How long did it take you to get started?

[zktui]

Since my band has started properly gigging in the past couple of months, I was just wondering how long it took other people here to get established?

Like we usually play to a crowd of say 20-40, obviously keen to play in front of more people but I wanted to know how long people have found it takes to boost their audience...

ZK-TUI

[tabdog]

I played with different county bands for
about 2 years. We did small stuff like
VFW clubs and so on.

I finally got with an old friend who knew
several club owners. Then, all we had to
do was get tight with a new drummer and
lead guitar player and we had more gigs
than we could do,

Tabdog

[Stumbo]

Covers or originals?

[meycom]

Good question Stumbo..

[PJMiDi]

Very dependant on:

Covers or Originals
How much you promote yourselves
How much your friends help spread the word.
How well you do at different venues (so the owners invite you back )

And lots more

[drummer5359]

Originally Posted by PJMiDi

Very dependant on:

Covers or Originals
How much you promote yourselves
How much your friends help spread the word.
How well you do at different venues (so the owners invite you back )

And lots more

All great points.

Playing well and playing nice with club owners/managers is a big part of it. I work hard at promoting the two bands that I play with and it seems to help. I post on our band's FB pages, my own FB pages, my bandmate's FB page's Venue's FB pages. I send out emails and make phone calls before each gig. We have physical and digital mailing lists. I send out post cards one a month to let followers know where we'll be and send updates by email. I send thank-you emails to friends who show up. Work the crowd on breaks. If you see people singing along or dancing at their tables, make it a point to stop and talk to them. You can grow a following, but it is work. And obviously, be professional and play your best every gig no matter the size of the crowd.



This thread might be better served in the "Band Management" section though.

[owlie]

(For originals band..) Good way to get your name around and more people to gigs is getting gigs with some already established bands in your area. IMHO.

[Factor88]

Also, please at least vaguely define what you mean by getting "established".

[zktui]

ahh sorry, didn't mean to be vague.
We are originals.
What I was more wondering was how long it had taken other users here reach a reasonable following to gigs. (Although i guess that's entirely dependent on geographical location)