Is Your Band Seasonal?

[jive1]

I've been noticing that one of my bands is sort of seasonal. We didn't intend it to be that way. We don't seem to get as many gigs in the fall/winter, while summer seems to keep us busy. We're not a festival band, so I'm surprised it's been that way for the last couple of years. We do Top 40 and variety, so another reason I'm kinda surprised it's that way. We're not a beach band or 'summer band'. On the other hand, my guitar oriented Rock band seems to be more consistent throughout the year or so I've been with them.

My old Blues band in Colorado was the opposite. Summers, even with the festival gigs were slow compared to the Fall and Winter. Which was also odd because we weren't a ski resort band. For some reason, from labor day till St. Patty's we'd be booked solid, and things tailed off except for 4th of July and Mem day.

Anyone else?

[bassbully]

No, but we do get better paying summer gigs, festivals etc.

[ubersku]

We're lucky to have a two places we play each month, so we have at least two days we play every month. We really aren’t a festival band, but years into this thing we’re now getting inquiries from some of them in the area. Go figure.

Ironically, we stay busy all year. We have local organizations (not Eagles, Elks or Odd Fellows) we play for annually, especially around the holidays – Halloween on through New Year’s Eve. January and February are usually slower, but there again, we get lots of folks who see us at a gig hire us out for private parties for Super Bowl or other after holiday parties. Another, and I think a very important thing, two of us grew up here and we have lots of folks we know who give us great free publicity. Plus others we know from high school or college are in positions to do the booking for their companies, so we feel very fortunate to have those tentacles out into the community.

For us marketing it’s hit and miss. We do FB and have our web site, but that about it. I’m sure other bands have a magic formula, or at least a part-time dedicated manager, but we do this just for gas money, so we just do the booking ourselves. It works for us.

[jaywa]

The last band I was, I was the only member who WASN'T into either motorsports or fishing. So they never wanted to book many gigs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So we were "seasonal", except that our peak gigging season was October-March, i.e., lots of snowy travel and loadouts in 20 below windchill. They had it exactly ass-backwards and that was a big reason I left.

My current band OTOH understands that up here in the North, the summer is when you make your hay. Festivals, street dances, etc. plus people are just in a lot better mood to go out to club gigs. They took it easy earlier in the year but now we have 6-8 gigs on the books every month between May and September and are looking for more. We'll taper off a bit after that (though not much).

[duff beer]

In my number 1 band everyone is busy during summer and we rarely rehearse from mid-May until after Labour Day. During that 4 month stretch we may only rehearse 1 or 2 times...and that is only if we happen to get summer gig and want to run through the sets.

Most bands I've been in seem to follow that pattern, but that could be part of life on the Canadian prairies...no one wants to be cooped up in the basement when summer is so short. However, for the first time, I've joined another band that plans on rehearsing right through the summer. I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy rehearsing when I could be outside on the deck...

[Commreman]

My main gig could be considered seasonal - from May through October, we play a LOT of shows - a typical August alone is 14 gigs! The rest of the months are maybe 2 to 3 per month. It always slows way down in the cooler months.

[modulusman]

My band makes about half it yearly income between memorial day and labor day.

[jaywa]

In my ideal band we'd play our tails off from April through about mid-October (and do all our travel-intensive gigs then), then take a few weeks off and come back mid-November through New Years' Eve doing a few high-paying private gigs (corporate holiday parties, maybe a wedding or two and New Years Eve) within about a 15-20 mile radius of our town. Lay low January/February, maybe rehearse some newer tunes to freshen up the setlist but not much playing out. Come March, start ramping up and do it all again.

It's never worked out that way for any band I've been in but that would be great.

[tycobb73]

A lot of the bars here don't book in the summer. A lot of people are at lakes in the summer.

[D.A.R.K.]

I play in originals bands for enjoyment at the moment, and there are definitely more gigs to be had in venues locally mid winter and mid summer. This is because the pro tour circuit isn't heavily trafficked mid winter (holidays) and in summer it is outdoor festival season, and the hipster clubs tend to flesh out their schedules and throw a bone to the unknown acts that have been bugging them for a show for the past year.

[jaywa]

Just FWIW, I checked the bookings for my current band ("weekend warriors" 80/20 covers/originals, variety material with an emphasis on "new country"), and it looks something like this:

May - 6 gigs (2 over Memorial Day Weekend)
June - 5 gigs
July - 4 gigs
August - 4 gigs
September - 5 gigs (1 over Labor Day Weekend)
October - 4 gigs

But our BL has told us he's still got other bookings in the works, too. And we've already got dates on the books thru the winter into January 2012.

[MNAirHead]

IN our part of the country, tons more stuff happens from between the snow.... meaning the warm months are the busy ones.

Tim

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

IN our part of the country, tons more stuff happens from between the snow.... meaning the warm months are the busy ones.

Tim

Yup "neighbor", same here. The way I see it, if I'm gonna make a 100-200 mile roundtrip on snowy roads and subject my body, vehicle and gear to subzero temps then it had better be something that's really worth my while finanically. I.e. a big wedding or corporate party or something of that nature with big money and all the perks (food, booze, etc.). To go through all that, play a 4-hour gig for 24 people in a bar and go home with $75 in my pocket just isn't where I'm at anymore. There are plenty of other bands around here that will take that gig and they're welcome to it.

[metalstorm]

I play in a country band and it was not intended to be seasonal. However, there are just more opportunities to play during the warmer months, like rodeos and outdoor gigs.