that’s what i said as i welcomed 60-something fellow music lovers to my inaugural house concert in june of 2004.  what started 20 years ago as a young girl’s dream became reality when shake russell and dana cooper played music in my living room. 

yeah, that’s right.  this has been a dream two decades in the making.  when i was just a teenager, my best friend rosie and i would sneak in to see shake and dana in various houston clubs by means of fake id’s that we got at the flea market.  i’d sit on that front row and smile and sing along, imagining that when they sang “pretty as a picture” it was me they sang about.  yeah, i guess you could say i was a real groupie wannabe. 

(click to enlarge) Shake & Dana & friends, ca. 1979, New Caney, Texas (as usual, i was on the front row of that show.) i must have seen 50 shows in houston, huntsville and college station between 1977 and 1983.  somewhere in there, when i was about 20, i dreamed one night that shake and dana sat in my living room and played.  i woke up and thought that would be the coolest thing ever.

but you know, life has a way of steering you in different directions.  i got married, had kids, a career … and live music just sort of faded from the picture as day-to-day life made sweet history of my girlish dreams. 

(click to enlarge) with Shake at my first Shake and Dana show in 10 years - 2003 but then my kids got bigger, my marriage ended and life began to offer old things in new packages.  specifically, in september ‘03, i saw shake and dana at the second annual KEOS volunteer jam at fitzwilly’s in college station.  it was the first time in ten years they had played together in aggieland, and as many years since i had been to a show.  i made new friends that night among some of the players and KEOS staff, stirring old feelings for texas music within me.  it was a life-changing night, and over the course of the next few months, i fell headlong into my old love of texas singer/songwriter music. 

that night led to my developing the web site of texas musician jay sims, and in doing some internet research for this project, i stumbled upon the concept of house concerts. i realized that a house concert was how i could make my old dream a reality.  jay encouraged me to pursue the idea, so i screwed up my nerve and told shake of my desire to start a house concert series and have him and dana launch it for me.  he enthusiastically agreed and my dream became reality on june 25, 2004, a few days after my (whatevereth) birthday, as shake and dana played for nearly three hours in my living room.

(click to enlarge) Shake & Dana - the inaugural RPHC talk about your full circle.  this night had a mojo all its own!  to those of you who shared it with me, i thank you from the bottom of my texan heart.  now you know why i couldn’t stop smiling that night.  to shake and dana, i offer my thanks for taking a risk on me and encouraging me to do this.  to jay, i offer humble thanks for all you have shared with me that has given me courage to reach for my dreams.  to gary, gary, jimmy, jeff and others at KEOS who have offered endless encouragement, advice and promotion, the success belongs in large part to y’all. 

and to those of you who are just finding this site, just hearing about my house concerts, don’t worry that you missed shake and dana.  not only did they promise to become RPHC regulars, but there will be many more cool and talented artists to follow.

welcome to my dream.

Click here to view more pics of that first RPHC show…