Booking 2019

[Bunk McNulty]

This just came over the transom...BL has 28 gigs lined up already. Makes me happy, also scares me just a little. I mean, just seeing all of them at once. Anybody else filling their 2019 calendars? (And if anybody in the central Connecticut area wants to stop in and say Hi, here are the current opportunities .)

 

[PauFerro]

Your band leader deserves kudos, appreciation, lavish praise, etcetera, provided the band wants to be that busy...give him/her lots of notice if you have a conflict with any of the dates!!!

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Your band leader deserves kudos, appreciation, lavish praise, etcetera, provided the band wants to be that busy...give him lots of notice if you have a conflict with any of the dates!!!

Her, not him. We all work off Apple Calendar, so everybody can see everything all the time. The deal is, she looks at the calendar; if one of us hasn't blocked off a date, she'll book it. If it turns out later that there's a problem, she'll either move it or bring in another player (Yes, she already has basically an entire backup crew she can call on. Last year she didn't take any time off in February, and put together a whole band of subs called the "Redhead Mixup Band" that played a few gigs.) How does she do this? She runs a Tuesday night jam at one of our regular venues; she leads a house band called "The Dyrty Byrdz" and picks up players that way.

And yes, not every weekend warrior wants to be in battle all the time. But we do! By the end of 2018, we'll have played something like 70 gigs. As I've mentioned elswhere, some of us need the money, and some of us just don't have lives outside the band.

 

[marmadaddy]

My main band has half a dozen dates booked in 2019. A second BL that I'm first call for contacted me last week with four dates for 2019. Two of them were already booked by the first band. How does this happen? They weren't even holidays. Just random days on the calendar.

Not a complaint, just an observation.

 

[hrodbert696]

Well done!

 

[RustyAxe]

We're booked every other week from Jan 13th thru Dec 31 2019 (and many more to come during the year). I love these gigs ... 5-8 pm on Sundays. Leaves me open to play Fri/Sat with my other projects, and still get fully rested on Sunday.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

My main band has half a dozen dates booked in 2019. A second BL that I'm first call for contacted me last week with four dates for 2019. Two of them were already booked by the first band. How does this happen? They weren't even holidays. Just random days on the calendar.

Not a complaint, just an observation.

I had the same deal. Country player I know needed a sub for 3 shows in Nov/Dec. I was already booked for all three. It doesn't seem right!

 

[Bunk McNulty]

We're booked every other week from Jan 13th thru Dec 31 2019 (and many more to come during the year). I love these gigs ... 5-8 pm on Sundays. Leaves me open to play Fri/Sat with my other projects, and still get fully rested on Sunday.

A regular early-evening Sunday gig. I'd go for that in a heartbeat!

 

[Spidey2112]

I don't even need to check my schedule... right now, I'm gig free 365/7/24...

... pretty wide open...

 

[RustyAxe]

A regular early-evening Sunday gig. I'd go for that in a heartbeat!

It is convenient, but hardly exciting anymore. Same band, same audience, and same setlist (from about 200 or so songs in rotation). But a $100 pay day I can count on, a good hang (band and audience), and many leads to more lucrative work. Heck, the BL even allows me to quietly promote my other projects' gigs during breaks (person to person, I'd never do that on stage).

 

[Space Pickle]

That’s awesome. I’m on track to do 38 gigs his year, hoping to double that for 2019.

 

[JRA]

monthly club dates at two different venues for the jazz band. the wedding/corporate band has gigs a year out --- SOP.

OP: your BL is bookin' it! cool for you!

 

[mudpup]

We have 16 left this year and then 47 on the books till NYE next year - and 5 more awaiting confirmation. And thats it, the book is then closed.....we also have 2 booked for 2020 already! Its been a bonkers year and the first time we've ever had to turn venues away. First world problems huh!

 

[Wesley R]

I had a BL like that (ambition, effort, energy wise) and it was great. It was a grand and glorious life.
Congrats to her, the band(s), you and the subs.

 

[ArtechnikA]

I envy you guys...
3 projects, -1- booked gig.
One project is dying on the vine - that perfect storm mix of unmotivated players and unreasonable expectation-to-talent ratio.
One project has an actual BL (not me...) with the leadership abilities of party balloon drifting in the wind and cringeworthy vocals.
One startup rebuilding from singer replacement.
I have CL in my startup pages and my GPS knows the location of every open mike in 3 counties...
There's gotta be better opportunities out there...

 

[Bunk McNulty]

monthly club dates at two different venues for the jazz band. the wedding/corporate band has gigs a year out --- SOP.

OP: your BL is bookin' it! cool for you!

I feel very, very lucky. As we all know, having musical talent and a head for business is a pretty rare combination.

 

[Goatrope]

26 on the 2019 calendar. Only two of our five “regular” venues have booked so far, so expecting more.

I like having the dates locked in, but do get a bit anxious seeing all the dates out there. I guess it’s the initial shock of going from zero to 26 within a couple days. Going from no obligations to lots of obligations.

 

[buldog5151bass]

As someone not far from you, I'm impressed.

 

[silky smoove]

I'm the second call bassist for a corporate events, private parties, and weddings type band. The band leader has booked an average of 64 gigs per year for the last eight years, and won't take a booking if it pays less than $3,000. I have no idea how he does it, but I'm always super happy when the first call bassist can't make a gig and I get to pick it up.

 

[Holdsg]

as erstwhile BL for one of my bands, that's a lot of work, I'm appalled at my lack of such effort.