Who would have thought an idea developed in order to thwart the McCarthy era’s blacklisting of artists declared to have communist leanings would emerge as one of Winnipeg’s latest forays into the arts?

Home Routes is a Winnipeg-based not-for-profit organization that organizes full-scale folk concerts in people’s homes.

Craig and Lisa Lawrence have been Winnipeg Home Routes hosts since September 2007. To date, they have hosted 12 concerts – six shows per season.

“It’s been wonderful,” Craig Lawrence said via phone. “Opening our home to these incredibly talented people and having a pretty good party on a regular basis has been a lot of fun.”

The idea of house concerts isn’t new. Now that the paranoia of McCarthyism has subsided, house concerts are held to give folk artists a venue to play in since roots-folk music often isn’t considered commercially-viable.

The Home Routes project is the latest venture from Mitch Podolak, founder of the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the West End Cultural Centre.

“ I was able to really connect with the audience. After the concert, I got to actually get to know them, shake their hands and talk to them about life and hear their stories.

Matt Epp, Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter

The idea for Home Routes began in February 2006, when promotional material was sent out to various media outlets in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta seeking people who were interested in hosting concerts in their homes, Home Routes’ operations manager Tim Osmond explained.

Homeowners must open their homes six times a year and they have to put up the musicians. They also aren’t paid for their endeavors.

So what’s the attraction?

“They get to be serenaded for breakfast,” Osmond said.

They also get a concert that’s up close and personal, get to party with the performer afterwards, and get to invite friends and family to attend for only $15 a head.

At that price, it’s not surprising that it’s generally not too hard to find people to attend.

“We haven’t had a problem to date hosting the shows,” Lawrence said. “Even in February 2008, when there was a pretty good snow storm, we still had about 40 guests.”

What’s in it for the performers?

“The performers are guaranteed 12 concerts in 14 days and earn on average $5,000 after expenses during this two week period,” Osmond said.

Of course, there are times, particularly with new venues or when the weather proves uncooperative, where there may only be five people showing up. The performer still has to perform according to schedule and contract.

Matt Epp, a Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter, did his first circuit in November 2008. He described his experience as “very warm, very grassroots.”

“I was able to really connect with the audience. After the concert, I got to actually get to know them, shake their hands and talk to them about life and hear their stories.”

Home Routes now has a number of circuits established throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and is looking to create new ones in the Yukon and in B.C. Similar projects are being developed throughout Canada.

Concerts occur in such out-of-the-way locations as Flin Flon, Man. and La Ronge, Sask., and the original site in Boissevain, Man. now has 45 people regularly attending its shows. In the future, events might be expanded to include classical music as well.

It’s clear this version of a home invasion has proven to be pretty popular.

Published in Volume 63, Number 28 of The Uniter (June 18, 2009)