Jenna Sterner

When Scott and Alisha Patterson moved to Baltimore, Maryland years ago, it didn’t take them long to make their mark in the city’s arts and music scene. The husband and wife duo founded Afro House Baltimore and now create, produce and host events with the motto, “disruptive music culture.”

The Afro House Concert Series began out of a need to find a venue that would work with the performances conceptually and logistically. Scott came up with the idea to host concerts at their family home in Baltimore and eventually, Alisha jumped on board. In the years since, they have invited strangers into their house for eight concerts and counting.

As with every event in the House Concert Series, Afro House Concert No. 8 was planned months ahead to ensure a seamless, intentional, and exciting experience.

This event featured four Baltimore-based artists: Max Bent, Black Root, Shodekeh, and Scott Patterson. It also included local business Brown Bread as the “Maker,” who catered the event with their specialty biscuits.

Here, Max Bent and Black Root rehearse beat-boxing and sound experimentation for the concert.

The artists knew one another previously, but are not an ensemble, so both the rehearsal and the concert were entirely improvised and made up on the spot. This rehearsal served as a way for them to get a better feel of working together and how the vibes would feel in that space.

[Scott Patterson pictured in front]

The week of the concert is busy for everyone who is involved, but it is especially busy for Alisha. She spends time nailing down last-minute details, promoting the event, and running errands.

To get ready for the event, Alisha bought items like wine, cups, and Lysol wipes. However, she doesn’t do all of the prep work on her own. Alisha and Scott have two young children and often enlist their help on the day of the concert to get the first floor of their home ready. The whole family works together to put away toys, move furniture, and set up rows of chairs for the audience. Alisha says she enjoys getting the kids involved, and that it helps them better understand what their parents do for a living.

On the day of, the performers arrive early to set up their equipment. Here, Black Root sits on the couch and tests the microphones.

Max Bent laughs as he talks with the other artists. They spent some time before the concert started catching up and talking, then tested the sound system. Bent worked diligently during set-up to make sure everything worked correctly.

Alisha welcomes guests to the Afro House Concert No. 8 and introduces the performers.

As Alisha explained the run-of-show for the evening, she introduced Jess (right), who is the owner and creator of Brown Bread biscuits.

Jess tells the audience about how she got started with her business and which influences from her own life played a part in the flavors of the biscuits she made for the event.

Brown Bread’s biscuits were a hit with the entire crowd, but Black Root especially loved them. During the second half of the performance, he even started to freestyle about them.

Alisha steps into the kitchen with her son. The children spent most of their time playing upstairs while the concert took place downstairs, but they made an appearance when the biscuits were served.

The audience seemed to enjoy the improvised nature of this performance and ended up dancing and swaying along to the beat. Afterwards, the concert wrapped up with a Q&A session with the artists.

The Patterson’s considered this event a success. The next in the House Concert Series is already planned for just a couple of months down the road.