Jason and Cary Brege’s home sits nestled in a regular neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. Though their home faces the suburbs, the party’s often in the back—on the homemade stage, that is.
Welcome to Havenwood, a quarter-acre property backing up to a 27-acre lake, all teeming with wildlife. This place exudes and embraces the uniqueness of creativity. The Brege’s stage, a detached deck they built as one of a few projects during the early months of COVID-19, foregrounds this view. Guests to shows at the Brege home also enjoy access to a fridge full of Dr. Pepper in glass bottles (a signature feature of Havenwood) and have the opportunity to get their game on with artists at the post-show kitchen table ping-pong game. But the real VIP-access, Cary tells me, is in the treehouse that overlooks the scene, perfect for the kids.
For Cary, concerts at Havenwood are more than just a fun show, they’re an opportunity to reach out to others, practice hospitality and generosity, and be an access point for the Good, True, and Beautiful. But the root of her passion for hosting concerts started years ago. “It’s been an evolution,” she said.
“Looking far back, I remember flying to Texas in 2013 to go catch a show with some friends,” she recalled. “It was Bebo Norman’s farewell tour with Andrew Peterson and Sara Groves. As luck would have it (or God ordained it!) we managed to get front row seats. And I distinctly remember Andrew saying ‘Just pretend we’re sitting in your living room’ to try to close the large concert space and make it more intimate. And sitting so close, I thought, ‘What would it be like to have a musician play in my actual living room?’ I also felt like I kept begging my friends to come with me to shows and they never would. And they’d say things like ‘If you had a concert in your house, then I would come.’ In the beginning, I just wanted to share the music I loved so much with my family and community.”
The Breges dipped their toes in with a Christmas show, right before COVID-19 hit. “That’s when we got the bug,” she laughed. They decided on a hybrid model of part-concert, part-carol singalong, which was a more familiar concept for guests who had never attended something like that before. Then, realizing how much the pandemic had impacted musicians’ livelihoods with tour cancellations, the Breges decided to host a second show—this time outdoors. This inspired their stage project. That second show featured the music of singer-songwriters Taylor Leonhardt and Jess Ray, staples in the local music scene at the time.
Soon enough, Cary joined the Porchlight network and scheduled her next house concert with Gabrielle Grace. Welcoming in someone from outside the local music scene had its own blessings. “I’ve been totally spoiled with the local artists we have, but the downside of that is that they go home after the concerts because that’s where they live and it’s easy to get there. It’s a real joy to have the musicians stay with you in your home and get to know them much better. It serves to make the experience more meaningful.”
Looking to bridge the national with the regional, Cary and Gabrielle worked together to find an opening artist from right there in the community: Christopher Black. “Just watching Chris and Gabby talk afterwards, they were making all these connections, and I thought it would be encouraging to the artists themselves to also make a new friend and be able to encourage each other.”
This intentionality springs from Cary’s aim to harness her home as an “incubator” in her community. “About two years ago, I read a book called The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield. In the book, she talks about houses as hospitals or incubators. And this got me thinking about our own version of hospitality. The whole idea of your house as an incubator got me really excited, especially thinking about music, community, and artists who were starting out.”
When asked if there was anything in particular she wanted to share with others, Cary recommended hosts consider naming their homes. Cary chose the name ”Havenwood” for her place years ago (and the name now also applies to their backyard concert venue), and she believes this choice had a purpose. “I didn’t even know this was coming down the pipeline but I was preparing for it,” she said.
Brege also expounded on the importance of involving the community in shows. “One thing we always try to do is this: We have a friend who’s a professional photographer and we invite her to take pictures at shows so that the artists can have those images later on for promotions, social media, tours, etc.,” she explained. “We’ve also invited those who attended a show to share reflections about the concert that were meaningful, and we bundle them all and send them to the artist who performed. Look for ways to be generous that don’t cost anything, like soliciting encouragement. I want to bless the artist, too, when they’re here.”
The Breges host in ways intrinsic to who they are, rather than what they think they need to be. “I had an anemic view of hospitality and generosity. That sort of southern Christian version of hospitality that involves casseroles and matching sets of china—that’s just not us. And we can think, ‘Am I disqualified from participating in this?’ But there’s freedom in realizing we can order takeout and share a meal together, thinking about things that we can bring that provide unique and enjoyable experiences for people.”
Looks, and sounds, like it’s just what it needs to be.