RedHouse boasts a solid track record of collaboration.  There's the in-house groups: PrattsBottom Mummers and Occasional Terpsichore; and myriad outside collaborations (Annoying Instrument Orchestra, Heralds and Minstrels, Vortex Repertory Company, Shrewd Productions, just to name a few). 

Most of these collaborations happen face-to-face in real time with real live people.  But now we can claim to have entered the realm of virtual collaboration as well, and that's pretty darned exciting!  Thanks to our pal the internet, RedHouse now welcomes composer Larry Finke to the fold.  Nope, we've never met him and chances are fairly good that that may never happen.  But he found us, likes us and wants to play with us.  To that end, RedHouse Arts is distributing some of Larry's choral compositions along with our own.  His music seems to be a good fit, and it's all about sharing the joy, y'know?  Check out his work on our choral composition page and see what you think.

Old Gray Mule is a blues duo that rehearses regularly at RedHouse Arts.  I have watched this duo grow from concept to audition to gigging to recording. It has been a series of little miracles for these guys:  a rare invitation to play at the Juke Joint Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi; a chance to record at super studio Festival Hill; an opportunity to play the after-party at the International Guitar Festival at Round Top; a burgeoning relationship with a promising new venue in Taylor, Texas; and now a record distribution deal with a label in Adelaide, Australia.

These guys are loaded with talent and they work hard.  RedHouse Arts can't really take any credit for what Old Gray Mule is accomplishing.  But oh, how wonderful it is to listen to their rehearsals, witness their success, wish them continued good fortune and wonder what new exciting surprise is next. 

My birthday was this week, so RedHouse partied last weekend:  Chris's Open Mic Jam Session and Covered Dish Supper.  Guests were invited to bring musical instruments, dramatic readings, monologues, whatever.  And, boy, did they ever!

At one point there was an 9 piece Balkan band playing:  fiddle, piano, tapan, bass, guitar, clarinet, trumpet, accordion, dumbek.  There was hula dancing to live music.  Honky tonk dancing, again, to live music.  Tango dancing to, yup, live music.  Scandinavian dancing to -- you guessed it -- live music.  A rousing hurdy-gurdy/oboe duet.  A Persian guest playing virtuosic santoor.  Chris's 14 year old grandson jumping into the mix and jamming out, and then playing a guitar solo of his own composition.  A huge group singing rounds and chases.  Songs sung a capella.  Soul stirring Irish whistle solos.  A lively scene from a play.  What a night!

The "Covered Dish Supper" portion of the evening was an equally diverse and delicious mix:  Lebanese lamb-stuffed cabbage leaves; lentils; pasta salad; ham; potato salad; hummas; taco soup; Amish baked oatmeal and more, more, more, all topped off with a thoughtful gift of birthday cake balls (on sticks!).

There was one guest there, a friend I don't see very often, who did not belong to any of the music or theater "groups" represented at the party.  Nonetheless, being there, knowing hardly anyone, he was one of the last to leave, and his parting comment was:  When are you going to do this again? 

There was a time when RedHouse Arts hosted a monthly salon.  Based on the comments I received, and judging from the participation and joy I both witnessed and felt, I'm thinking maybe it might be time to start them up again.

For years now I've been saying I was going to set up a website for my house.  My red house.  My RedHouse ArtSpace.

I bought the house because of the front room, a spacious chamber with high ceilings and hardwood floors that just begged for dancing and music.  On the night we closed on the house, it was cold and rainy and we couldn't really move any furniture in.  So we brought over Ben's accordion, and he stood right in the middle of this wonderful space and played and played and played, as if to warn the neighbors, "Look out!  We're here!"

I have never seen a house come alive so much as this one does when there is music, dance, or other creative activity going on.  You can almost hear it breathe.  You can almost feel it relax. 

It has inspired a musical, Come Home, which was performed in that very room.  It has hosted a classical guitarist from Spain, professional tango dancers from Argentina, and other artists from Syria, England, Dominican Republic, Australia and elsewhere.  It has seen a hundred theatrical rehearsals and is currently a rehearsal space for a blues band.

It is often messy with the current project, be it costume design, set building, or simply cluttered with a dozen musical instruments all needing to be played right this minute.

So...

Welcome to RedHouse ArtSpace.  Clear off a chair, make yourself at home and enjoy some of the unexpected things that are bound to pop up.