Now, there are a lot of great performers who have no place to play. O'Donnell recalls that at one of her shows, a performer accustomed to playing on a stage wound up staring at his shoes all night while he sang. There are performers who weren't appearing near me that I wanted to hear. I thought that if I could provide them with an audience, albeit small, then I could get them to do a whole show. The economics work out better than they might appear.
Clubs have to make money.
Singer-songwriters can keep all proceeds from a house concert without any expenses for sound or booking. Tonight's show will be the last in her old house, says O'Donnell, who chose her new home with house concerts in mind. It has a fireplace. O'Donnell is familiar with the acoustic music market, because she is an accomplished singer-songwriter herself. O'Donnell met Sheridan when the latter was teaching songwriting at a summer camp, the Swannanoa Gathering.