From the outside this house nestled in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lancaster doesn’t seem large enough to hold a concert event. But upon entering the front door of Jason and Susanne Mundok, you are greeted by a living room crowded with people socializing over food and drink while they wait for the music to begin. And it isn’t long before the host of the evening makes his way to the new arrivals and greets them with a smile and “Thanks for coming!”

Eventually the lights blink and everyone files down a narrow hallway to a back room containing metal folding chairs, a performance area and a wood stove. After a few moments, the performer walks up the aisle, turns to face the crowd and begins to sing and play.

Welcome to Wood Stove House Concerts. The idea was originally sparked during Jason and Susanne’s time in Nashville and lay dormant until a few years ago. Jason is Lancaster County singer/songwriter who, in addition his solo work, plays with the group Fire in the Glen. However, it was out of a rehearsal with one of his previous groups that the idea was revived.

The group, Woodsong, was preparing for a benefit show and wanted to get some live feedback. So they invited friends to a rehearsal in the Mundok’s previous home. This made Jason think that maybe there was merit to the idea of staging these kinds of intimate performance events. When he and Susanne moved into their current house and saw the family room space where the wood stove is contained that he said to himself, “This is the place!”

Beginning in 2006, they began to test the waters using local performers in front of largely invited audiences. Between 2006 and the beginning of 2009, six shows were put on. During this time the Mundoks experimented with the format to see how this could work. In 2009, they decided, “We have to call this something!” and began their first official season as Wood Stove House Concerts with two shows.

The January 29 show, featuring Jason Wilber, is the first show of the 2010 and the first in a series of four shows that are planned for this year. It is also the first show to feature a performer from outside the Lancaster County area and is the first show to sell out. Jason says that future shows may feature a mix of local and regional/national performers. So far Jason has been opening the shows as a way to not only keep the cost down in order to pay the headliners more, but also to set the tone for the evening. However, he says he may have more local performers as openers in the future. “One of the goals,” Jason says, “is to build the audience trust in the series so that, no matter who we bring in, people will trust that we will be presenting music of a high quality.”

For more information about Wood Stove House Concerts, check them out on Facebook and on their website, www.woodstovehouseconcerts.com.