2023 ADDITION TO BOOKING INFO BELOW

Yes, the concerts have started up again – YAY!!!! – although with a very limited (i.e., good-weather only) concert season for now.  (As the waves subside, this may expand – although another result of that wee COVID break has been a reassessment of time and energies spent on others vs. self, so… no promises.)

HOWEVER, the priority for booking is bringing back the previously-booked artists that had to be cancelled in 2020 & 2021.  Once those have been scheduled, there is a GINORMOUS backlog of artists already on our “want-to-program” list.

All of which is to say, there is now even less chance of our booking a “cold call” from an act we've had no previous contact with (nor a hearty recommendation from a presenter, audience member or artist we trust) – ESPECIALLY if your carbon-copy form letter doesn't address any of the points below.

(Plus, hot tip: nobody in the folk world, or perhaps any creative world, likes carbon-copy form letters, c'mon…)


First of all, we don't want to get your hopes up – we have many musical friends and many musical strangers asking to play here all the time, and quite the backlog of musicians we really want to get in, when the schedules line up.  This house concert series is a labour of love, for showcasing and building on our musical community.  But there's only so much time and love to give, and it's more likely to go towards those demonstrating a mutual respect and appreciation for that time and love.

We try to present one artist a month (other than December and the summer months), and even that depends on our own touring schedule and other life events.  As we're not doing this to make a profit (and, in fact, usually lose money on these shows), we have to like you.  Really, really like you.  (Also, since you'll be coming into our personal home and workspace, sleeping in our guest room and raiding our fridge, it's always pleasant to have advanced reassurance that you are not an axe-murderer!)

How will we know if we really, really like you?  Well, there are three ways:

  1. Generally, the people we present we've seen perform elsewhere – ideally in a house concert or similar situation (we have learned, the hard way, that some people who are fantastic on stage are intimidated by the intimacy of a house concert).  So if you're playing a concert around the Barrie area, or showcasing at the FMO Conference, please do let us know, and we'll do our best to make it out.  
  2. Most of the folks we've presented but haven't previously seen ourselves have built a name and reputation for themselves already, and/or other presenters and industry folks are buzzing about them, and passing their names along.
  3. Barring those first two options, a link to live video (please, don't send a video, just the link!), plus hearty recommendation(s) from fellow house concert presenters may also do the trick.  (Again, though, considering the axe-murderer thing, it needs to be a house concert presenter we actually know and trust, not your favourite uncle who once let you jam in the garage…)


This community is looking for original acoustic, rootsy music – we love good lyrics, we love modern twists on old styles, we love quirky.  Take a peek at some of our upcoming and past shows, if you'd like to get a feel for what floats our boat, and the calibre of musicians we present.  

Concerts are generally un- or minimally-amplified, although we'll often set up a couple of mics to balance voices with instruments, etc. (a simple Bose stick system, no Marshall stacks).  We tend to present solo, duo or trio acts – the size and shape of the room doesn't allow for much more than that, although if you're friendly and showered, we might be able to squeeze in a slightly larger group.

Honestly, we hate to be rude, but... if you've sung a couple of open stages and your best friend loves your songs... please don't force us to be rude.  You're certainly not required to be a household name – presenters love new discoveries – but if you haven't invested in a website or album for yourself, don't expect us to invest our time and money in you instead.  If you haven't taken the time to read through this page and address any of the points raised, don't expect us to take more time to check you out than you took learning about this house concert series.  And if you're applying as a DJ or hip-hop or heavy metal or 6-piece cover band, we may just have to hurt you...  Okay, we'll go back to our usual gentle selves now.

With a flexible set-up, the room can work with a super-intimate audience of 15 up to a cozy crowd of 50.  Depending on how well you're known by our community, we ask between $15-$25 per person as artist donation.  We do not offer guarantees.  You get 100% of the artist donation, minus what we need to pay to SOCAN (unless you'd prefer to go under your own license, in which case, you can keep that too), and 100% of all merch sales.  We'll also feed you before or after the show (or both!), and there are tons of guest beds if you'd like to stay the night.  But we should warn you, in case it's an allergy deal-breaker: we've got two dogs and two cats and a whole lotta dust bunnies.

We do accept CDs and press kits in the mail, although we're just as happy (and you've lost less money) with links to EPKs.  If you do wish to snail-mail something, the address is:

Take Note! Promotion
PO Box 1351 Barrie
Barrie, ON  L4M 5R4