An Interview With Greg Ching

Atlas Plugged had the opportunity to chat with Greg Ching about Aspen Meadows House Concerts, the folk performance series he and his wife Debbie founded in 1999 in their Colorado living room. Served with a cease-and-desist order in early 2006 for violating a Boulder County zoning ordinance, Greg and Debbie have been fighting to ensure the future of Aspen Meadows, and the right of all House Concert presenters to host live music in private residences across the United States.

AP: Why did you begin hosting house concerts? Did you feel that there was a void that needed to be filled?

GC: See my earlier answers. The only thing I'd add here is that clubs were too loud, smoky (though new laws in Colorado make bars and clubs smokefree now!), and expensive (minimum 2 drinks on top of a cover charge). We didn't mind going to coffeehouses but our interest in larger venues (>200) has diminished. We do make some exceptions for outdoor summer festivals. We like to hear live music often but paying $90 or more for two tickets gets old fast – even if we like Joan Baez or Shawn Colvin.

AP: Do you feel that the music venues in your market adequately provide fans with what they are looking for?

GC: Yes for the established names and no for the unknowns. We know many great musicians via Folk Alliance that do not have the right connections to fill a large venue. House concerts provide that lifeline so these artists can continue building their base little by little.

AP: How many concerts do you host each year?

GC: We typically held a dozen each year, roughly one per month. We have not had any for the last year due to a Boulder County cease-and-desist order.

AP: How many people attend?

GC: Although we could have 60 in our living room, we voluntarily limit them to 50. Most of our shows are in the 40 - 50 range though 30 does happen periodically.

AP: Are your shows invitation only or do you promote them to the general public?

GC: Private invitation only – there is no public calendar posted on our website.

AP: Do you charge an attendance fee? If so, what percentage do you keep tocover your costs?

GC: We do not charge an attendance fee. We have neighbors who cannot afford anything so we pay for them. This is a party where voluntary contributions are made with 100% given to the artist. We absorb all costs. Every show is a financial loss for us.

AP: Why do you think that the law got involved with your series?

GC: We had a neighbor contact zoning rather than talk to us. There was also a mix-up at the County level when a software error misclassified an inquiry as a complaint.

AP: How do you think that yesterday’s overturning of the CO case will impact the future of House Concerts?

GC: We expect House Concerts to be protected in Boulder County by this time next year. Personally, we're relieved and even willing to celebrate. We are gearing up for the September public hearing, which will initiate permanent house concert amendment changes.

We fear that other Counties or municipalities may start regulating house concerts even though these restrictions could be seen as unconstitutional.

AP: Some argue that House Concerts are legitimate businesses. Do you think that presenters should be exempt from restrictions imposed upon commercial venues?

GC: Yes because to consider a living room concert anything more than a party is ridiculous.

There are existing nuisance laws (for noise and traffic) that could be enforced for these occasional parties. In our case, we did check with the local volunteer fire department (receiving an informal inspection to rate capacity) but we think people can use common sense. It's one thing to require restrictions for a business that operates 365 days per year. It's another thing to require sprinklers et. al. for the living room that only gets furniture moved 12 times each year.

Read more here:

http://aspenmeadowhc.org/index.php?page=press&display=323&from=0

AP: Commercial live music venues are required to pay insurance fees, as well as royalty fees to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Do Presenters pay any of those fees?

GC: Very few, if any, of the musicians playing at our home benefit from these organizations, as they play their own original material - we do not book cover bands- preferring original performing songwriters.

Also, as we have no intent to make money we don't consider ourselves "commercial." We have homeowners insurance (and an umbrella liability policy) as our attendees come for the potluck and community first, and the music is secondary. Many times our audience come based purely on our recommendations - so many times I have neighbors walking up with their potluck dish asking, "who's playing tonight?"

Read more here:

http://aspenmeadowhc.org/index.php?page=press&display=383&from=84

AP: Do you feel like you should be adversaries or on the same team?

GC: We have always worked well with other presenters we have met through Folk Alliance. My wife has sat many times next to the Newport Folks Festival organizers comparing notes on who to book. We plug folk friendly venues on our website. We give money to well known coffeehouses such as Berkeley's Freight & Salvage and Denver's Swallow Hill. We support Boston's WUMB because of their all-folk format. One of our neighbors runs Planet Bluegrass here in Colorado.

Read more here:

http://aspenmeadowhc.org/index.php?page=press&display=417&from=48

AP: Any words of wisdom or advice you’d like to share?

GC:We live on 2.5 acres with trees blocking our views of many neighbors. Who would have thought that our remote house concert series would have triggered legal action?

We would recommend not talking to the press, keeping house concerts on a very low profile, and maybe even Google perspective neighbors before moving in. If we had known how much of a complainer our neighbor was, we would have thought twice about living next door to such a hermit.

To make a successful house concert focus on building community - although we lost our appeal hearing in February 2007 we were overwhelmed by the 200 neighbors and friends that showed up at our hearing. We lost the appeal but won the love of our community. They have stuck by us as we've gone through each step.

You can see so many letters of support written by our neighbors:

http://aspenmeadowhc.org/index.php?page=press&display=353&from=24

AP: What is your most memorable house concert? Any stories come to mind?

GC: We flew back from Hawaii early one year, passing up a private acoustic concert with Elton John to honor a commitment to host Small Potatoes.

Another time, our neighborhood was on wild fire stand-by (reverse 911 warning) but John Smith put on such an uplifting show that our worries were forgotten for a few hours. Our guests offered to snatch items in their car if needed for a quick get away.

Also in this issue:

An Interview With Greg Ching