Hey, I've been playing music with some friends for a while (just for fun), and we've decided that we want to start doing small local shows, like at bars, coffee shops, lounges, etc. Any advice on how to get started? What's the best path to take?

Thanks,

Andrew

The best method of attack for a young band is, if you have friends in a more popular band, see if they will allow you to open at a couple of their gigs. If you get these set up, contact the booking person for the venue before hand, let them know you’ll be opening this particular show and that you have interest in booking a show for yourself there. If they are not available to be at the show, they will at least mention to someone that WILL be there, so THEY can check you out and report back to the booker.

Another route for booking your band, is to submit some kind of Demo recording of the band. The bigger the venue you hope to tackle, the better your demo needs to be. Unless your hometown is somewhere massive like NYC or LA, you can probably get the job done with a scratch recording from practice to start with. Just something to give the person who makes those decisions so he can determine if they want you.

Sometimes just stopping by and chatting with the owner/booker (often the same person) can get you a gig,...especially if the club or shop has a slot to fill soon. DON'T ask unless you're ready. Often your first chance to play a club will come as an open slot they need to fill and you don't want to tell the booker that you're not ready. Be prepared for “We had an opening band cancel for tomorrow night. You available?” and try to say yes, without saying yes…”That looks good to me, but I need to check and and see that everyone is available, but as far as I know, we should be able to make that. I’ll be in touch ASAP this afternoon.” Confirm or deny as soon as possible. If you deny a first offer like this…it might be difficult to get a second chance for a while.

In most cases, you need to send music and a one-sheet to the booker, especially if you can’t walk in and hand it to them. The One sheet spells out what you do and who you are...and what you've done.

Example:

The Music Biz Brothers Band
Soul-R&B originals (some covers)
Contact: Jake Blues – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it – (555) 233-3221

5 piece band: Drums, Bass, 2 guitars, keyboards, 2 vocals.

Currently working on new album. Have performed on several occasions for parties and wedding receptions.

.....and so on.

Anything you can add to let the venue know that you're actively pursuing the crowd. If you have an average of 1-15 people that you KNOW will come see the band, mention that you have a small following. Don’t over-sell yourself. The first time you play a bar, determine if and when you come back. If you give the club owner grossly inflated anticipations and no one shows up, you’ll be doing yourself more harm than good. Clubs often have a place for developing bands. If you worm your way in as a “draw” and then bring no one at all to the show. The club owner will remember you for THAT and not for your music.

Include web pages, Myspace/Networking pages….anything you can do to let them know you’re out there actively trying to bring people to your shows.

Questions YOU need to ask:

#1) Do we need our own PA or does the club have One?

#2) Do we need our own Sound Person or does the club provide one?

#3) Do we need our own door person or does the club provide one?

#4) What is the pay for the gig?
(This may be a set amount, a percentage of the door, Percentage of the liquor sales…or nothing…..or a combination. It’s not unusual for clubs to give opening bands a cut of the door OVER $X amount. “The opening band get’s 40% of everything we bring in at the door OVER $100. Everyone does it different, but know what you’re expecting and who to talk to after the fact.)

#5) Does the club provide drinks or food?
(Some clubs will give you stuff LIKE it’s free, only to hit you with a massive bill at the end of the night for everything at full price. That can often leave you in debt leaving the club. Know this info BEFORE the gig.)

#6) Will there be a soundcheck and when?
(Lot’s of clubs will soundcheck at 5pm for an 11pm start time so that the process isn’t going on while the crowd is coming in. Others prefer a quick line check about 5 minutes before you start. Some just wing it.)

Finally, get to know the staff at the clubs you’d like to play. It’s often a suggestion from the bartender or server that get’s a band a chance to perform more than the booking person.

Hope that helps.

*

Wow, that's definitely a lot of useful information.

So just a few more things...

We have a PA, so should we bring it to the show just in case?

When splitting up the earnings from the show, should we give the guy who owns the PA a larger cut, since he's providing something we all need?

Thanks again!

abryson wrote:
Wow, that's definitely a lot of useful information.

So just a few more things...

We have a PA, so should we bring it to the show just in case?


Check with the local venue. Most venues have a basic backline, including a PA, some amps and a drum set.


When splitting up the earnings from the show, should we give the guy who owns the PA a larger cut, since he's providing something we all need?


In the bands I played in, all earning went into the band funds, which we used for investing into merchandise, recording etc. When we started getting more and better payed gigs, we started to pay all costs (traveling to gigs, etc) from the earnings, but we were still far from making enough to divide amongst the band members.

You could give him some money for bringing it, but do you pay everyone a share for bringing their instruments? They're necessary too.

I would definitely agree with all that stuff...as far as a PA, the one thing I wanted to add is that a small one is real handy for practice unless the singer is using some sort of amp or blowing his vocals out every rehearsal, but they come in handy. If you wanna play friends partys and stuff like that at the onset, it's great to be able to lay hands on a 4 channel powered head and a couple of speakers to get the job done quick and easy. Sometimes the much smaller clubs will ask if you can bring one and if not, they usually have a deal with the local music store to rent one to you for a fee.

PA PAYMENT is dependent on the person who OWNS it usually in my experience. IF it's one the person has for the purpose of playing music, they will usually just let the band use it for the sake of sounding better on a familiar board...especially if someone in the band has to run their own sound from the stage. On the other hand, if the dude or dudette USES the board as part of their livelihood (Sound man, equipment rental, has another band that actually OWNS the PA, etc) then it might be good faith to ask if some sort of compensation would be appropriate and/or necessary in order to count on using said board.

On the PLUS side, as PA's get smaller, you can pick up some good sounding dinosaur boards really cheap if you have the transportation and storage space.

S*

Thanks for all the help guys.

One last question...

Since we are just getting started should I worry about how much (or little) we get paid or just try to get out in front of as many people as possible at this stage?