Concert series packs the house

By DAVID GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT — Across the nation, a variety of locations experience a magical conversion during the evening hours. Mostly on weekends, they go from being restaurants, music stores or other retail establishments during the day to “listening rooms” at night.

In Sandpoint, one such transformation takes place at DiLuna’s Café, where a full house of about 80 listeners gathers regularly to take in the restaurant’s dinner concert series. The shows have been going on since 2002, inspired originally by performances local singer-songwriter Beth Pederson enjoyed at a Seattle jazz club.

In that venue, the owner was adamant about hosting an audience that gave its undivided attention to those on stage. Idle chat was not allowed when musicians were playing — all eyes and ears were meant to be on the show. As a professional musician who had paid her dues as both a solo artist and one half of the musical duo Beth & Cinde — a recording and touring vehicle with songwriting partner Cinde Borup — Pederson had seen more than her share of noisy clubs and inattentive crowds.

When Cinde passed away in 1998, Beth’s performing life was put on hold. Four years later, Borup’s daughter, Amy, was a catalyst for getting the artist back on stage.

“Beth hadn’t been playing music out and about and we were trying to find a way to make that happen again,” she said.

The café did five shows back-to-back, introducing the intimate listening experience to Sandpoint and, in effect, re-introducing one of its favorite singers to those who had missed her sweet sound.

“The impetus for the whole thing was to create a listening room in town, because Sandpoint never had one,” Pederson said. “I was the opening act — it gave me a chance to get my feet wet again.”

Perhaps no one was more familiar with Pederson’s dulcet voice than Amy Borup, who traveled on the road with the duo as a toddler and sometimes even dozed backstage during concerts, earning her the reputation of being a “rock n’ roll baby” who could sleep virtually anywhere.

So it was that Borup, Pederson and DiLuna’s owner Karen Forsythe began brainstorming on what names they might lure to the downtown restaurant. A stage was built along the west wall, lights and sound were installed and the women started writing down performers they’d like to see.

“We thought that we could go big,” said Borup. “And we had a wish list of people we wanted to have play.”

Some of those acts never made it to the DiLuna’s stage, but many have been back more than once. Their names are inscribed as autographs on a pair of black kitchen aprons — the first filled up quickly, requiring a second for backup — that chronicle the appearances.

Eric Bibb shows up in sparkly, silver ink, as do Ruthie Foster, Kelly Joe Phelps, Laura Love, Michael Martin Murphy, Chris Webster, Nina Gerber, Tony Furtado, Beppe Gambetta and Duke Robillard.

“Some are good sellers because we have them back and people get to know them and some are good sellers just because of their name,” said Borup.

And while many shows sell out by dent of the fact that audiences have come to trust that a DiLuna’s dinner concert promises both great food and great music, there are no guarantees on turnout. When the concert series featured Patty Larkin — a Boston-based songwriter with 13 highly regarded albums to her credit and an industry reputation for finely crafted songs — it was assumed the place would be packed to the rafters.

“We sold 20 tickets for that show,” Borup said. “You never know.”

Mostly, though, these dinner concerts tend to attract capacity crowds. At one point, the restaurant experimented with right-sizing the audience, growing to as many as 100 people for some early concerts, before landing on 80 as the cap for attendance. It was a decision that suited listeners and restaurant staff nicely.

For sold-out shows, DiLuna’s could be described as a classic “duck on the water” scenario — everything looks placid on the outside, while the kitchen and servers are paddling like mad backstage. It might take a few minutes more to get that second glass of wine or order dessert, Borup noted, but the regular crowd knows it’s worth it.

“It feels like a living room full of friends,” she said. “And when it’s sold out, people are patient.”

The days of scrambling to find artists to play the series are long gone, according to Pederson, who said positive word-of-mouth within the touring musicians’ community has put this little Sandpoint listening room on the map. Nowadays, the artists are calling DiLuna’s, rather than the other way around.

“And we’re a good in-between stop from places like Seattle if your next show is in Montana or Canada,” she explained.

The concert series reputation has grown among ticket buyers, as well, which means that Pederson needs to lay down the house rules for the newbies. A staple of her pre-show introduction has been to politely let the crowd know that “this is a listening room — and we mean it.”

“I still remember the time Beth went over to one table and said, ‘Zip it!’” Borup shared.

“Hey,” Pederson responded. “I only did that once.”

The DiLuna’s Café dinner concert series will resume next month after its annual August hiatus. Watch for posters around town or check their Facebook page for upcoming shows. The restaurant also maintains an e-mail list for concert updates. Call 208-263-0846 to be added to that list.