HomeDitty is a new way to experience live music at home

Robert and Scott Cerny with home concert guests Mason Olsgard, Justin Redenius, and Jerod Redenius after a concert in Decorah

A new home concert movement has reached Decorah. Featured last month in The Des Moines Register, HomeDitty.com allows you to host crowd-funded, acoustic concerts in your home, with your friends, with your choice of musicians.

Founded by Katie Byers of Des Moines, HomeDitty provides potential house concert hosts the opportunity to connect with artists and book shows. Since the site launched last month, about 45 hosts across seven states have signed up, according to Byers. Northeast Iowa was part of that starting group as Chris Redenius and Keri Bodensteiner recently hosted The Cerny Brothers for a concert in their Decorah home.  

As long-time friends of Byers and fans of live music, Chris and Keri agreed to sign up as hosts and join the movement. They thought it sounded like a fun way to hear great music. After the show, they said, "The Cerny Brothers put on a fantastic show and were fun to get to know. We will definitely host a home concert again. All our guests enjoyed the up-close music experience."

Hosts and Artists can sign up and create an account for free. Artists set the crowdfund goal by indicating the target number of guests and per guest contribution. Artists can search for Hosts based on location or geographic area and send Hosts a private message to inquire about a possible show. An online booking tool makes it simple for Hosts to book a show and create their own private crowdfund for the event plus a custom message to send to friends.

HomeDitty aims to provide artists opportunities to make additional money during and in-between tours and regular gigs. Based out of Memphis, the Cerny Brothers are currently on a ten-week tour, with several home concerts scheduled along with larger venues from Minneapolis to Decorah to New York and back through Chicago.

Additional information on HomeDitty can be found at: https://www.homeditty.com/

The Cerny Brothers performed live in Decorah at a home concert