Yesterday I learned that Music at the Mission, a North Jersey acoustic venue, had closed its doors after thirteen years, in part, due to the embarrassment of musical riches in and around New Jersey. MATM has hosted familiar artists like Janis Ian, Chris Smither and Roger McGuinn, but competing for an audience with at least a half dozen other Garden State venues on a Saturday night took its toll; their retooled program of local artists and open mic nights wouldn’t keep the lights on.
At the same time I learned of the closing, facebook reminded me that Caleb Hawley performed in our living room, our first Cozy Cabin Concert, August 13, 2011. James Maddock was going to perform a house concert in November as part of my birthday celebration, and we thought Caleb would make a great crash test dummy. Our friend Ernie flew in from California, we filled the room with everyone we knew, and their friends. Caleb left with more money than he came with, our friends had fun, and we know we could pull off our show with James.
But we didn’t know this would be the spark to light the flame of my middle-aged passion. By now we were regularly attending local house concerts in addition to our regular church and rented hall venues. At one particularly off show—the lighting, the inadequate room size, the temperature—I turned to Ken and said, “You know we can do better than this.” And Cozy Cabin Concerts was born.
Since our first concert with Caleb we’ve hosted 62 shows, with seven remaining in 2016, and the 2017 schedule is set. We’ve introduced our audience to incredible indie talent, I’ve acquired many honorary “kids,” and friendships have been forged at our shows. A few artists have returned several times, others would love to play here again, but a show, sometimes two a month, is enough for our modest audience and Ken. Together we’ve helped artists earn a living and follow their dreams, and we’ve created a community. I have CDs scattered on the console and front and back seats of my car. I was in my friend’s car today and she has a similar CD infestation. I checked out the titles, and every CD was an artist she discovered at the Cozy Cabin.
Another friend just called me to say they attended a show with one of our “kids,” who exclaimed, “I love playing there!” An artist friend has encouraged me to go big, perhaps collaborate with another presenter in a larger space to attract a larger audience, but I told him if I did that, it wouldn’t be Cozy Cabin. To paraphrase a favorite line from the film Bridget Jones’s Diary, I like it just as it is.
At the same time I learned of the closing, facebook reminded me that Caleb Hawley performed in our living room, our first Cozy Cabin Concert, August 13, 2011. James Maddock was going to perform a house concert in November as part of my birthday celebration, and we thought Caleb would make a great crash test dummy. Our friend Ernie flew in from California, we filled the room with everyone we knew, and their friends. Caleb left with more money than he came with, our friends had fun, and we know we could pull off our show with James.
But we didn’t know this would be the spark to light the flame of my middle-aged passion. By now we were regularly attending local house concerts in addition to our regular church and rented hall venues. At one particularly off show—the lighting, the inadequate room size, the temperature—I turned to Ken and said, “You know we can do better than this.” And Cozy Cabin Concerts was born.
Since our first concert with Caleb we’ve hosted 62 shows, with seven remaining in 2016, and the 2017 schedule is set. We’ve introduced our audience to incredible indie talent, I’ve acquired many honorary “kids,” and friendships have been forged at our shows. A few artists have returned several times, others would love to play here again, but a show, sometimes two a month, is enough for our modest audience and Ken. Together we’ve helped artists earn a living and follow their dreams, and we’ve created a community. I have CDs scattered on the console and front and back seats of my car. I was in my friend’s car today and she has a similar CD infestation. I checked out the titles, and every CD was an artist she discovered at the Cozy Cabin.
Another friend just called me to say they attended a show with one of our “kids,” who exclaimed, “I love playing there!” An artist friend has encouraged me to go big, perhaps collaborate with another presenter in a larger space to attract a larger audience, but I told him if I did that, it wouldn’t be Cozy Cabin. To paraphrase a favorite line from the film Bridget Jones’s Diary, I like it just as it is.