06/14/2026
100+ house concerts and counting!
Here’s an excerpt from a podcast in which I was interviewed… link to the podcast at the end.
'Molly Lenz grew up in Rogers Park, Chicago and from early on, her ambition was to be involved in music. That passion resulted in a career as a DJ for a station in New Jersey, where she met her husband, who had of all things, a record store. Molly was able to curate her own tunes there at the station, bringing listeners unheard of musicians who were not mainstream. The record store literally a gathering place of new artists and the occasional live performance. After her husband's passing, Molly channeled her grief by having a concert in her New Jersey home. The community that developed, along with the amazing shows made her understand that it was presenting concerts that best represented her ability to promote bands she loved, while giving those bands an audience that trusted her musical tastes. Lenz decided to return back to Illinois and brought along her house concert, Molly's House Concerts to Lincolnwood, a few miles down the road from her old Chicago stomping grounds. There she refined her talent for finding independent audiences and matching them with an audience intent on listening and being part of the evening and not just observers. That was key in the success of her concerts, which has led to an amazing 18 major shows a year. It also highlights the importance to the independent music community of having a venue like Molly's---a place that was free of the control that bigger venues exert on musicians, and a place where an audience could pay for energetic music, given up close and with intention. House Concerts, like Molly's are the "keystone" of the independent music scene. No one is there to get rich, except in Joy and celebration of live, independent music. It is no wonder that such venues are often in the crosshairs of the music industry, looking for ways to extract money from independent artists and independent audiences. This is the first of a two part series in which the community can learn from Molly's experiences in running a house concert and how to create independent concert venues for the benefit of player and audience alike. Her website is www.mollyshouseconcerts.com '
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcSdn0Z2hJw
Molly Lenz grew up in Rogers Park, Chicago and from early on, her ambition was to be involved in music. That passion resulted in a career as a DJ for a stat...
