A few days ago, I attended a house concert featuring my friend and colleague, Kate MacLeod. House concerts are always fun—intimate and informal. Sometimes they're structured like most other concerts. At other times, they include a social hour with potluck snacks. Last weekend’s concert was the latter. Problem is, I didn't realize this until a couple hours before the downbeat. Usually I like to spend a fair amount of time researching and planning my contribution. But there simply wasn’t time...

read more