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The Fine Line

E

evilmutantducks

Guest
May 11, 2011
22
0
Baltimore MD
#1
I've been in an original band for three years come this September. We're just now trying to break in to the regional circuit and have multiple cities that are within a 2-3 hour drive (we're located in Baltimore). We've done a weekend run up to some college towns in West Virginia and have played in some towns that are close by. The difficulty I've found is walking that fine line between convincing out of town places that we're worth playing at their place, and that we in fact deserve money for doing so. Just want some opinions on the matter. Here is a sort of template email that I send to places, but try and make it more personable with each venue...

Header- BAND NAME (Baltimore MD) $250 guarantee avails OPEN

Text-

Howdy!

Our group ________________(Baltimore MD) is looking to book a weekend show at ____sometime in (whatever month). We are looking to reach a $250.00 guarantee but are also willing to negotiate a door deal. Availability is open except for (whatever dates aren't)

We will contact any local media or press outlets that you can provide to help promote the show and of course use the internet to its fullest.

My Name
Phone #

*All band links right here*

What doesn't everyone think of that? Sometimes I'll include any other groups that we are playing with as well or ask if they can point us in the right direction.
 
#2
Telephone call is what I'd do before an email to confirm. Starting an email with Howdy takes away some formality and I would not find it professional enough.

Would you attach a press kit, or links to your band's recorded performances?

Just this email would be ignored in my opinion.
 
#3
Yeah, I say howdy because we are sort of alt-country/rockabilly, so it sort of fits the band persona. As far as attachments, that's something that I'm not sure about. We have a press kit, I guess it doesn't really hurt anything to include it. All social media links including youtube are at the bottom but don't really specify what is on each one.
 
#5
It helps to have people vouch for you. I'm lucky that I'm still in college and that my band has people from all over the region come into town for game days at my school (UT Knox). We'll usually meet people from the other team's city and they'll often try to hook us up with gigs on their college strip. They can vouch that we're good and worth some decent $$ to their local venues, and most of those guys are in fraternities so we'll get good money and a good crowd to play to.

That said, this isn't always a possibility - especially when you're out of school. The next best thing I've learned is to simply network with musicians and bands who are located in cities that you want to play. Fortunately, you have Talkbass to do just that! Contact guys who are located in cities where you want to play and ask them if they can, at the very least, get you the names of some venues that support original music.

The best thing you can do, however, is to ask other bands to swap gigs with you. See if you can co-bill with them in their hometown, and likewise say you'll hook them up with a gig in your city. This sometimes means you might have to give the other band a cut of your band's pay when they play in your town, but if you both agree to do that then both bands will at least get their travel expenses covered, and you'll hopefully start to build a relationship with that other band which can lead to future, better paying, gigs.
 
#6
Here's what I would do in your situation (long distance sales where personal cold visits are not practical). Call the venue first and ask whoever answers the phone for the name of the person in charge of booking bands. This may take a couple of trys, but it's vital. When you get the name, thank them and hang up. Then MAIL a press kit to this person with a demo CD, band photo and a letter something like this:

Header- BAND NAME (Baltimore MD) available.

Text-

Dear Mr. (or Ms.)___________:

Our group ________________(Baltimore MD) would appreciate the opportunity to book a weekend show at ____sometime in (whatever month). Availability is open except for (whatever dates aren't)

We will contact any local media or press outlets that you can provide to help promote the show and of course use the internet to its fullest.

Our minimum fee is $250.00.

Please contact me for to arrange a booking.

Sincerely,

My Name
Phone #

*All band links right here*

----

Now, I would assume that this packet has a slim chance of being read by the intended person. But them reading it is not the point. The point is that mailing the packet gives you a plausible reason to call them on the phone and say, "Hi Mr. ______, I recently mailed you a press kit with information about my band. We're interested in playing there and I just wanted to follow up the mailing to see if you received it and what you think..."

They might say "No I never saw it" but now you're talking to the booking manager on the phone and can go from there and hopefully convince him that he should hire you. Offer to mail another packet, or simply direct him to your website/FB/whatever.

You my pooh-pooh this idea, but believe me, I've used it in various business-to-business sales promotions to great success. You would be surprised the number of people who appreciate that you went to the trouble of finding out who they are and sending a packet first, and that sets them up to like the rest of what you say. If you only send a generic email to "just anyone," it just appears too easy and doesn't have that positive impact.

Now the really bad part: Once you get the phone number, the name, and have sent the packet, it may take several calls to reach the booking manager, and dozens more to eventually land a gig. But that's the reality of sales. Sending out one email with no follow-up and no other proven plan has about 0% chance of success.

I would keep some type of spreadsheet (it can be handwritten notes on a ledger pad) with the results of each call so I knew from week to week what I did on the last session.

Good luck.
 
#8
Saying "Howdy" is the same as saying "Hello." I sincerely doubt that any booking agent is going to judge my professionalism based solely on that... rather than content of my correspondence. Which is what I really want people's opinion about.

I understand the concept of networking and sending out press kits to various places. Those things are very much necessary for out of town bookings. However, when you are going to a town where you know that you aren't going to have any draw, how do you convince the club to give you a "hold" on a date? Other than by saying that you will pair up with a local group and contact any press outlets prior to the show?
 
#9
evilmutantducks said:
Saying "Howdy" is the same as saying "Hello." I sincerely doubt that any booking agent is going to judge my professionalism based solely on that... rather than content of my correspondence. Which is what I really want people's opinion about.

I understand the concept of networking and sending out press kits to various places. Those things are very much necessary for out of town bookings. However, when you are going to a town where you know that you aren't going to have any draw, how do you convince the club to give you a "hold" on a date? Other than by saying that you will pair up with a local group and contact any press outlets prior to the show?
Click to expand...

As I said, you either have to have someone vouch for you or you have to network with other bands and share gigs. There is basically no way a venue will pay an out of town band unless either of the above two criteria are met, or unless you're already a relatively 'known' band who already has a decent regional following. If you're at least doing well in your area they might still give you a date, but don't expect to be paid - at least not $250. There are plenty of originals bands out there who have enough trouble getting $250 for in town gigs. Oh, and don't expect that date to be on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday - at least the first time around.
 
#11
ChrisB2 said:
Now, I would assume that this packet has a slim chance of being read by the intended person. But them reading it is not the point. The point is that mailing the packet gives you a plausible reason to call them on the phone and say, "Hi Mr. ______, I recently mailed you a press kit with information about my band. We're interested in playing there and I just wanted to follow up the mailing to see if you received it and what you think..."

They might say "No I never saw it" but now you're talking to the booking manager on the phone and can go from there and hopefully convince him that he should hire you. Offer to mail another packet, or simply direct him to your website/FB/whatever.
Click to expand...

Best advice in this thread, IMO.

Instead of calling to say, "Please book our band you never heard of..." it's "Did you get the materials I sent you?" 100x better.
 
#12
evilmutantducks said:
I understand the concept of networking and sending out press kits to various places. Those things are very much necessary for out of town bookings. However, when you are going to a town where you know that you aren't going to have any draw, how do you convince the club to give you a "hold" on a date? Other than by saying that you will pair up with a local group and contact any press outlets prior to the show?
Click to expand...

Do some research and find some local bands that play at the venue. Get on the phone and talk to the booking manager about those local bands. Say something like, "I did some research and our sound is in the same universe as [Local Band 1] - do they put on a good show? Do you think we should do a show with them or is there a better option?"

If you just ask out of the blue, "What band should we work with?" it is effortless for them to say, "I don't know, you figure it out." Once you name a band that plays there, they can give you their opinion on that band - yeah, they're great - they're ok, but Local Band B does a better show - no, they suck (in which case you bring up Local Band C).

Just suggestions.
 

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