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By Tegan Burkhard | Photos Provided by Graham Colton
Lights have dimmed, concertgoers have arrived and crowd near the artist currently churning out melodies and enticing the fans to sing along. After a satisfying set full of intimate moments, the lights flicker back on.
Guests hop off the couch, ready to compliment, chow down and connect with the artist who just played in the comfort of a fan’s own living room. It’s private shows like these made possible by Fanswell, a website that makes it a cinch for fans to host their favorite artists at their homes and other unique venues.
“At a house show, you can make a moment more easily,” says Luke Wade, former The Voice contestant. “There’s not a PA between you and the people.”
To book a night to remember, fans simply surf through Fanswell’s database of artists.
More than 1,000 artists of varying genres are sorted alphabetically or searchable by name, hometown, location or those touring near you. Next, fans submit a booking request to the artist and pin down the specifics of location, time, price and number of guests. Fans and music curators can request shows in apartment living rooms, basements, whiskey distilleries, coffee shops and anywhere else they so desire.
“The cool thing is that artists like me that are out there trying to make it work, we don’t need the perfect surroundings,” says Fanswell founder, Colton Graham. “We just want people. It’s all about the people.”
Colton, an Oklahoma City native, started Fanswell based on his experience with the ever-evolving music industry.
“The inspiration obviously started from an artist’s perspective. I mean, I’ve been a singer/songwriter living and trying to make a living on the road for 15 years, and the landscape of touring has really changed,” Colton says.
When the music marketplace became oversaturated thanks to Napster and the Internet, gigs became harder to come by, and venues started necessitating more advanced booking notice.
“Whether it’s good or bad, we all are competing for the same stage,” says Colton.
In the interim between his usual circuit of venues, Colton started bringing his guitar to house shows and other unique venues that paid him to play.
“It took a lot of the pressure off of feeling like the burden was on me to sell all the tickets,” Colton says. “‘Cause that’s a burden that musicians feel all the time.”
When someone books a Fanswell show, hosts have the opportunity to ease musicians’ financial burdens in one of three ways: they can pay artists the full sum up front, pay a guarantee and get a refund from guests’ donations, or crowdfund. Those who opt to go the crowdfunding route do face risks, since these shows are not confirmed until fans raise 100 percent of the funds.
Aside from the potential to help musicians make ends meet, Fanswell came into fruition to bridge the gap between fan and artist, after all.
“This really puts the show in the hands of people that care about me the most, and that is a really cool thing,” Colton says.”
Colton saw the potential to put more shows in the hands of superfans for the benefit of artist and music lover alike.
“If anybody wants to go play music, there’s an audience out there that wants to hear it, so why aren’t those two people getting together?” Colton says.
Colton points out that many people assume that house shows and private shows draw in collectives of superfans. Yet, he says more often than not, a superfan hosts one of these concerts and brings in friends who may know nothing about their buddy’s favorite artist. In this way, Fanswell forges new connections in a special environment, fostering new fans in a way unlike that of typical club concerts.
“When you’re in a club, even if you’re the headliner, it’s like you kind of have to win them over,” Colton says. “But when you’re in this house show environment, and when you’re in somebody else’s place, it’s kind of like you’ve already won them over. You’re already in it together. You’re quite literally on the same level.”
Head to Fanswell.com to start booking local and nationally touring artists. The Voice alumnus Luke Wade hopes to solidify an Oklahoma tour date on his upcoming The Any Living Room in American Tour in November.
Colton often included fellow Oklahoma artists in Fanswell’s beta test runs.
“It’s proved to be a huge compliment to where Oklahoma City is headed in terms of just being a place where these kind of events can happen, and there’s enough really talented, cool artists to get booked. It’s definitely one of our biggest markets for a reason.”
Check out these ten Oklahoma artists booking a house show near you:
Aranda—rock
Autumn Ray—singer/songwriter, folk
Beau Jennings—singer/songwriter
Broncho—alternative
Denver Duncan—pop, r&b/soul, singer/songwriter
Elms—alternative, rock
Kaitlin Butts—singer/songwriter, country, folk
Matt Stansberry & the Romance—blues, r&b/soul, rock
Ripple Green—rock
Sherree Chamberlain
singer/songwriter
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