was an appropriate name for this blog. All but two of my house shows have been here - the other two were at a friend’s house in Chicago, and there will likely be moments posted from those shows as well, but most of the memories were made right here in my own living room.

We’ll see how this goes...maybe people will follow, maybe they won’t, but I’ll still have fun reliving the music and the memories whether they do or don’t. I’m still trying to decide which moment I want to share first, but I have a pretty good idea and it will show up soon.

Thanks for checking this out...hope you enjoy!