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If you’ve heard the expression “ house music,” you associate it with techno beats in a warehouse-sized rave-dance club right ?

A quiet phenomenon in music for the past 10 years, house concerts are basically, public performances given in the privacy of one’s own home or rental. No arena-rock traffic jams. No glowering stadium security, no $15 special-event parking fees in broken -glass-strewn urban lots outside. No gauntlet of 20-foot tall inflatable beer bottles and radio station promo vans at the door. For the artists’ part, they are not competing with the noise from arcade games, pool tables, or drunks at the bar.

Non-professionals host the event like a convivial pizza party, and musical acts tend to be acoustic in nature. Sans amplifiers, playing up close and personal. Via internet, word-of-mouth, and, hopefully, a big-enough rumpus room, you can transform your own home into a house of Blues for a night.

Brian Schmuck of North Olmsted has a whole calendar line-up of talent coming this year to the clubhouse building of the Madison , where he lives at the butternut ridge apartments.

This Saturday night it’s the WEEPIES, a duo coming all the way from California. On Oct. 23, Local favorite Robin Stone opens for a troubadour coming all the way from the Lone Star State, Butch Hancock. “(he is) a true Texas ledged who is also a founding member of the super group the Flatlanders. It is almost unheard of to draw talent of this magnitude, to play a house concert… You could not knock the smile off my face with a Louisville slugger the day that Butch agreed to play my show. “

It was during his 20 years living and working for MCI/WorldCom in Dallas / Fort Worth that Schmuck an Ohio native, learned about the Texas house-concert scene, “ which is the best in the country by far.” and began avidly attending.

“In Texas there is a large cross pollination of venues. I picked up my first flyer for house concerts there. In addition to a little internet surfing and a lot of word of mouth, I learned as much as I could about house concerts. One night at a Lynn Miles show, it just hit me that this is something that I wanted to do if I did indeed return to Cleveland.’

“There seemed to me to be a large void in this market for this type of show. My memories of Cleveland were that of a strong musical community - I grew up listening to WMMS, going to many concerts. I was like most folks here, very proud of Cleveland and the Rock and Roll heritage that we were so fortunate to have.”

“Being in my mid-40s now, I found it striking that the number of shows that my Cleveland friends were attending could be counted on one hand. My peers no longer listened to new music on the radio, no longer attended live shows, no longer bought new music, …Like me they no longer desired to go to a smoke-filled bars, drive downtown, or to Blossom, pay for parking, pay outrageous services charges on top of outrageous ticket prices to see artist that they have seen perform in their heyday.”

“We spend a great night out, enjoy the company of old friends, make new friends and share a common experience”

He gave his inaugural house concert this summer in the Butternut Ridge clubhouse ( which comfortably seats 50 ) with Solon-based Alexis Antes opening for Annie Gallup, A poet and Folk musician from Ann Arbor Mich., with a $12 donation as admission.

“ I developed a friendship with Alexis prior to starting the series; she was kind enough to open for the Annie Gallup show for me, as well as serve as my artist-in-residence, so to speak. … We had 40 seats reserved for that show.”

For all her experience performing solo and as a member of Odd Girl Out, it was Ante’s first time doing a house concert. She will encore a Butternut Ridge show on Nov. 20as the headliner.

Schmuck’s full schedule of house concerts is posted online at www.hometown.aol.com/butternutridgehc/myhomepage , with information about the artist, directions, and some house concert 101. He warned that the WEEPIES show will probably be sold out at press time, but places are available for Butch Hancock, and Alexis Antes’ reprise.

“We take RSVPs; we don’t do tickets. I have the pleasure of meeting every person first by e-mail before confirming their RSVP. By the time they arrive we will know a little bit about each other.”

Schmuck prefers a mature audience. “Keep in mind this is a listening room. Young adults are welcome if they have the attention span to listen.”

“ I serve coffee, Tea and Juice. The attendees are encouraged to bring a simple desert tray, Fruit tray, or snack to add to the bounty, It adds to the community feel that we are trying to promote.’

Butternut Ridge is not the only regular house-concert series in the area; others include a husband and wife in Avon Lake who list their shows online at www.acousticavenues.org.

“ There are no two house concert venues or host that are alike, “ Schmuck said. That said, There are Two things that are common to every house concert: the sheer joy of presenting great music and they are always non-profit.”

“One of the things that I like to encourage is an open set at the end of the evening, once the headliner has finished. There are generally a good number of musicians in the audience. Sometimes the headliners will even join in playing with their fans. This, too, is part of the magic of a house concert.”

By the end of the evening of a house concert event you will have met many new friends, including the performing artist, who are only too happy to meet their fans and chat with you and sign Cds. This is what separates the house concert experience from going out to a traditional venue. You’ll find we are not just putting on shows. We are building a community, one where we share the joy of acoustic music.”