House concert with Sara Kamin!

    
Sara Kamin's West Coast Tour!

It never ceases to amaze me how useful a forum the internet is as a tool to connect with others. Last week I had the great pleasure of finally meeting  some of my online friends live and in person as Sara Kamin along with pal/tour manager Pamela Detlor set off from  Toronto to blaze a trail along the west coast on a tour to introduce Sara and her music. Sara had several show's of which I went to two, but when I first met them it was at the House Concert held by my friend Kathleen.

Perhaps it is because we have all been talking to each other and scoping each others websites and blogs for the past year  that we all found it so easy to connect in person I don't know exactly, but when I walked into that house I really did feel like we were all  just meeting again, rather than for the first time. The hostess Kathleen  is a smokin hot Momma I met through Erica and the Yummy Mummy club (who has made an appearance on this blog several times in fact), so she was the one person I knew already but the connection to her in this particular story was through another group of twitter friends, a talented, dynamic group of artists and musicians who make me laugh out loud with their tweets and posts.
 
I noticed the lot of them when I first started following Jann Arden on twitter. While I was browsing  around following what her friends were doing I stumbled upon and entered a contest on the Thought VOX blog. Pamela Detlor did such a beautiful job on her blog that I wrote her a long gushy letter telling her she had inspired me to push myself to get more creative with my own blog  (which at the time was a lot sparser than it is today). She wrote back and we exchanged a number of warm emails that only confirmed my immediate impression, not only is this a lady with a great eye and enormous talent, but she is a woman of depth and substance, I have been a fan ever since.  I also won the contest she was holding and so I was sent two CD's as my prize.  Sara Kamin's CDs. Wow. From the first note that played, I was hooked. Her tone is warm and angelic, one of those voices you could sit and listen to all night, and her writing is deep thoughtful, creative and raw. Yep insta fan right here, right from the get go.
 
So I followed and I watched the gang from all the way over here on the west coast. I saw the comings and goings as well as the doings and I saw creativity blossoming everywhere.  In fact let me digress for a moment and mention a very cool book a number of them (including Sara) are a part of. Linda Woods, Karen Dinino, with Pamela Detlor have published a book called Meeting in the Ladies room   and I love the concept. This book is filled with photos of  real women in their own bathroom, sharing their personal thoughts as they look at themselves in the mirror. It is described as 'reflections of women in a room of thier own'.  Whether you are an idolized celebrity or a struggling single mother, the ladies room is where you create your make believe, and where you face your reality.  68 brave women from around the world bare all and share an empowering look in the mirror, it's a meeting in the ladies room.  Featuring Jann Arden, Amanda Palmer, Rosie O'Donnell, Jen Foster, Sarah Bettens, SHeDAISY, Sara Kamin, Pamela Detlor, and Kathleen Cook Tennant to name a few.
 
So I always thought this was cool and when I found out that some of the cast of the Ladies Room were heading out to Vancouver, I marked the date in ink and planned to come party with them.
 







So as the story goes, Sara kicked off on a tour of the west and one of the many stops she made was at Kathleen's for a House Concert.  I dont' know how many of you have heard of this House Concert concept but if you are a singer songwriter I would highly recommend you consider this idea. Of course you have to have someone fabulous like Kathleen with a warm beautiful home and lots of wonderful friends to pull it off, but wow, when it's done right, it can be a hugely successful night.  Kathleen's hubby and her dear friends Patience ( who provided some of these photo's) and her best friend Glamma all worked hard to transform the house into an inviting music venue.

Not only were there delicious appy's and bevvies for us all to enjoy, there was a stage, lights, pillows on the floor, candles for ambiance, and most importantly a full house of music lovers. When everyone was finally gathered together Sara took the stage she charmed and delighted us all with not only her music but herself.  She is funny, and real and completely open hearted. She had us all laughing with her raw ironic descriptions of her songs and I loved that about her. Judging by the crowd response, so did everyone else.

So without further adieu, I give you, Sara Kamin.........




After the concert, it turned into a good old fashioned house party. Someone turned on the tunes and we danced and danced and danced. Before I knew it I had my guitar in hand and was leading sing along songs.  I just love the campfire where everyone sings along and connects through music and boy did they ever sing. It was all so warm and glowy, of course that could have been the booze talkin  but the voices were loud, strong, and everyone seemed to know all the words. We were rocking like we were teenagers again. I think my fav moment during the jam was singing a song that Jann Arden recorded and hearing all the voices fill the room. I know I'm not the only one who felt it.

I won't soon forget the night or the people that made it so wonderful and I thought I would reiterate just one more time to all you musicians, artists, and creatives out there. Think outside the box to get yourself out there, call on your community and don't ignore the idea of the house concert. In fact I have been so inspired by this idea I am going to start figuring out how to promote myself for hire for house concerts. I can play a nights worth of sing along songs easily and if a house full of people want to

sing along to live music, all the better. So thanks to you gang, for the great new business idea.

And to Sara, Kathleen, Pam, Glamma, Patience, Teri-Lyn.....and to all the new folks I met and shared laughs with, Thank you for the warm embraces, it was a pleasure to meet you!

Rach xox