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Pianist Wayne Gratz will be the first artist to appear in the Concerts at Wilder Lodge series in Salem. The shows, held in the Salem home of Steve and Judy Cottingham, are a take on the Concerts In Your Home franchise. Photo courtesy of Wayne Gratz

SALEM — No microphones. No stage to separate artist and audience. No wasted guy shouting out for “Freebird.”

It’s the elements absent from Concerts In Your Home that make it appealing. Steve Cottingham happened upon the concept by accident. The Salem resident was reading up on one of his favorite musicians, pianist Wayne Gratz, online.

Gratz was effusive about a new performance format. The Concert in Your Home Series set his shows in residential homes.

“It was a really new idea and I liked the idea of more audience/musician interaction,” Gratz said. “In a club you get that a little bit; if you’re playing a hall, you don’t get that at all. With (Concerts In Your Home) you actually get to know your audience. It’s real casual. People can come up and play instruments and sit in if they want to.”

The intimacy is potent. Say the artist is singing a ballad about a lowdown love. Want to know who the heartbreaker is? Ask the dude singing. It’s like “MTV Unplugged” in your den.

Since the performances are absolutely acoustic, no P.A. or soundman are necessary. Gratz’s only requirement is a working piano. Although the Orlando-based musician prefers seven- and nine-foot pianos, he’ll perform on an upright or spinet, as long as it’s in tune. No bum keys, please.

Luckily, Cottingham’s home is outfitted with a Yamaha Baby Grand. He recently had a few pals over for dinner, bribing them with baby back ribs to help move the Yamaha.

They repositioned the piano in the corner of the great room that anchors Cottingham’s home. A stone fireplace and exposed wooden beams provide rugged aesthetics. The hardwood floors and vaulted ceiling impart airy acoustics.

BE YOUR OWN VENUE

On March 29, Gratz will play a two-hour set at the Cottingham home —dubbed Wilder Lodge by its owner. Cottingham has recruited neighbors to help with parking. (His quarter-mile long driveway can hold around 20 to 30 vehicles.)

Cottingham is limiting admission to 45 people. Instead of folding chairs, audience members will watch the show from couches and other comfortable perches.

“I don’t have to purchase any additional insurance,” Cottingham said. “This isn’t for profit, that’s for sure. All the money goes directly to the artist. I’m trying to create an environment where people can really enjoy music. A club can be very noisy and smoky; people are talking constantly and there are other distraction like TVs and pool tables. Here, the performer and the audience can focus on the music.”

The concert is an alcohol-free event. Instead of Jim Beam and Budweisers, coffee, tea and dessert will be served.

Cottingham is sympathetic with a musician’s plight because he’s one himself. The host and his wife Judy are founders of the Foothills Chorale. The couple’s favorite artists include singer/songwriter icon James Taylor.

The Gratz show will be the first to be held at Wilder Lodge. A second gig has already been scheduled for July 19, featuring folk chanteuse Sonia Lee. Based in Nashville, Lee is one of 500 artists who books through Concerts In Your Home. (Cottingham is calling his own cavalcade Concerts at Wilder Lodge.)

Persons interested in booking Concerts In Your Home acts can peruse the organization’s Web site, www.concertsinyourhome.com. The site includes short bios and song clips. Performers are searchable by genre, with everything from flamenco to indie rock represented.

There are around 300 Concert In Your Home hosts scattered across the U.S. However, only two are located in South Carolina — Cottingham and a Charleston resident.

EBONY AND IVORY

At Wilder Lodge, Gratz’s set will include tunes from his 2008 disc “Light, Lands and Shorelines.” If the record sounds like a meditative score for a film, well, it is. Gratz was commissioned to write material for a display DVD — sort of a screen saver for wall-mounted flat-screen TVs — featuring 60 works from painter Thomas Kinkade.

To compose the tracks, Gratz loaded the Kinkade DVD onto his laptop. He placed the computer on top of his piano where the sheet music would go. Gratz then improvised moody changes inspired by Kinkade’s ambient strokes. The 53-year-old pianist cut the album at his home studio using ProTools. In addition to releasing 10 albums of his own material, Gratz has also provided music for NBC television specials and Olympic Game coverage.

“One time I was watching The Masters and they were doing this Tiger Woods segment. I was half asleep and noticed they were using one of my songs,” Gratz said.

Another Gratz tune appeared in a commercial for Ivory Snow, with Brooke Shields pitching the soap.

Coming of age during bellbottom times, Gratz fell under the spell of the era’s progressive, keyboard-based bands, like Emerson, Lake and Palmer. While other kids wanted to be Duane Allman or Keith Richards, Gratz idolized Rick Wakeman of Yes.

“I was 16 years old and was amazed with what he did,” Gratz said of Wakeman. “He had all these new sounds and synthesizers.”

Later on, Gratz learned to appreciate more economical players like Bruce Hornsby.

“There are jazz players that can play 64 notes in four bars,” Gratz said. “But there are other guys that play four notes in four bars that move you more.”