Understanding the listening room venue experience


Green Guitar Folk House Listening Room Venue - Folk Music Kansas City

Listening room venues — like the Green Guitar Folk House — tend to be intimate live music venues that allow the listeners to focus on the music experience without distractions.

Listening rooms may be hosted in “shared” spaces like galleries, coffeehouses, book/music stores or other existing businesses. There is also a growing trend in “standalone” listening rooms. 

In our case, we offer live music in the incredibly optimal space of the sanctuary of the  Shawnee Mission UU Church in Lenexa — our primary sponsor. The space is inside a former an elementary school gymnasium — although you would hardly know it!  

Is a listening room venue the same as a House Concert?

What is a listening Room Venue? Danielle Ate the Sandwich performs at the Green Guitar Folk House Listening Room in Lenexa KS
Danielle Ate the Sandwich at the Green Guitar Folk House

Like the name implies, house concerts are small concerts usually hosted in a person’s home or backyard.

House concerts differ from listening room venues as are they are generally not professionally organized, but fan-organized.

Hosts open their homes to provide a uniquely intimate place for musicians to perform and for music lovers to experience a live show. A house concert creates a “listening room” experience — generally at a private home venue for friends of the host. Audience members pay to attend per usual

Like house concerts, seating is limited at listening room venues  — usually between 50 to 100 — although at the Green Guitar Folk House we can seat up to 200+.

In both cases, the focus is on enjoying the live music experience, featuring national and regional musicians of all calibers.

More Pros to the Listening Room Venue Experience

Smaller venues with professional bookers allow you to experience a host of amazing singer-songwriters and musicians that you may miss at a much larger venue. 

Buying tickets for these smaller venues usually means less ticket fees — with more earnings going directly to the artist.

In addition, you can head for the merch table to take a selfie, grab a tee, and find out how to invest in their Patreon endeavors. 

Listening Room venues bring acoustic artists and their audiences closer together — a much-needed experience in our ever-digitized world.

Do you have any other questions about the Green Guitar Folk House


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