Band Booking and "Job" Security

A drummer emailed me this week about a side-benefit of becoming the band booking "guru" for your band.

He hadn't been in his band long, and as perhaps the least technically accomplished of all his band members (and the last one to join), he'd always felt a little insecure about his place. 

Learning how to get band bookings has changed all that.

I had to admit that this was something I wasn’t thinking about when I originally wrote Gig-Getter, making people more secure in their roles in a band. 

When I think about it though, I knew what he means.  When I first joined our band I had only recently learnt how to play bass and at the time, we had one date in the diary, several months ahead at a private party.

To try and get some bookings we invited numerous agents to come and see us at the rare appearances we did make. None of them ever showed up. We were all pretty disillusioned and soon on the verge of breaking up.  

Like my drummer friend mentioned above, I too realized I needed to do something about it and fast.

In my case, I put into practise what I’d learned over the years in my day career in sales & marketing. In a few weeks our gig diary was full for the year. After this other bands would ask how we managed it. We were no better than a lot of other bands, but a whole lot busier.

So Gig-Getter and then the free monthly newsletter were written and and launched as low-cost, quick and easy ways any part-time or amateur musicians could get band bookings for themselves.

You too might find something else happening when the band bookings you've made come rolling in. You can feel much more secure of your place in the band.

As the drummer who emailed me now says:
 

“I know now I could go to any band and offer them more than most drummers because of all the band bookings I know I can bring in”