“What is a house concert?”
Exactly what it sounds like, a concert in someone’s house. In this case, it’s our house in Bristol, Connecticut. These are private events, but we enjoy making new friends — especially fellow music lovers!
“I can’t find your address, where are you located?"
We do not make our home street address public, for everyone’s safety and to protect our status as a private event. (While it might feel like a venue when you come to an Acousticool concert, the rest of the time this is our home and neighborhood!) The exact address will be sent to you privately after you buy tickets or contact us.
“Should I bring food or drink?”
For many shows, we encourage a community “potluck,” with those who want to participate bringing food, snacks, desserts or drinks to share. This is 100% voluntary, so please do not feel any pressure to participate. Everyone is welcome to come for the concert, potluck is optional! We will advise in advance about details of the potluck for those who purchase tickets. If you do bring something to share, please take home what you brought at the end of the night. Thank you!
“Where do the concerts take place?”
All our concerts are now outside rain or shine, on our lovely backyard stage with a backdrop of tall trees. (Because of a recently-expanded household, we no longer have an indoors listening room.)
““Should I bring chairs?”
Yes, please bring your own lawn chairs for comfortable seating, or a blanket to sit on the lawn if you prefer. Depending on the weather, you may also want to bring sunscreen or bug spray.
What if it’s stormy or pouring rain?”
Even with a covered stage and hearty New England music fans, there is some weather that just makes it unsafe to stage a concert, such as storms or very heavy rain. If that happens, we will provide information about rescheduling the concert and offer you options as soon as possible. It may depend a bit on the artist and situation, but usually you’ll have a choice to apply your ticket to the new date, donate it to the artist regardless or request a refund. All refund requests must be made to us by email at hello@acousticool.net within one week of the original concert date, otherwise it becomes a donation to the artist.
“Are children welcome?”
We are very family friendly. However, we have found with experience that the focused listening environment we want to maintain is best suited for the attention spans of ages 12 and above. For the sake of all patrons who want to listen without distractions, we do ask that you make other arrangements for children younger than 12 when attending an Acousticool concert.
“Are pets welcome?”
We are animal lovers and have a beloved pet dog named Happy! Unfortunately, when there are other dogs present it can be a very big distraction for Happy, which equals a very big distraction for us as hosts—which can make it harder for us to enjoy the concert. At this time we ask that you please do not bring your dog, even if the concert is outdoors, so that we can also enjoy the music. Thank you for understanding.
“What about COVID-19?”
You can always find our current policy regarding COVID-19 here. This may be updated from time to time, depending on the latest and best public health information.
“Is purchasing advance tickets really important? Can’t I just show up and put cash in a bucket?”
We can’t emphasize enough how important advance ticketing is to the artists who play here, and to us. Here are some of the reasons:
• Touring musicians and their teams rely heavily on advance ticketing. It’s the only reliable indicator they have to weigh against the expense of traveling to our location and putting on a concert.
• We provide updates on advance ticket sales to artists and their teams. If the advance ticket sales are too low, there’s always a chance they may need to understandably cancel the show rather than travel here and lose money. Unfortunately we can not count RSVPs and verbal confirmations for this, since there are any number of reasons someone may understandably not be able to attend on the day of the concert.
• We must manage our capacity. It’s not fair for anyone who purchased a ticket to show up and not have a seat. Purchasing an advance ticket is a firm commitment to the artists and to us that you plan to attend.
“Will I get to talk to the musicians?”
Almost certainly, if you want to! That’s one of the reasons artists like performing at house concerts, it’s a more casual and intimate experience where they can get to know the audience. Sometimes they will mingle before the show, but they are almost always available to chat — and possibly sign a CD or take a photo — afterward.
“How did you come up with the name?”
Ah, we remember it like it was yesterday … we knew acoustic and string music would be the emphasis of the series. That made us think of the word acoustical. But that’s just kind of dry, right? Needs more cowbell! So then we’re thinking … “acousticish” … “acoustiking” … “acoustislam” … “acousticalifragilisticexpialidocious” … And let’s be honest, not so great. Then, bam! It hit us: Acousticool. And that’s the 100 percent authentic story of how we came up with the name.
“Why do you do this?”
For the love of the music. To support the people who make the music. To meet other people who love the music. To introduce those people to our favorite music. Since we decided to open our home to host house concerts, our heart has also opened to a whole community. Meeting new friends has been one of the best parts for us personally, and we so much appreciate everyone who comes to shows and supports Acousticool in ways large and small!