Bundlings House Concerts: Christine Kane

Photos - April 2001

Review - April 2001

Christine Kane stepped out in front of a room full of people who had never heard of her, and in most cases, had never even heard of a house concert before. From her opening words, she captivated the audience, and by the end of the evening, she had a room full of new fans.

For our first house concert, we pleaded for attendance from friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances and even people we hadn't met but who had a common interest in independent music. We had only ten days to put together our first house concert, when Christine's previous booking feel through and we decided to offer her an alternative venue. We ended up with a healthy crowd of 32 people and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Christine performed a wonderful cross-section of her previous work, including my favorites, "Off The Ground," "Breeze," "A Thousand Girls," "Let's Go," and "If I Were Me." She also played several great new songs, including a very funny song about Lent that many audience members begged her to record for her next CD. A brief reference to ABBA and "Dancing Queen" in the first set prompted me to ask her to play her rendition during the second set. She looked skeptical. Halfway through the second set, Christine introduced a song that she had not originally written, and in fact, had not even performed before. As she played the opening bars of "Dancing Queen," the audience laughed, then exploded in applause after she finished the first chorus. When Christine was mulling over several requests to play "Southern Girl" (off of her "Live" CD), Mary-Margaret Bowles insisted that she had a strong need to hear it, so Christine came through and the audience loved it.

After the show, Christine chatted with fans, old and new. Long time fans included students originally from Christine's home of Asheville, NC, who had driven 1 1/2 hours from Richmond, Indiana, and Mary-Margaret, who has previously hosted a Christine Kane concert in her home in Terre Haute, also 1 1/2 hours away.

Although we'd like to take credit for an excellent sound system put together on short notice, it was Christine's amazing, clear, beautiful voice that made us look good. We'd also like to take credit for having the foresight to book such a talented artist as our first house concert performer, but that was luck, and as it turned out, it was the very best kind of luck to have. Christine won over a room full of strangers with her funny stories, gorgeous voice, talented guitar playing and great music. We couldn't have asked for a better performer to initiate our new house concert series. Thanks, Christine.

- Debbie Schilling, Bundlings House Concerts

Photos - February 2002

Review - February 2002

After Christine Kane inaugurated our house concert series in April 2001, we knew we had to have her back. Her first show was organized in just 10 days, and since then, our audience has grown and many were disappointed that they didn't get a chance to see Christine the first time around. We weren't surprised to find that most of the people who attended her first show also made reservations for her return engagement. Audience members travelled from Valparaiso, Terre Haute, and even Lexington, Kentucky to attend the show.

Even with lofty expectations to live up to, Christine did not disappoint. She performed old favorites as well as new ones from her brand new CD "Rain and Mud and Wild and Green," showing her great versatility as she moved from beautiful ballads to upbeat rockers with intricate guitar work. Between songs, her trademark humor had the audience in stitches. At one point, when discussing Michael Jackson, someone in the audience requested that she play a Michael Jackson song. She laughed, recalled her impromptu rendition of "Dancing Queen" during her previous show and politely declined. Perhaps next time. :)

For the final song of her first set, Christine called Bundlings House Concerts' own Tom Combs up to the front to perform a spirited duet of "Tucson." Tom played guitar and sang backing harmonies. (Video clips of their duet are available on our Video page.) The audience roared with applause and several guests asked when we could expect Tom to be headlining his own show. Christine invited Tom to join her again in the second set for "Off the Ground," which is the first Christine Kane song we had ever heard (found on Putamayo's incredible "Women's Work" compilation CD). It was so great to see them perform together, and we are grateful to Christine for the experience.

After the show, Christine met with the audience members, played with our cat, and spent some time with us. She is a warm, funny, kind person and we really enjoy having her perform.

- Debbie Schilling, Bundlings House Concerts