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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
How to get Gigs
How to get Gigs
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BluesJacketman
92 posts
Mar 09, 2014
1:17 AM
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So I finally got a great band together. Now i need to find shows. I have a few places Lined up but would like to be playing at least 3 times a month if not more. Any tips and advice on how to find and get gigs would be greatly appreciated.
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Kingley
3499 posts
Mar 09, 2014
1:31 AM
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It's easy to get gigs…... All you have to do is spend every single spare moment of the day on the phone to venues, writing emails, visiting venues, talking to booking agents and promoters, making copies of demo CD's, flyers, posters business cards, sending out marketing packages and keeping everyones (band members, your own and venue owners) diaries up to date and making sure no one is double booked. Finding existing venues by networking with other musicians and seeking out new venues by doing the leg work and getting out and about. When I say spend every single spare moment doing it, I really mean every single spare moment of every day. Also don't forget that if you get a regular booking at a venue, you're going to have to learn lots of new songs, otherwise an audience is going to get very bored of you very quickly. Running a band and doing the bookings is basically like having a second full time job.
I know some guys who have full time jobs and every single day before work, during their work breaks and every single evening and weekend, when they aren't playing, is taken up with searching for gigs.
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Chinaski
282 posts
Mar 09, 2014
1:43 AM
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When you've secured a few gigs, turn up on time, be polite and - most importantly - play well!
That kind of thing will get remembered and should generate you more gigs ;)
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harmonicanick
2142 posts
Mar 09, 2014
1:53 AM
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First, you must know how good you and your band are, because you are selling a product (a show) to a customer (the gig provider) If you have faith in the excellence and excitement of your band then your enthusiasm for it will impress.
Get a good band name, make some smart business cards with a harp on it, and make a short recording that you can give sample to the customer be it by link, mp3 or whatever.
Think of a catchy strap line you can use. I have found 'playing tomorrow's blues today' works for my band.
Now, assuming the band is roadable, work out how far you want to travel for an evening gig. Find out where all of the potential gigs are in that area and get in your car and visit them and speak to the bar owner or whoever is in charge.
Find out where all of the annual festivals (local) are and pitch the organisers.
At all times use charm, good manners, and stress the excitement your band can generate. Be persistent, but not annoying.
At firs gigs get as many of the bands families to come along and whoop and holler at the end of every number. Which they should do anyway because you are really good right??
Don't worry about the money when you start, that can come later.
You must have a band meeting and assess the reliability and contactability of each member. The more members the more difficult and hard work it is. You will need a prompt response from them when you get a gig offer. Everyone has busy lives.
The worse thing is to let a gig down because someone does not turn up.
Hope that is some help to you, let us know what transpires
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GamblersHand
494 posts
Mar 09, 2014
3:01 AM
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All the above is good advice
Also, have a good demo both on CDs as well as SoundCloud or something similar. Have a link to your promo pack and venue requirements as well as hard copies. Make sure any YouTube clips are representative and good quality.
Network with other bands, so that you might be first call if they need a replacement band to dep.
For targeting genre pubs who would know the scene more highlight bandmembers who play in more established bands - anything to make you more of a known quantity. List all the well-known bars you've already played.
I don't know the US scene and what venues typically provide, but if you don't have a small p.a. and lighting you could be cutting yourself off from the less music-focused venues.
Have solid deps in case of emergency - otherwise last minute cancellations can mean no more gigs at that venue.
And make sure everyone in the band is clear about division of responsibilities when it comes to hustling gigs...
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Kingley
3500 posts
Mar 09, 2014
5:33 AM
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Some good advice given so far. Being polite and professional goes a long way with most venue owners and sound guys. I'd say the main thing is to keep at it. Learn to take the knock backs, because it's just part of the business. Don't take any of it too heart and just accept it is business. Be professional at all times and if you say to the band or the venue that you'll do something, then make sure you do it. Accept that band members will often complain that you have too many gigs in or not enough gigs, they'll complain about the money, the venue, the travelling, the sound guy, the audience, the rider and most everything else you can think of. You'll will often be the target for them to vent their steam. That's just another part of the job, don't take it personally it's just the business. Be doggedly determined and keep at it. The more you do it the easier it will get and the bigger your network will become.
Last Edited by Kingley on Mar 09, 2014 5:34 AM
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BigBlindRay
214 posts
Mar 09, 2014
6:00 AM
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Hi MBHers
Kingley made an excellent point - Getting gigs is pretty much a full time job. Ill throw a few pointers of my own. Some touch on what to do that may help in getting gigs but others are a bit more general.
1) Be honest at ALL TIMES about how good or bad you are and always (ALWAYS) strive to improve individually and as a unit. Be relentless in the pursuit of constant improvement.
2) Check out your local street music press - Also, pick up a copy of a local music industry directory. In Australia the national music industry directory is called AMID - You may have an equivalent directory in your locale. This typically will have all contact information for venues, agents, labels, festivals et al.
3) Become a member of your local Blues Society and make sure you subscribe to their mailing list, you will no doubt get regular emails about gigs happening around, take note of the venues.
4) Study some of your favourite local acts that you aspire to and work out where THEY play - Approach those places.
5)Put value on your work - NEVER EVER.... EVER play for free. Do not underestimate how much damage you can do to the local music scene if you sell yourself short.
6) Do not play for Free
7) Don't play for free
8) Never play for free (Have I mentioned that you should NEVER play for free? Yeah? Good! - Dont!
9) Be selective of the places you play at. If you find that you can easily get gigs at venues that have a reputation for putting on crap bands and dont pay but you cant get a foot in the door at a venue that may pay reasonably well and has a rep for hosting good live music - You need to go back to point number 1 and reassess points 2-8.
10) Pay everyone in your band on time, evertime and demand the same when it comes to invoicing
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Big Blind Ray Trio Website
Big Blind Ray Trio Facebook Page
Big Blind Ray Trio on Bandcamp
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Martic
63 posts
Mar 09, 2014
12:32 PM
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Once you get into the circuit, try to keep playing constantly. It's easier to make the contact for gigs if you are visible to the rest. If you take a "quit and comeback" routine with live music, it will be harder for you to get gigs. This is a fast running wheel, you must keep rolling to not stay behind.
It happened to a friends I have: they played a lot on their college years, but they quitted when they got a job and formed a family. Then they wanted to get back and the circuit they knew did not exist anymore: new bands, new managers, new venues, and they had to start promoting everything again, from zero.
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Rick Davis
3048 posts
Mar 09, 2014
1:25 PM
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Randy Singer had a good document about exactly that, but now I am having trouble finding it online.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Memphis Mini harp amp
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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nacoran
7594 posts
Mar 09, 2014
2:33 PM
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We got offers by playing open mics. Until you build up a fan base, don't be too proud to beg friends and family to show up. You want to show that you can put butts in the seats. Make a good website that showcases your music that you can direct venue owners to, but that can also manage your fans. You want to keep putting new stuff up to keep the fans happy, so they check your site and see when your next show is. More fans, more fans show up.
A lot of local bands seem to split up and target different open mics- one guitar player goes to one open mic and plays some great stuff, tells everyone they have a show coming up and the where and when, while the bass player and singer go hit another.
There are a lot of great local bands where I live, and I'm always stumbling on new ones that have been around awhile that I haven't heard of. The ones I've heard of, I go to their shows, and often I've heard of them because they played open mics, or played a show where they only got a few songs as part of a long night of music (and I was there to see one of the other bands). Network with other bands. If there is a band that you think you could do a good show with, ask them if they are looking for an opening band. The key is to get connections and get fans.
edit- What always killed us was that we had one guy in the band who didn't have regular work hours. His job wouldn't tell him what hours they needed him until late in the week before, which made scheduling a nightmare. We had a rough time even getting band practice working, and it made it impossible for any of the other band members to try to make any serious inquiries about shows. Band members can work weird hours, but ultimately, they have to be at least predictable. What made it worse is we tried to tell that member that, hey, here is our schedule, see if you can't do anything with it, but he refused to take lead on booking (he even sat on an offer from another local band to open for them because he was too nervous to talk to them). You need someone who is fearless to do the booking (or who can at least be fearless when they need to be.)
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Last Edited by nacoran on Mar 09, 2014 2:40 PM
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