A lot of you have probably got wind of the fact that we've been recently having trouble with Edinburgh City Council. The present situation is that we've been told to cease having concerts in our house after 31 December. We are not sure what the problem is, whether it's noise, the frequency of the concerts or the number of guests enjoying the music. We believed that since we took no money, sold no alcohol, and finished by 11pm, that we were entitled to invite people into our home to hear live music. We thought a home was somewhere where people sleep, eat and brush their teeth, and that we were entitled to invite whomever we pleased into that home. It seems that, as far as the Council is concerned, our house is a venue. As far as we understand it, a music venue has a box office, sells alcohol, has a marketing budget, and makes money from the enterprise. We have/do none of these things.
The situation remains that musicians desperately want and need to play to audiences who love live music, and we have reached that audience through our network of music loving friends. This state of affairs is compounded by difficult economic times when musicians are finding it particularly hard to make a living doing what they have worked hard for all their lives.
We don't yet know what will happen in 2013: as you know we are working towards finding a venue that can be run with the same ethos as the house, but we would urge you to come along to a house concert soon, while you still can.
Jane-Ann + Douglas
PS Our friend, top massage therapist and yoga teacher Lisa Williams is looking for second hand instruments for her children, so if you have a unused guitar or keyboard gathering dust in a cupboard please let us know. Lisa has promised to offer a massage or yoga lesson in return.
