Ireland to NH, but where? Musician! (Manchester, Concord: for sale, renting, houses)

[angelfalling]

We are considering moving our family to NH and have been turning the idea over in our heads for some time now. I'm a US citizen and my fiancee is an Irish citizen. We're on the brink of putting our house up for sale and possibly renting in NH in the near future to get a feel for where we want to move. I have a degree in Anthropology and have done some work in archeology (illustration with CAD) and have a lot of various clerical experience as well, so I'm not terribly worried about finding work. We also have a young daughter who is now nearly 1.
My boyfriend is a musician and both teaches guitar (and piano), has taught in a private school for 10 years but has no proper certification in music (guitar only, he isn't interested in teaching Music in general-- he would have high recommendations), and also plays and sings in bands (in pubs and for events like weddings). On top of that, he also runs a recording studio and would like to continue to do the same if we were to move. He deals usually with all musicians and he himself plays pretty popular music (oldies like the Beatles, blues or new pop stuff--nothing outlandish or overly folk-y).
We're looking for suggestions on where might be some places for us to relocate. We're definitely liberal-minded and would like to be in a place where we'd encounter similarly minded people (my parents live in Florida and that's NOT the kind of place we want to be! We joke the things we dislike most about the US are guns and crazy Christians-- joke obviously, don't be offended). We are not looking to roll in the riches, just live comfortably. We're also bringing euros-to-dollar so money is in our favor if we sell our house in Ireland.
Where might one make a good living in music? Lessons, gigs, etc? We'd like to be near a "city"-- that said, someplace with a little bit of everything that we would need and preferably a place we could walk. I cycle and he runs, and being in an area friendly to that is somewhat important to us. Someplace family-friendly is also important to us (we are attached parents). Suggestions? We're kind of already looking to the Southeast, but we're open to any suggestions.

[WannaComeHome]

ooo, my first thought was Portsmouth. Or maybe outside Manchester or Concord?

[GregW]

Portsmouth, Exeter, seacoast in general. Decent Irish music scene in NH. Welcome to NH.

[angelfalling]

That's great to hear. We've already gotten the impression near to Portsmouth is the place to be. Seems most locations nearby are within 20 minutes driving distance (which is nothing to us)... someplace like Dover or Exeter? Housing seems expensive in Portsmouth and we're looking in the $250,000 - $300,000 or so market for a house. How is renting around these areas?

[fishnfool]

Portsmouth for sure.....he could probably get a gig at Molly Malone's in a second. Lots of other bars with a great music scene as well.


Renting is more expensive in Portsmouth compared to other seacoast towns. Dover, and newmarket seem to be the cheapest, but exeter and Hampton aren't bad either. I wouldn't recommend newmarket though....nice place, just very very quiet and just a little too far from portsmouth, the beaches etc. lots of houses in Exeter and Hampton for that price range right now.

[Yankeehombre]

Though its expensive to live there I understand theres allot of music tutoring work available from the Phillips Academy (rich kids)in Exeter. I had a friend that stayed quite busy teaching Bass fiddle of all things.