Welcome to the home page of Brookhaven House Concerts.  Scroll down for new concert listings as we kick off the 2009-10 series!

For several years I ran a house concert series called the Swift Creek House Concert Series.  It was a great opportunity to hear acoustic music in a house setting with about 50 to (at least one time) 75 other people.  The ambience was enjoyable, the artist-audience rapport great, and the fellowship with old and new friends delightful.  I've resurrected the series, only this time under the new moniker of Brookhaven House Concerts.  Our house venue is located about two miles north of Crabtree Valley Mall in North Raleigh, though we'll send directions to those who reserve. Have questions?  Email me at concerts(AT)outwalking.net.

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Grace Extended: A Benefit Concert for Orphan Care Featuring ALATHEA w/Band, Friday, May 15th, 2009, 8:00 PM (SOLD OUT)

Our last house concert was in a bigger "house" --- the very cool Meymandi Theatre at The Murphey School.  Brookhaven House Concerts teamed up with a local non-profit, Amazing Grace Adoptions, to sponsor a benefit concert to support and care for orphans in Uganda, Panama, and Ukraine.  All the money from this concert went to benefit orphans, as we had sponsors to pay our costs.

Alathea, the female duo of Mandee Radford and Cristi Johnson, is a gloriously unstoppable blend of bluegrass, folk, and pop music served up with pristine harmonies, poignant lyrics, and heartfelt and often hilariously funny stories of life in rural Tennessee. Amazing Grace Adoptions is a life-affirming, licensed adoption agency located in Raleigh, North Carolina, seeking to offer an abortion alternative.  They provide on-going support, referrals, advocacy, and placement services for those who are pregnant or who are affected by an unplanned pregnancy situation.  Their work in other countries has led them to have a deep appreciation for the many orphans in the world, not just for adoptions, but simply for their care in their own countries. The almost 200 attendees were treated to a great night of music, storytelling, and learning just a little about the needs of orphans.

The venue is a very cool place.  The historic Murphey School, home of Burning Coal Theatre Company, a community theatre, is perfect, seating 200 people in an intimate setting. Its central location in downtown Raleigh (224 Polk St.) is convenient for all.

If you missed the concert and would still like to contribute using a bank debit or charge card using PayPal, visit the Amazing Grace website here, or call their office at 919-858-8998. 

As soon as I have edited the video of the concert, I'll be posting some clips here, so stay tuned!

Jill Phillips w/ Andy Gullahorn, Friday, March 20th, 2009, 8:00 PM (Suggested Artist Donation $15) (SOLD OUT)

Wow.  It was great having Jill Phillips and talented (and witty) husband Andy Gullahorn join us for the first time.  With a capacity crowd of 77 people, we enjoyed a particularly "close" fellowship with one another. 

Jill is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who got her start in the business after graduating from Belmont University in 1998. Her guitar based folk-rock sound combines with rich, insightful lyrics that deal with age-old topics in new and fresh ways. Her self-titled debut album on Word Records was produced by grammy-award winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick (“Change Your World” recorded by Eric Clapton) also known for producing such artists as Amy Grant, Garth Brooks and Susan Ashton.

Jill's newest release, The Good Things, released late last year, centers around themes of family, relationships and faith. "This record feels very personal to me", she says. "There is a song about marriage, a song for my children, a song about a lack of communication with a friend, things that are huge in my life but things I have never found a way to write about. Maybe it just wasn't the right time, but after the birth of my son in 2007 I felt this new urgency and passion to write about these things. Each opportunity I have to make a record is a gift and I really wanted to give this one my all."

To make a reservation, please email me at concerts (AT) outwalking.net.  Visit her web page here, or catch the performance below:

Pierce Pettis, Friday, February 13th, 2009, 8:00 PM [SOLD OUT]

What a great evening with Pierce Pettis!  It was great to hear Pierce in the intimate setting of our home.  In two sets, he performed many of the new songs off his newly-released record, That Kind of Love, as well as some great classics from his now-extensive catalog, including "God Believes in You" for an encore.  We were also treated to a blistering cover of Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood," complete with harmonica, and a welcome rendition of Paul Simon's "An American Tune."  It's a testimony to greatness that one couple who had never heard him before walked away with all five CDs he was selling.  The merch table was hoppin'!  Thanks to all who came for making it a great evening for Pierce, and for sending him away with a little money in the pocket.  I think this one is a necessary repeat!  Check out these photos from the evening.

Alathea Christmas Concert, Friday December 5th, 8:00 p.m. [SOLD OUT]

It's rare that I have invited an artist to actually come back and play a concert the very next month or so, but in the case of Alathea, it was certainly warranted.  Mandee and Cristi had us singing along with one song after another off their new Christmas CD, as well as a few new songs or old songs that didn't make it into their repetoire last time around and a few more of Mandee's stories.  It was a Christmas clebration, with hot cider and desserts and good music.  As forcasted, this one sold out, so it's a good reminder to reserve your seat early.

It was particularly difficult for me as I had to turn some away who were on our waitlist.  And yet if I had moved the concert to another venue, it would not have been quite the same, would it? There is something special about hearing music in a home, with old and new friends.

Alathea, Friday, October 3rd, 8:00 p.m. [SOLD OUT]

I cannot imagine a better setting within which to hear the acoustic folk-pop and Appalachian melodies of the female duo that make up Alathea than in the intimate setting of a home.  It's fusion music that they make; using traditional bluegrass instruments in a modern way, prinicipal singer/songwriter Mandee Radford and band mate Christi Johnson mix it up with guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and dulcimer, but never in a strictly traditional way.  Add Mandee's clear-as-a-bell vocals and Christi's smoky harmonies, and the sound is infectious --- not slick but rootsy.  Deep.  That depth extends to the lyrics which are rooted in a spiritual perspective that is always pecolating underground.  The title of their fourth album, My Roots Grow Deeper, about says it all.  It's no wonder that one of the songs off that album, "Hurricane," was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. 

It was a great night of music with these women from the Tennessee foothills.  They treated us to a host of original songs, a hillbilly medly that we could sing a long to, and a  Christmas song --- a hint at what's to come in their upcoming Christmas CD.  And who would have known that in addition to great music we would get comedy as well.  Mandee's stories of being a subsitute teacher for a week were worth the price of admission!  Our sold-out crowd of almost 70 people seemed to have a great time and stayed around talking over coffee and dessserts long after the music stopped.  Those of you who really lingered were treated to one more song, a cover of Gillian's Welch's "Orphan Girl."  (See. . . next time don't leave so soon!)  We have to have these women back for a Christmas show, don't you think?

You can read more about Alathea, listen to music, and view them in concert here.  Or simply watch them in concert here:

Check out a few pictures of our evening, like the one above, here.  Stay tuned for details on upcoming concerts.  And if you'd like to send me feedback about this concert (I'd love to have some) or tell me who you'd like to hear in the house in the future, email me.