Sydney Wright

This is a Direct Support House Concert in Austin, Texas! For tickets, RSVP to dshouseconcerts@gmail.com After prepayment, you'll receive a confirmation and location details. Doors open for happy hour at 5pm, and my intimate solo set starts at 7pm! Tickets are $20. See y'all there <3 -------------- Sydney Wright has unrelenting determination. I first spotted it years ago when she was just beginning to play out, still getting used to live looping but unfazed by gear glitches. I saw it again last year when she overcame gruesome injuries after being literally run over by a reckless driver. She embodies the fighting spirit we want to support in our independent music community. I'm proud of my Black Fret friends for making her a nominee this year, and I'm delighted to host her on my stage. Here's what Sydney wrote when I asked her how a house concert would help her: "I'm an independent musician and live-sound engineer here in Austin. I make my living playing shows, running sound for shows, and selling merch. It's enough to pay my rent and keep me fed. However, it's not always enough to pay for recording new music, creating videos, paid promotion, and updating my gear. Right now, I'm lucky enough to have incredible friends who give me insane deals, and even donate their time to help me record and create. I've got 7 songs in the studio, and a music video for my latest release, 'Tenderfoot', on the fire right now. I need help funding promotional campaigns for these projects so they'll be put on people's plates when they're hungry for new art. Any support is so appreciated, and it will go toward getting these pieces heard and making our hard work count. THANK YOU!" HOW TO ATTEND AND SUPPORT SYDNEY WRIGHT: * If we can count on you to be here, RSVP to dshouseconcerts@gmail.com. Be sure to include the artist’s name in your email, along with the number of people you’re RSVPing for. You will receive the venue address when you RSVP. * Send $20 per attendee in advance directly to the artist via the Venmo app (@biscuits) or through PayPal at www.paypal.me/sydneywrightmusic. You can opt to pay at the door, electronically or with cash, but space is limited, so only those who prepay are guaranteed admittance. Your payment is transferable but not refundable. * If you can’t attend but want to send support anyway, by all means, please do. Doors: 5:00pm Happy Hours: 5-7pm Music starts: 7:00pm Event ends: 8:30pm ****************************** ALL THE DETAILS: ABOUT DIRECT SUPPORT HOUSE CONCERTS In live music, "direct support" refers to the artist or band that performs just before the headliner. The direct support act is entrusted with helping to promote the show and bring as many people as possible in cooperation with the headliner. When we gather for a concert in our living room or around the stage out back, we are serving as direct support for an independent musician working to make a living with his or her art. Each attendee here pays at least $20 directly to the performer. We also spread the word about each event and invite friends we believe will enjoy this artist or simply enjoy being of support. Those of us who consider ourselves true patrons of indie artists recognize this as a clear and simple opportunity to exercise one of our core values. Your ticket fee, paid directly to the artist, grants you access to a unique, up-close-and-personal performance that creates an artist-listener connection rarely experienced in a club or concert hall. PRIORITIES This is a semi-private, RSVP-required, paid performance for an artist we respect and want to support. Our top priority is to create a respectful listening environment with an audience of people who have all committed to put their money where their mouths are as patrons of independent music. It’s also a social event. Not a big ol’ party … more like an ease-filled transition from the work week to the weekend. We schedule our concerts on Fridays for this reason, and also to avoid conflicts with other established series like Black Fret and Wyldwood Shows on Saturdays and Rawhide Trail House Concerts on Sundays. (We might sometimes choose another day of the week, but Friday is the plan.) Music starts at 7:00pm, but you’re welcome to roll in any time from 5:00pm on and enjoy the mellow Happy Hours vibe. It’s Friday … pace yourself through the work day to save energy for the evening, then come straight here and ease into your weekend with the best type of feel-good gathering: a house concert! WHO’S INVITED Friends and friends of friends. This is **not** a public show. I (Deb) am particular, to put it mildly, about home security and it takes a lot for me to share our home address, let alone plan on inviting groups of people here regularly. But, to paraphrase Ambrose Redmoon, some things are more important than fear, and being of direct support to independent artists is one of those things for me. Please, no pets or children. We have two dogs (allergy FYI) and more than them would be too many. And this really isn’t a kid type of event. It’s a listening environment, so the audience remains still and silent while the artist plays, and that’s too much to ask of young’uns. WHAT’S YOUR COMMITMENT? * A reliable RSVP. If you say you’re coming, show up, and if a conflict arises, call or text to cancel. Don’t just no-show. Space will be limited and there might sometimes be a waiting list, so we need to be able to count on the accuracy of the night’s attendee list. * Payment of at least $20 per attendee to the artist. We will give you the artist’s payment links in advance so you can send money ahead. You can also pay the night of the event, electronically or in cash. Remember Priority #1 above … payment is required, and 100% of it goes to the artist. * Know where to be if you want to talk while the performance is happening. If the show is inside, go outside or into the attached garage. If the show is outside, go through the gate to the side of the house. We get it that sometimes you want to visit or need to take a call … totally fine, just do it in the right place. WHAT’S OPTIONAL? * Bring your own beverages if you want something other than water or iced tea. * Bring some potluck snacks. We’re simple … a bag of tortilla chips and jar of salsa from the gas station is great. ;) If you’re coming straight from work and don’t have time to stop, no worries. * Bring a camp chair or blanket for outdoor shows (or feel free to stand in the back, as some folks prefer). * Support the artist even more by buying merch or tipping in addition to your $20 ticket. VENUE INFO The venue is our home in Pflugerville, near Wells Branch and Dessau. You’ll receive the exact address when you RSVP. Parking is on the streets of the neighborhood. Please be courteous and don't get us in trouble with our neighbors. ;) WHAT WE PROVIDE * The space, stage, and sound system. * Various limited seating (chairs, stools, ottomans, cushions) for both indoor and outdoor shows. * For outdoor shows, we’ll spray the yard for mosquitoes and turn on the pretty lights. WHO WE ARE Direct Support House Concerts is presented by me, Debbie Stanley, and my husband, Steve Connor. When we moved to Austin from Detroit in 2012, many of the first new friends we made here were local musicians, so we immersed ourselves in the live music scene pretty quickly. My client roster filled up with musicians and music industry companies, I joined Black Fret in 2015, and I published my book The Organized Musician in 2016, so now both my social life and my work life revolve around supporting independent musicians. In 2018, Steve and I bought a house that already had a stage in the back yard, so … put all of that together and Direct Support House Concerts was obviously, inevitably meant to be. Welcome to our world: pay the band, buy the merch, dig the music. :