MOG

Does your living room hide a secret CBGBs alter-ego? Does it dream of one day hosting hootenannies like a Bleecker Street dive or blue-collar stomp-downs like a 1970s Stone Pony? (Mine looks like a punk squat right now, but I intend to clean it up fairly soon.) You can let your living room realize its frustrated dreams of glory by hosting a music show right there on your couch, with all your friends around.

Just talk to Henry Toft (mog.com/Me_and_the_Horse_I_Rode_In_On). He lives in Denmark, but he is currently booking living room shows for his friend Christian Kjellvander in cities and suburbs all over the States. We hear that MOG kingpin David Hyman is hosting not one, but two of these shows, and if Christian is not too leery about venturing into rural New Hampshire, there might be one at my house, too. Henry has been working pretty hard with our own LadyC (www.mog.com/LadyC, or Connie in real life) to promote these performances. Get in touch with either one of them if you want to be involved!

I asked Henry to answer a few questions about his cool project, and here is what he said:

How did you get the idea to do shows in people's living rooms? It's not a new idea. I actually think these shows take place all the time. The thought of creating a network of hosts inviting songwriters to play in their living rooms was very appealing to me. Not only did I want to bring songwriters and fans closer together. I also wanted to help songwriters travel around the world knowing that they have places to play. Knowing that they will be able to make some money doing these shows and be able to keep traveling.

As an artist, what's especially cool about playing in someone's home? Is there a downside? I don't believe there's a downside. I believe that this is a great way for the artists to connect with an audience. I don't want to say that playing living room shows is better than playing at a bar or established venue. It's just different and it enables both artist and audience to connect differently and more intimately.

Why do people usually want to do this, have people play shows at their homes? What's the benefit for them? The experience is the most important reason. People hosting these shows are major music fans. They live for this. I think these people take a lot of pride in helping other people be aware of certain artists and this is a perfect way to make a major difference in regards to finding an audience and keeping the music alive.

Tell me about the friend you're booking these shows for. What kind of music is it? How do you know him? His name is Christian Kjellvander. He's a truly great Swedish songwriter. He's very established in Sweden and around Europe. Been making records since 1996 and has been touring a lot......just not in the US.

Christian grew up in Seattle but moved back to Sweden at 16 where he formed a band. Things went from there. I met him while working in the music business. I immediately liked his music and consider him to be one of my favorite songwriters. We've been friends ever since and I am very happy that he wants to do this tour. Happy for me, happy for him and happy for all the people getting to see him and his wife Karla-Therese live.

Instead of trying to explain what his music sounds like I'll encourage you to go here: www.myspace.com/christiankjellvander

Or here: ww.christiankjellvander.com

It's kind of a logistical challenge, I imagine, to find places within reasonable distance of each other. How is that going? Haha. It's going fine but I expect it to become a real nightmare at some point. Christian will be going all over the place. New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle ........... and anywhere in-between. I am looking at maps, asking people for help, listening to my belly and just keeping my fingers crossed. I do feel extremely calm though. I am sure everything will turn out great.

Why aren't you doing it for yourself? I might do that one day. I'm a family man. I can't leave my family for months at the time. I need them around .......... but I hope that I'll be able to bring them along one day and then do a few weeks here and there. I'm just not there yet. For now it's all about Christian. I wanna do this for him, and I just know that he will make some great shows.

Can anybody do this? Anybody can do this. I am sure every artist can go on a tour like this. Personally I need to be 100% in love with the music. I will not work with songwriters who's music and talent I don't respect. That wouldn't be an honest job if I didn't stick to this rule. They also need to be good people. Loyal, trustworthy and on time. They have to meet a lot of people and be willing to socialize.

Same goes for the hosts. I have to know the people getting involved and make sure that they're up for the challenge. Being nice and friendly can get you a long way, right?

Are there specific cities/areas where you're looking for venues? I am looking for living rooms everywhere. As many as possible. The tours will continue and I don't want people to feel that they have to host a show every time a songwriter comes to town. So..........I would love to have numerous hosts in every larger city.

For now..........New Orleans, Tuscon and Chicago are three cities on my wish-list.........but as I said.......everyone living everywhere are more than welcome to get in touch.

Anything else people should know about this? A document containing everything you need to know can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/?nggz0gwyg04

Contact information is included.............feel free to contact me or Connie anytime.

Finally..........I hope to see many of you host these living room shows, and I hope to see even more of you among the audience.