Venue Host

Tell us about yourself and your music

A classically-trained vocalist, Aimée Bolter Campbell has sung for over five decades in the SF Bay Area, including SF’s Grace Cathedral and multiple seasons with Palo Alto’s West Bay Opera chorus, Stanford University Choir, as well as many local groups in Modern and Middle English, Latin, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew. Now in retirement, Ms Campbell has hosted carefully-vetted House Concerts in her Menlo Park, CA home, May-Oct annually since 2014. She produces 12-14 concerts per season, featuring acoustic music from touring (international and US) and local musicians with one concert per season dedicated to artists under age 30. Her mission is to create a thriving community of local listeners and a wide variety of performers and genres of music from Jazz to ragas, Folk to bossa nova, and more.

Talk to us more about your latest release

The venue Dala’s Nest House Concerts 2019 season was our largest to date with 30% increased guests in attendance compared to earlier seasons; we enjoyed many new guests, and many repeats from prior seasons.

The garden venue accommodates 30 seats and light refreshments are always provided by the host; all musicians are offered meals, touring musicians are also offered lodging.

A large covered deck with power can hold bands up to 6 members with their equipment and instruments.

Concerts are always on Sundays, 3:30 to 6:00pm, and the current gate donation is $20/seat.

100% of gate donations go to the artists. Always. Dala’s Nest is a non-profit venue.

Ms Campbell carefully vets artists submissions from Nov to Feb and begins booking touring artists in February, filling the remaining half of gig dates with local artists.

Some artists are so popular they’ve performed more than one season, due to guest demand. Ms Campbell’s goal is to provide a range of genres, specifically artists who play original music.

Two programs are in place to offer free passes to guests who either intern (light sweat equity) or attend multiple concerts per season (loyalty). Nobody is turned away; guests who can’t pay are covered by the host.

Minimums for performers are as follows for 2020: single artist: $150; duo/trio: $300; band (4+): $450. Artists receive either 100% of gate donations or the minimum, whichever is GREATER.

DNHC promotes each concert on three popular social apps and nine local calendars, eZines, and word-of-mouth. Average attendance is 20-30 guests per event.

What inspired you to write this release?

Dala’s Nest House Concerts (DNHC) is a local haven for intimate acoustic music listening events in the SF South Bay Area; its goal is to attract superb musicians and nurture audiences who appreciate the diverse and expert performances offered. Each concert leaves guests with a slick-coat of happiness, warmth, and compassion to take with them to spread within the local community.

All artists are pampered and their needs accommodated (special diets, sleeping arrangements, laundry, parking, etc.).

House Concerts and other small-seat venues, especially those embedded in communities, offer professional musicianship to guests for whom distance, cost, or timing don’t fit larger venues.

Performance dates are set, and we are jamming each with outstanding talent!

DNHC’s 2020 season calendar will be published in April 2020.

 

Describe the writing and recording process

Ms Campbell’s original music always starts with a concept and lyrics, and only then those are settled key, cadence, and nuance are added to complete the song. Ms Campbell does not currently record, instead promoting the talent of others, bringing herself, her guests and the artists with delightful musical experiences. DNHC videos are, with artists’ permissions, posted to https://www.youtube.com/user/Dalasplaylist/videos

where guests have access to them at any time.

Guests are welcome to take videos of their own for personal use and/or to submit to artists for permission to post publicly.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Dalasplaylist/videos

Any plans to hit the road?

Nope. DNHC is the retirement project of an old lady crooner who stays put and invites musicians and the public to her home for entertainment.

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

As an Indie Artist host, DNHC is branded as a community-focused venue presenting a wide variety of international and local acoustic artists playing original music.

Who have you been listening to lately?

• Grammy-balloted Scott Mickelson (Roots/Americana)


• Grammy-nominated Andre Theirry (Zydeco)


• New Zealand’s National Artists ambassador Jackie Bristow (Folk pop)


• SF’s Jeff Desira [iMDB “The Way We Weren’t”] (Indie pop)


• Florida’s Jennings & Keller (Country-inspired pedal steel, dobro, guitars, vocals)


• Scotland’s hammerstyle ORIGINATOR Preston Reed


• Danica & The Jeb (Indie Folk, 2016 Artists of the Year from Concerts in your Home)


• Garrick Davis’ World Blues band

Who are your biggest influences?

The biggest influencers in DNHC’s line-ups are Musicianship, Artistry, and Originality.DNHC’s mission

Tell us about your passions

DNHC’s mission is to CONTINUE to build gate-busting seasons of live, acoustic, acoustic concerts!

What else is happening next in your world?

Ms Campbell, aside from her personal musical forays and hosting exquisite house concerts, enjoys gardening, cooking, traveling, jewelry-making, and pampering all who grace her venue/home.

 

 

Thanks for an awesome interview, Dala’s Nest House Concerts

 

 

Connect with Dala’s Nest House Concerts

Website: https://business.google.com/site/l/10742354069010051301Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DalasNestMenloParkCA/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aimee.b.campbell/Twitter: https://twitter.com/adbcampbellYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Dalasplaylist/videosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimeecampbell/

Genres: Acoustic

Source: ArtistPR Indie Artist Interview