House of blues: Underberg house concerts bring blues acts to town

Larry and Jean Underberg have a passion for live music, and their ongoing house concert series is set to begin Feb. 21 with a visit by the Hector Anchondo Band.

There’s been a shift in the series’ focus over the years, Jean Underberg said.

“We started out with mainly folk concerts,” she said. “We’d taken over from a lady doing these shows in her tiny apartment. We’ve always liked the blues.”

Larry Underberg noted they still love folk music, but blues and rock acts do bring more energy.

The Underbergs’ home in Cape Girardeau has a sunken living room open to the home’s upper floor, and is wired with a sound system to elevate the experience.

To say the setting is intimate doesn’t fully encompass it. The musicians have a small section of floor, and audience members are seated above, in front of, and to either side, making for an immersive evening with no buffer between performer and audience.

Jean Underberg said the home can comfortably accommodate about 38 people, but people shouldn’t feel they need an invitation, or that they’ll be the odd one out if attending alone.

“We like reservations because we know how many chairs to set out,” Jean Underberg said. “It really helps us a lot.”

The suggested donation at the door of $10 to $12 goes directly to the musicians, she said.

“We want the house to be a welcome space,” Jean Underberg said. “I love for people to actually get to know the artist, talk at intermission, ask them questions.”

So far, every musician booked for the 2020 season will have a full band, she said.

Jean Underberg said she and Larry work with a couple of agents who reach out when a band is traveling near Cape Girardeau, but for the most part, acts will reach out to them.

Then, they listen — typically by searching for an act on YouTube, so the Underbergs get a sense of how the act performs live.

The most important question is, will the act fit the Underbergs’ venue?

“If not, Larry is good about giving suggestions of other places the act can try,” Jean Underberg said.

Jean Underberg, a former band director, said she loves to see band members who can play together and be so in tune it sounds as if they’ve been playing together for years, whether they have been or not.

“At our house, you never know what kind of music you’ll walk into,” Jean Underberg said.

She maintains an email list, but said she’s lost at least half of the email addresses she used to send messages to.

For more information on the concerts, Jean Underberg said, check out www.facebook.com/underberghouseconcerts or www.underberghouseconcerts.com, or to make reservations, call (573) 270-1009.

2020’s first four shows

• Feb. 21: The Hector Anchondo Band will visit Cape Girardeau as part of its Collective Consciousness Tour. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, where the band was named best new blues band three consecutive years, Hector Anchondo tours extensively in support of his latest CD, “Roll the Dice.” He recently took No. 1 in the 2020 International Blues Challenge (Memphis) in the solo/duo category, and received the Cigar Box Guitar award for best guitarist.
• March 2: When Particles Collide. An rock duo based in Bangor, Maine, featuring Chris Viner on drums and self-taught punk rock guitarist and vocalist Sasha Alcott. The two met when they were cast to play the drummer and guitarist, respectively, in the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” The duo was named Boston’s best new band and have drawn an enthusiastic following.
• April 25: The Amanda Fish Band will return to the house. More than a year ago, she was in town with her first CD of all original music, which won the Sean Costello Risington Blues Blast music award. She followed that release with a second CD, “Dirt,” recognized as the blues music award for best emerging artist. She fronts a three-piece band based in Kansas City.
• May 10: Seth Walker returns to the Underberg home. Blues artist, guitarist and singer-songwriter whose newest album is titled “Are You Open?” Walker is touring the United States.

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