If you're interested in hosting me for a show in a non-traditional space, you've come to the right place!
These shows are such a beautiful way to connect with audiences, sharing my music with a select and very special group of people.
They have been popular since the 60's so don't be nervous thinking this is some crazy new idea that's not been road tested. It has. For well over 60 years. And it's insanely popular and fun.
Here's a quick guide to how it works.

Who:

I'm a solo songwriter and I carry out these performances as one voice, one guitar allowing for an extremely raw and intimate experience.

Performance Space:

House concerts don't HAVE to be in a house! Any space that you believe will work that can fit at least 20 adults. Floor seating or asking guests to bring fold-out cusions is fine, towels, whatever floats their boat to help them be as comfortable as possible!
House concerts hosted in the backyard or a park are not uncommon. I've also done them in dining rooms, tea shops, kitchens and parks etc as well.

How Many People Can/Should Attend:

20-30 people seems to be the sweet spot. Less is fine but you run the risk of a reduced atmosphere for all involved and having more is great! But will become more of a party and I may need amplification if too many people get carried away during singalongs in the performance. Larger house concerts are also great but if they're not in my home town of Sydney, we'll need to find some equipment to borrow or hire - an easy problem to fix!
Having at least 20 in attendance also helps it stay financially viable for myself as well.
You can also co-host with a friend if you're worried about being able to make up the 20 guest minimum, this has proven to be very successful in the past!

Tickets:

The most common way to make this work is to charge per ticket - I would usually recommend $15-30, £10-20 or €10-25 per person but donation deals are not uncommon. I recommend selling the tickets in advance to help create the ‘special occasion’ feel - I will organise a ticket link once everything is locked in!
You know your guests better than I do about what you think is a fair price for entry and if anyone is experiencing financial hardship, we can definitely discuss all these things in greater detail. We can also discuss options for package deals if there are families or concession card holders attending.

Sometimes talking about money can be awkward but I've found that the integrity behind being as upfront as possible from the start with people is the best path forward.

If you're not comfortable charging your friends and are more concerned about hosting an unforgetable evening out of the goodness of your heart, we can discuss a guaranteed payment for the show. This is an easy discussion.
A bonus of getting your guests to pay for tickets is that it's an extra incentive to actually show up as they've paid with their own money.

I usually like to keep 100% of the tickets bought but there can sometimes be special circumstances or last minute expenses where an additional party may need to be reimbursed, this is totally fine and don't be afraid to speak up about these things.

How to invite your guests:

Once the date and time is confirmed, I'll send you my EPK with links to my bio, videos and music to add to your invitations. Invite them however you please - in person, phone, email, text, social media, handwritten letters. The more personal, the better! If you decide to craft beautiful personalised handwritten or printed letters, I can provide a link and a QR Code to my EPK so there are a few options for people to use when finding the page. 
It's important to be aware that not 100% of the people you invite will be able to attend so plan to invite more than the number you'd like, if more show up then it's win/win!
If you would like to keep your event private, make sure you have all events set to private, if you don't mind it beign semi-private, I can include the event in my tour dates and advertise to my friends and fans in the area, your address will not be public, that way you stay in control of who you allow into your home and how many people you are inviting.

If any of this seems overwhelming, please let me know and I should be able to help you with a flyer, a draft email, facebook event etc! Just let me know.
I have definitely suffered from tour booking anxiety before but through enough exposure therapy, it's not so daunting anymore.

Some important information to include in the invitation:

• Guests should arrive about 1 hour before showtime (Please arrive at 6pm for a 7pm performance start)
• Be clear to your guests how much the tickets are and where they can buy them.
• Let guest know if you're providing a complete dinner experience for them, just snacks + drinks, if it's BYO or if it's a potluck deal where everyone brings a dish - there are no wrong answers to this! Whatever works for you and your guests.
• I am vegan but in a pinch am happy to settle for vegetarian. I'm not militant about this, it's just something that's important to me. If you can't provide a vegan or vegetarian meal, just let me know of any restaurants in the area that we can order something from them.
• Let them know there will be a merch table where I'll be selling my shirts, poetry books, hats, stubby holders etc.
• House concerts are an intimate exchange between audience and artist and are not suitable to be an addition to a house party where the music is secondary to the party. Having me for your birthday or celebration is absolutley fine! Just please make it known that the concert is either the main event or a key feature of the evening.

The Show (or at least a template for it):

I'll arrive one hour before guests (2 hours before show time) to set up and check the acoustics of the room.
Guest arrive and we socialise and eat for an hour, the guests then find their seats, you can introduce me (we can chat beforehand about this if public speaking isn't your forte, or if you just need some information from me on what to say), then it's showtime!
I can perform for one straight 60 minute set, or we can break it up into two 30minute sets.
Once the concert has finished, feel free to join me at the front of the audience so that you can join in on the applause from your guests for all of your hard work as well, we thank the audience and then you can let them know that I'll be at the merch desk to mingle and sell if they'd like to see me.
It has definitely proven helpful to have the host announce this and not myself.
We hang out, bond and once you're ready for people to leave, the night comes to an end!

A few more things:

• Hosting me: If I'm on the road (not in Sydney, Australia) I would be incredible grateful if there was a bed provided for me after the concert or some accomodation booked for me prior to the show.
• I will need some form of a green room to warm up my voice, write out a setlist and store my gear, if I'm staying in your guestroom, this is perfect for me as a green room. Otherwise, any room not being used for the party is absolutely fine for this.
• Kids are welcome but can often become easily distracted, I do have a few incredibly vulnerable and quiet songs in my performance and if these two things collide, it can often negatively effect the overall effect of the performance. Please ensure there's a place out of earshot for the young ones to go if they need a break or won't be interested in the performance. The same goes for pets too (bonus points if you have a cat because; A) cats rule and B) a concert with a large group of strangers in their space will be too overwhelming for 95% of them anyway and they'll prefer to go hide).

This is a lot of information!

This is true but the trade off is incredible, trust me. House concerts are a beautiful way to strengthen family, friend and community ties through music. These kind of events can make for unforgetable evenings.

Good point Blake, thanks for all of this! Where do we go from here?

If this all sounds great to you, below is an application to fill out and I'll get back to you asap to discuss plans!