What Kind of Band Are You
How to get gigs. Define yourself, refine your act, and put someone in charge of contacting venues.
Clearly define yourself. Are you a cover band, an all original act, a copy band, a variety band, a lounge act, concert/show band, party band, jam band, or a combination. Do you play Jazz, Country, Swing, Blues, Rock or Is your music further niched down? Are you Guitar centered, or piano heavy? Knowing yourself well…..will help you market yourself.
Ideal Gig
What would your ideal gig look like? Knowing the answer to this will also help you further define yourself.
What does this ideal gig look like? How far did you travel? How did you get there? . . . . . – – – – – – – .
How To Get Gigs. 10 Tips
- Define yourself
- Define your ideal gig
- Have enough tunes
- Have Promotional Material
- Have your act polished
- Check Out Similar Bands
- Network
- Pick Someone to represent the band
- Have a Step by Step Plan
- Wow factor….differentiate
Do You Have Enough Tunes
Variety bands, lounge acts, party bands, and similar acts will need enough material to cover longer gigs. Many of those gigs can be 4 1/2 sets and last up to 5 hours with only a few breaks.
That can be a lot of material, plus it is always nice to have extra material so that you can read the crowd and adjust to the mood of the moment.
Promotional Material
Have some kind of promotional material that you can give to a booking agent, or venue. Include information about the style of music you play, your fan base, and some background. JSIG
Whether you use a booking agent or not, you should have a promotion package ready to hand out.
Things to include would be a picture, a bio, history, style of music, distance you are willing to travel, song list, reviews, articles that may have been written about you, number of twitter or Facebook followers, web site, YouTube videos, and contact numbers.
Have your Show/Act Polished
Have your act polished. Do you know what makes your group unique, or special? What is the asset that sets you over the top? Likewise, what is it that needs work?
In a nutshell, …..what are you good at and,…… what are you not so good at?
Does your band get a lot of compliments on the drummer, or the guitar, or the vocals. That’s a clue. An extraordinary guitar player, or a wonderful voice, might be the thing that makes you unique.
Once you refine the answer to these questions, you should begin to exploit those strong points.
Live Performance
Some bands can make it on just the music alone. The band has a great groove, good feel, and a chemistry.
Even so, in a live performance a band is better off if they are visually entertaining as well. That can be as simple as “looking different”. Weird hair or clothing. However, looking different or shocking is hard to do these days. The internet has exposed us to so much.
Movement, interaction with the audience, lights, front men prancing back and forth across stage, and the like…….that is entertaining. It’s important.
It is also something that bands don’t work on much. Even though, if they did, they could get better gigs.
Come up with a plan on how you can match your movement to your music, and work on it during your rehearsals. JSIG
Bands Similar to Your Band
A good place to book gigs is at venues where bands, or acts, similar to yourself also book their shows.
Network with those players and ask them where they are perform. If they have a booking agent, find out who that agent is. That might be your way in. An agent should be able to get you booked, and keep you booked, if you are available and have your act together. If you are not ready, they can’t keep you booked. They have a reputation to maintain as well.
Do You Have A Manager
There will come a time when having a manager is a good idea. Again, it’s up to you to have your performance and fan base together enough so that they actually have something to work with.
Step By Step Plan
A stereotypical musician does not have a reputation of being highly organized. Contrary to the Hollywood stereotype, musicians can be extremely disciplined. Self discipline and practice is how they got good in the first place.
That being said, there should be no problem coming up with a plan that outlines step by step actions that can be taken to move you toward your goals of booking gigs.
What To Charge
Have a clue. There are web sites where you can advertise your band. Google “hire a Band” and this will give you multiple sites you can investigate. This will also give you a chance to see what other bands are saying and doing. Some sites will let you know how much they charge. You can compare what you have to offer to what they have.
What bands are similar. Consider your expenses and come up with a fee.
Equipment and Transportation
You can only sound as good and professional as your equipment will allow. If you are a terrific player, but your amplifier has an annoying buzz, your audience will remember the buzz.
Once you have invested in an awesome PA System, you will then need someone qualified to run it. A sound person can make or break you.
After you have your road worthy gear, you will need to secure road worthy transportation as well. That could mean different things to different groups depending on their personal situation. For example, a band with a financial backer might be able to score a bigger and better ride than the group that is funding themselves.
Either way, you are going to need reliable transportation. Start making plans on a way to get it. JSIG
Define yourself, your ideal gig, and set list. Have promotional material, network, and “wow” factor.