Jon Troast Hundred Dollar Tour

Last night we hosted Wisconsin singer/songwriter Jon Troast as he swung through NJ on his Hundred Dollar Tour. He did a mini concert in our living room for 45 of our friends and family.

Ed heard Jon sing on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio show and became an instant fan. Ed jumped at the chance to be a stop on the tour when Jon announced his plan.

This is how Jon explains the tour on his website

Here's the way I picture it. There I am, sitting in your living room, talking about the song I'm about to play, when suddenly the timer on the oven goes off or the phone rings. "Go ahead and get it." I say. "I'll wait." A few minutes later, you hang up from talking to Aunt Bernice or you finish pulling the cookies out of the oven and walk back into the living room. The music continues...

What am I talking about? Well, it's a little thing I'm calling the"Jon Troast Hundred Dollar Tour". An experiment of sorts. Let meexplain. I've had a number of people tell me, "You need to come play in _______ (fill in the blank)." Well, believe me, I'd love to, and I'm going to try, but I need your help.

--I will travel to your town (ANYWHERE in the contiguous 48 states) and play in your living room, dorm room, coffee shop, business, etc. (I do mean ANYWHERE, I've already been contacted by people in Maine, Florida, Arizona and Washington!)

-I will play for one hour.

-The cost will be $100 (hence the name of the tour)

-BUT, in addition to a one hour performance, I will also give you 10 copies of my latest cd, Second Story!

I know, you're thinking "Jon, you must be crazy!" Believe me, I've thought it through, and I've decided it's worth it if it gets the music into the hands of people that enjoy it.

Well we all sure as heck enjoyed it. Jon arrived around 6:30 PM so Ed and I had a chance to talk to him and get to know him a bit before our guests arrived. Jon is just the nicest guy. It was a treat to host him in our home.

Jon told us how he had played for a group of 7 at someone's home in Delware on Monday night and was off to Long Island to do another living room show on Wednesday evening. We couldn't help but admire this crazy plan to get his music out there. It's working! He introduced a few dozen people to his music that night and they will likely mention it to their families, friends and coworkers.

Guests arrived around 7 PM. We had the whole adult Curtis clan, Mom & Dad Menapace, the Weis family, Marianne Gilmartin, neighbors (Sorensons, Kopfs, Seibers & Grauers), Matt & Patty, Lisa, Marcy & Sari, Sue C., Randy, Dan & David, Dan & Steve, Scott & Jen, Ashley & Justin, Maryann & Nigola, Anna & Lynn, John T., and probably a few others I can't recall right now. We had drinks out in the kitchen and a spread of food on the dining room table.

At 8 PM, everyone moved into the living room which was full of chairs and handcrafted stools (available for purchase at The Farmhouse Store). John stood back by the French doors, introduced himself and launched into his first song.

He sang "The Most," "Was it Ever Really Mine," "Family," "You're That Way (to me)" and a bunch of others. Some of it was new material that will be on one of two new CD's Jon plans to record in the coming year.

He sang a funny breakup song, some really fun, upbeat stuff, and some slower ballads. And after hearing that Sue Collacci didn't know anyone at the party but Ed & me, he used that as the lead-in to his song, "The Loneliest Girl in the Room." Sue was mortified but was a good sport about it.

Jon also put his guitar down for a bit to play a few songs on our baby grand. We had to stop the show for a few minutes when he found that one of the pedals was squeaking. But we stopped the squeak and Jon got right back to his music. He played beautifully.

Jon had told us earlier that he didn't write music and that he kept his songs in his head. I hope he gets it all down so that some sheet music gets published. I know Ed would love to learn to play some of Jon's stuff.

It was a terrific night. Everyone enjoyed the show. Jon did one song where there was a little audience singalong. I sang but quietly so I wouldn't ruin it (you know you were thinking that). Some people were familiar with Jon's songs so he did a few requests from them.

Jon passed a signup sheet around so people could pre-order his upcoming CDs. He said he has saved enough money to pay for recording the first CD. For the second one, he is using the money from the pre-orders to pay for the recording. Everyone who pre-orders will have their name listed on the cover of the second cd. You can check out the details of his new CDs by clicking the bumpersticker below. I love Jon's little Troast/toast man.

We're hoping that if Jon does another tour like this we can get him back to NJ in warmer weather and have a real big concert in the backyard and invite the whole neighborhood and even more friends & family.

Ed, Chris & Bill