Pounding the pavement

[hrodbert696]

My new cover trio is ready to get out and start gigging. We've hit a church BBQ and an open mic to dip our toes in the water and suss out gear issues and generally get used to being in front of audiences together. It's progressing well, and the set list is pretty much complete. Which means - time to start booking!

I know a couple of people, but I'm not the guy with the huge list of contacts I can call up and gigs drop off the trees. But in this project I'm front man and BL, which means the other two are pretty much waiting on me to get out there and make bookings happen.

Normally my schedule is pretty flexible, but this is the first week this summer that my youngest has been in camp, freeing me up to go around to bars and clubs. But at the end of last week my supervisor in a part-time job asked to cover some shifts, and I said yes, meaning that the bar tour had exactly one day to happen - today.

I like doing stuff in person rather than on the phone, so I made a list of spots to start with and made the rounds. Four different towns over the course of the afternoon, a couple of venues in each town. One, contrary to its website, was closed today. There were three where a decision-maker on bands was actually present. All were nice guys, interested and affirming, but not willing to book on the spot. There will be an exchange of emails, links to youtube vids, and calls and maybe a follow-up visit (or three). Other places I left a card and got a name for who to talk to. One place had a pretentious douche who clearly got off on telling musicians they wouldn't get to talk to the decision guy themselves. "He's never in." Yeah, right.

Man, I hate this process. So much time and hassle for so little. I hope that three years from now, we'll be established and well-known and it will just be a quick phone call and a glance at the calendar. But right now, as a start-up, it's pulling teeth.

Compare notes? Any secrets to start-up success booking gigs?

 

[RoadRanger]

You have to at least know some guys who know some guys - or it'll be a two year struggle

 

[HauntedDave]

Knowing people always helps. Keep track on social media for venues looking for opening acts or slots to fill. Hit an open jam and impress the house, and they'll be willing to work something out after they've heard your band.

 

[Stumbo]

I suggest keeping a contact list and a journal so you can hit up everyone on a regular basis. Cultivating contacts needs to be ongoing, not just when you need gigs.

It's a process. You have to put in the time. Social media is key. You'll have to plan to spend hours per week working on it.

Try keeping a good attitude about or it will come across if you don't.

Maybe Jive1 will make an appearance here. Look up his posts.

You also need fans that will come out to support you.

Being BL/frontman are a second job. Be sure and take an extra cut for your work.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I try to work it into my day. If I am driving by a place that has bands, I'll drop in and ask when the owner (or person who books entertainment) will be there. Last week I was on a sub gig, and had a chance to speak with the owner.

 

[hrodbert696]

You have to at least know some guys who know some guys - or it'll be a two year struggle

Yeah, I know a couple of people from a past gigging band. One has already booked us. The thing is that the prior band was a classic/southern rock band with a well-worn groove in bars for middle-aged people. The new project is alternative/indie music of the last ten or fifteen years. So I am approaching the places I've played before, but I don't think they'll wind up being the right fit for the group in the long run. I don't have the contacts at the places where I think we will fit better.

And yes, I'm anticipating that, if we keep at it, we'll gradually build up to having some momentum over a couple of years. It's getting the ball rolling that's the challenge.

Knowing people always helps. Keep track on social media for venues looking for opening acts or slots to fill. Hit an open jam and impress the house, and they'll be willing to work something out after they've heard your band.

Open jams are definitely a part of the strategy. We've done one, and one of the places I visited yesterday invited us to theirs. I'm happy to do them, though I sometimes I wonder if being told to do one first is really a stepping stone to booking there, or if it's just to get more butts in seats buying drinks on those nights. Doesn't matter, we'll do them in any case.

I suggest keeping a contact list and a journal so you can hit up everyone in a regular basis. Cultivating contacts needs to be ongoing, not just when you need gigs.

It's a process. You have to put in the time. Social media is key. You'll have to plan to spend hours per week working on it.

Try keeping a good attitude about or it will come across if you don't.

Maybe Jive1 will make an appearce here. Look up his posts.

You also need fans that will come out to support you.

I think it's the dilemma of a startup that many places don't want to book you unless you have a draw, but you can't build up a fan base TO draw until you've been out playing gigs. Till then it's just family and friends and random people who happen to have stopped in the bar that night. But we'll keep at it.

I like the point about cultivating relationships constantly rather than just when gig-hunting. That's something I need to work on. I was never all that much of a nightlife/drinking person on my own, so I never really frequented venues until a few years ago when I started playing in them as a musician myself. I need to start setting aside time to visit venues more often.

And yes... staying positive. The OP is a bit of a rant, I guess, but I'm actually optimistic, and impressed that only one person I dealt with was a jerk at all. As for him, living well is the best revenge, right? Don't need to get moody on him.

I try to work it into my day. If I am driving by a place that has bands, I'll drop in and ask when the owner (or person who books entertainment) will be there. Last week I was on a sub gig, and had a chance to speak with the owner.

Yep, good plan. Next week I'll be starting a new full-time contract at a college a little over an hour from home. A lot of people want to commiserate with me over the long commute, but from my perspective it's going mean a number of days where classes are done by mid-afternoon and my drive home takes me through several towns with venues I want to visit. I think I'll try to make a practice of a mid-commute "pit stop" rotating between different venues to get to know each of them better. That should help with the ongoing cultivation @Stumbo was talking about.

 

[RoadRanger]

Last week I was on a sub gig, and had a chance to speak with the owner.

I thought it was bad manners (AKA good way to piss off your bandmates) to try to get your other bands gigs while playing with another band?

 

[buldog5151bass]

I thought it was bad manners (AKA good way to piss off your bandmates) to try to get your other bands gigs while playing with another band?

They had already scored another gig there, and that the other band was in a different pay scale. All cool.

 

[Mike N]

OP- do you personally know any other bands in you area doing a similar style that you could share a gig with? Good way to get your foot in the door somewhere.

 

[hrodbert696]

OP- do you personally know any other bands in you area doing a similar style that you could share a gig with? Good way to get your foot in the door somewhere.

Good idea. Unfortunately, no - not that I'm in regular contact with, anyway. What I mostly see around here are either classic rock bands that will play Tom Petty and ZZ Top endlessly, metal bands that have their own little circle, or all-purpose female-fronted jukebox bands that play a mishmash of this and that - Journey, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Meghan Trainor, and back again... Those are all fine and I've played with each type (except the metal crowd) and enjoyed them. But here I wanted to keep this band with a clear identity - current (since 2000) indie/alternative, strictly - and thankfully found a pair of bandmates who actually buy into the concept. I'm optimistic we'll be unique and draw a following, given time, because of that. But it also means that we're not a natural fit with many of the other bands around.

 

[imdkoz]

OP- do you personally know any other bands in you area doing a similar style that you could share a gig with? Good way to get your foot in the door somewhere.

+1 on this. We did this when we were ready to book and have now returned the favor. Great way to get in the venue and potential followers.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

see if you can do the local street fair circuit, they usually love cover bands.
Since it is still summer, you could probably squeeze in some mid-week gigs if there is a university nearby?
Maybe a farmer market or flea market ?

I keep a spreadsheet with different tabs for each city I play in, and I make sure they all know when we are booking dates. I go in cycles, so right now I am booking holiday gigs and such. during the holidays, I book for spring & summer.
Then once I have some semblance of a calendar ready, I can choose my time off and fill in the gaps as needed.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

You are doing exactly what you should be doing. Relationships with bookers begin face to face! Open mics are a great idea, especially when all three of you can show up. Redhead began by our BL singing by herself at open mics. In fact, it was a club owner at one of these who encouraged her to start her own band. If you have the stamina, you should be out at least a couple nights a week visiting places you want to play. Owners like people who are regulars. Even I, a total sloth, go out on my own now and again to open mics wearing my band merch. I call it "showing the colors." Got an iPad or similar? Carry it with you and offer specific dates. That way you're not just asking to play, you're asking for a decision: This date or that date, maybe both? Two and a half years into it, our BL is taking her calendar around right now and booking us into March.

When you do start gigging, ask friends to bring their phones and shoot video. It doesn't have to be great--it will give you an idea of what you all look and sound like when you're playing. (I found it excruciatingly difficult, watching myself, but I saw things I needed to do to improve my, um, self-presentation) With a little luck you'll have something you can post on fazebook (let's face it, that's what "social media" is now...), and eventually video that your friends can post.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Good idea. Unfortunately, no - not that I'm in regular contact with, anyway. What I mostly see around here are either classic rock bands that will play Tom Petty and ZZ Top endlessly, metal bands that have their own little circle, or all-purpose female-fronted jukebox bands that play a mishmash of this and that - Journey, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Meghan Trainor, and back again... Those are all fine and I've played with each type (except the metal crowd) and enjoyed them. But here I wanted to keep this band with a clear identity - current (since 2000) indie/alternative, strictly - and thankfully found a pair of bandmates who actually buy into the concept. I'm optimistic we'll be unique and draw a following, given time, because of that. But it also means that we're not a natural fit with many of the other bands around.

Hmmm. So, are there venues that like to book newish indie/alternative bands? Do you have an idea of how big the potential audience is for this music in your neck of the woods?

I ask based on personal experience, although mine is, I guess, an extreme example. I play with a pretty good country band that specializes in '50s-'60s stuff. It's very hard to get bookings, because there are basically zero places that book that kind of music with any regularity. Every now and then, somebody connected to that era comes through town, and we get to open for them, but the $$$ is just not there.

PS: Redhead is one of those mishmash bands, we just deliver it better than most. We're slick without coming across as slick, if you know what I mean.

 

[stringthrough]

Some ideas . . . . .

> Get a booking agent
> Create a promotional video & band picture(s) and send them to club owners... Present them to owners as part of high quality social media links (FB, YT, etc.) Oh yes, get all your friends and family to like your social media sites. It suggests you have a large following.
> Do some pay-to-play gigs so that you can claim you played some quality venues
> Offer to play some gigs for free (owners like that especially if you promise and come through with a decent sized crowd.)
> Do some open mics. You never know who you might impress

 

[Stumbo]

Newer songs=younger crowd.

Any venues in your area where millennials congregate for live music?

 

[delta7fred]

This is where we were 3.5 years ago, a start up band playing 60s pop (with just a hint of rock) when most of the other bands round here were playing out and out rock.

Initially we put in a lot of legwork and slowly gained traction. We now have a reputation for putting on a good show and gigs are coming in without us having to chase them.

Our drummer takes most of the booking and has only just needed to ring round a few venues to fill some gaps in our 2017 calendar.

I was sceptical about the 60s format working but am glad I have been proved wrong.

 

[electracoyote]

Man, I hate this process. So much time and hassle for so little. I hope that three years from now, we'll be established and well-known and it will just be a quick phone call and a glance at the calendar. But right now, as a start-up, it's pulling teeth.

Compare notes? Any secrets to start-up success booking gigs?

It is not the fun part of running a band by a long shot.

Two years since my start up and we're just starting to get what I would call "good contacts" that result in good word of mouth, repeat invitations, referrals, etc. We have four glowing reviews on Gigmasters. Two of the busiest agents in town are throwing gigs our way. We could have played every weekend in August, but a couple members wanted one off.

It's been a long two years.

I would offer the same general platitudes that apply to success in any endeavor: Patience, persistence, positivity (don't let the rejections and stiff-arms get you down--keep knocking on every door you can until they start opening), learning from those who have succeeded, research, strategy, etc. Running a cover band even on a limited weekend window is a lot of hard work, many hours, and more competition than you'd expect (depending on your target clients and audiences).

Persevere, after a couple of years you'll have a circuit of venues and talent buyers booking you regularly.

Of course, don't fail to deliver the best product you can and give your best show every time, capitalizing on each early opportunity.

 

[hrodbert696]

Hmmm. So, are there venues that like to book newish indie/alternative bands? Do you have an idea of how big the potential audience is for this music in your neck of the woods?

I ask based on personal experience, although mine is, I guess, an extreme example. I play with a pretty good country band that specializes in '50s-'60s stuff. It's very hard to get bookings, because there are basically zero places that book that kind of music with any regularity. Every now and then, somebody connected to that era comes through town, and we get to open for them, but the $$$ is just not there.

PS: Redhead is one of those mishmash bands, we just deliver it better than most. We're slick without coming across as slick, if you know what I mean.

BTW my earlier comment was nothing against the "mishmash" bands. They can be great, I've been in at least one I'd consider really good, and there's definitely a market for the "live jukebox" show that has a little of everything. My prior cover band, first try as a BL, was one, and its problem was not the mishmash quality but a handful of other minor negatives that created enough "drag" to kill it.

Newer songs=younger crowd.

Any venues in your area where millennials congregate for live music?

Yes there are such venues, and the strategy will definitely be to get into them. The bigger towns have younger and educated crowds (we're on the outer fringe of the Boston aura up here, with all the colleges and tech companies) and there are definitely places that cater to them. I think what we're basically doing is "college radio" music, so there should be an audience there, and I think the lack of other bands doing it (that I know of) should help. At the same time, not yet having a strong relationship with them, I don't want to book into them TOO hastily and risk crashing and burning. We're pretty good IMO but we need some stage time to get our show together.

It is not the fun part of running a band by a long shot.

Two years since my start up and we're just starting to get what I would call "good contacts" that result in good word of mouth, repeat invitations, referrals, etc. We have four glowing reviews on Gigmasters. Two of the busiest agents in town are throwing gigs our way. We could have played every weekend in August, but a couple members wanted one off.

It's been a long two years.

I would offer the same general platitudes that apply to success in any endeavor: Patience, persistence, positivity (don't let the rejections and stiff-arms get you down--keep knocking on every door you can until they start opening), learning from those who have succeeded, research, strategy, etc. Running a cover band even on a limited weekend window is a lot of hard work, many hours, and more competition than you'd expect (depending on your target clients and audiences).

Persevere, after a couple of years you'll have a circuit of venues and talent buyers booking you regularly.

Of course, don't fail to deliver the best product you can and give your best show every time, capitalizing on each early opportunity.

Yes to all this. I posted another thread about subbing for a band, and I take some inspiration from them. I was actually their first bassist, at a time when they were an oldies band (they've moved to more classic rock since), just getting started. I left because after six months they had no gigs and no seeming idea how to get one and I got an offer from a band that did. They went through a revolving door of other bassists, and after a couple of years, suddenly seemed to figure it out and hit their stride. They gig out all the time now, and Lord bless 'em. I DON'T want to go so long with no gigs, of course, but the story does help me see how it takes time to build up your momentum.​

 

[Stumbo]

If you don't already, a killer PA is essential. Also, making sure you set your volume for the room, especially the drummer. Let the PA do the heavy lifting. Even switching to Electronic drums might be better.

Don't be shy running backing tracks fur songs that need it. To easily extend your song list, play each Song for a minimum 5-6 minutes. Dancers will love it. 7-8 songs a set depending on set length. Playing a medley for the last 15 - 20 min goes over well.


I would say that going wireless for you is critical for going FOH during sound check.

Good luck.