INSPIRE AMERICA
A weekly TV show broadcast LIVE from Newton, Boston, USA and hosted by Lisa Brightman

31st January 2000

“YOU ARE WATCHING INSPIRE AMERICA AND WITH ME TONIGHT, HELPING TO INSPIRE AMERICA, IS PAUL CHI, PRESIDENT OF HEALTHYCONCERTS.COM”

LISA OK we do have a call, Inspire America, you’re on the air.

BRIAN I was just wondering, Paul, I’m an aspiring musician and I’ve been having trouble getting gigs.

PAUL Yeah, it’s a problem with the established venues that they can’t meet the need; the need is so great. Wherever you look there are people who write songs and want somewhere to sing and play them and my personal view is that every single person that writes music is vital to the cultural vitality of the community and I really mean that. I think that it has to start with providing opportunities in your locality, in the neighbourhood and then to outreach through networking. (check out www.houseconcerts.com)

LISA You write your own music, don’t you?

PAUL I do.

(Paul Chi had started the show with a Live performance of his Happy New Year song)

LISA Your sound is so beautiful and eloquent.
Tell me, where did you learn how to play guitar?

PAUL I grew up in a musical family that got together every weekend and sang folk songs, many of them. They often only half remembered a song, forgot the words and chords, gave up and moved on to the next song. That’s how I learned to improvise on guitar and make up words on the spot. My father played guitar, my uncle played the banjo, my grandfather played the piano in Liverpool clubs and I’ve another uncle who sang semi-professionally…

I WANT TO EXPLAIN HOW, BY HONOURING THE INDIVIDUAL ITS ACTUALLY STRENGTHENING THE COMMUNITY.

LISA Tell us about Healthy Concerts and how you started that idea.

PAUL My experience of putting acoustic music on really started in 1988 in Manchester, England; right in the middle of a busy city famous for it’s high tech music, disco dancing, club scene and people taking drugs. That’s the context in which I launched The New Troubadours acoustic night at Follies wine-bar. A couple called Craig and Vivian Stafford inspired me to take on the role… Sadly, Vivian died recently, of cancer. Her love and encouragement helped to give me the confidence to actually hold a space where people could meet and perform their own music, without microphones.

LISA Do you find that when people have too much to drink they get a little ornery (belligerent)?

PAUL That’s right. Attentiveness is diminished so that people are less able to appreciate the music. I began to realise that there was an audience for live music that we hadn’t reached, an audience that was out there, maybe like most people tonight… watching television!
At that time I met the poet Li Yan, then an artistic director based at the Chinese Arts Centre. He understood me intuitively and we started something called ‘Soloist in the Womb’ to encourage a nurturing positive attitude to the solo performer (check out www.soloperformer.com) in an intimate atmosphere with soft curvaceous furnishings, natural lighting and sound, herbal teas… It startled a few people, made them think.

PAUL MOVES TO BRIGHTON. HE’S LOOKING FOR THE HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE. WHERE CAN IT HAPPEN?

I was walking down the Freshield Road one day when the idea dawned on me - why not have the concerts in people’s houses?
I was overwhelmed by a feeling of inspiration and filled with hope.
in April 1994 we had the first house concert (it was in Brunswick Square and featured Pooka.) It was immediately apparent that it was a great way to hear new music and particularly singer-songwriters. Most musicians today are locked into the computers and in the recording studios, working on making albums, which is all very important, but I think the performance aspects have been neglected. House Concerts offer a solution to this problem.