What won't stop your 2012 Band Booking Success

Here's two facts about band booking that took me a long time to understand and which might surprise you.

1. Not having the best gear doesn't need to make any difference to the amount or quality of band bookings you get.

2. Not being a great musician, singer or band doesn't really matter either.

Years of working with semi-pro and amateur musicians around the world have taught me that what makes the biggest difference in terms of level of gig-getting is determination to succeed. To decide exactly what you want in terms of gigging and then keeping going until you achieve it - no matter what other people might be saying to you.

When I look back, I became a regular at the Hard Rock Cafe when I'd been a bassist for under 12 months.I was still playing a 2nd hand Musicman copy and a battered old Peavey amp bought off someone on Gumtree. 

Since then I've seen plenty of other average acts with mediocre equipment get themselves out from in front of the bedroom mirror and onto the stage (or at the very least, into the corner of a few local bars with their guitars and mics...). 

Makes you wonder what you might do with a little talent and some good gear!

Band Booking Tips and Articles

Band Booking from Your Sofa

If you've been playing in a semi-pro gigging band for any length of time, you'll know that the early days of January can be quiet in terms of band bookings.

If you don't have much lined up after this month though for 2012 there's still plenty you can be doing to get gigs. Even from the comfort of your living room and sofa.

Start by spending some time thinking about exactly how often you want to be out playing band bookings in 2012.  

 Fully commit to this, your band booking goal.

Assuming you're in a band (rather than a solo artist) agree between all band members things like:

- Maximum numbers of gigs you want to be playing every week or month

- Nights of the week you'd prefer to be out

- Geographical locations (ie Towns) you want to target (or avoid) for your band bookings

- Minimum gig fees you'll accept for any booking

- Types of gigs you want to play/avoid (are you interested in corporate work where the money will be better but you might have to smarten up? Maybe you'd actually prefer to stick to playing bars where you can turn up in jeans and a tee-shirt?)

This will all help focus your efforts when you start pitching your act for band bookings this year. Something you'll want to get into later this month.

More band booking tips here

Your 2012 Band Booking Decision

Last year I remember saying:

band booking success starts with a plan .

The bands I work with that enjoy the most (and quickest) long term success getting gigs are those that spend some time in advance working out a plan of action. 


This plan of action should include what you want to achieve gigs-wise and how you're going get the gigs.


As far as band booking in 2012 goes though, there's something that's actually more important than you having a plan. 


With band booking, what makes the difference between really successful semi-pro bands and the rest, is their desire and commitment to achieve their gig-getting goals. 


Any musician can say they "want to start gigging" or "play live more often". You can spend as much time as you like planning and then pitching your band and act to venues. Without real commitment to succeed no matter what the chances are you'll give in before you get what you want. 

Making the decision that nothing will stop you getting all the band bookings you want is what will keep you motivated through the early part of 2012 while you're finding your gig-getting feet....



Band Booking ebook

Band Booking Practise Part 2 - Going Solo

A couple of you emailed after the post about rehearsals & band booking success. In answer to you, this 7th holiday tip is about what to do if you can't get the whole band together to rehearse as often as you need.

If this is a problem for you too, you could do worse than investing in what still my remains one of my best pieces of gigging kit.

A phrase trainer like the Tascam GTR1 on the left, is basically an mp3 player which you plug your guitar (or voice) into as well. 

You can then mute your own part on the original recording so you can play along as if rehearsing with the band in question. You're also able to loop and slow down those tricky phrases until you get them absolutely nailed.

Any good semi-pro gigging musician will tell you that effective band rehearsals are not where you all learn your parts for a new number. You should do that alone, before you all get together. 

That way you'll be up and playing those band bookings in 2012 in the fastest time possible.

How to Rehearse your Material for Band Booking Success

Here's the 6th  day of band booking tips for what to day while you wait for the gigs to pile up.

Actually of course, band bookings don't just arrive. You have to go out and get them. But that's for later. For now, there's plenty you can do to ensure great gigging success before you get near the stage.

One thing you can spend this time doing is of course rehearsing your material. Don't do it like most other bands though. To stand out from other bands when you gig you want to do 2 things.

1. Rehearse as if you're playing a gig.

This means deciding on your set-list(s), writing it down for all band members and them rehearsing in the order you'll play them on the night.

This will do a number of things for you. 

Firstly,  playing all the same numbers in the same order countless times before will reduce gig-night nerves. You'll know exactly what's coming next at all times. Second, playing everything through as if gigging, you'll quickly be  aware of any "trouble spots" with potential gaps in between numbers. You can then spend some time working out how to eliminate these for a much more professional show on the night. The third benefit you'll get from rehearsing as if you're gigging is you can plan any stage banter between numbers in advance. how much more easier is that than struggling for something to say with an unfamiliar song order prepared shortly before you go onstage?

More on  rehearsing for gigs

2. Rehearse until you can play the songs in your sleep

Or until you're blue in the face - or however you want to describe it. Having no doubt about your ability on the night will not just eliminate band booking nerves but also allow you to focus a little more on putting on a show and interacting with the audience.  To a gig crowd this looks a whole lot better than two guitarists staring at their fretboards and a singer frowning at his lyric sheets....

Band Booking ebook

Crowd rousing ebook

Band Booking Succeess through Better Set-Lists

Here's the 5th thing you can do to improve your band booking success if you're not gigging enough over this holiday period.

You're not alone if you've never given too set-lists.

Often gig set-lists just evolve over time with new songs coming in and old material being taken out of the lists. There's no thought to planning the overall structure of the show or balance of the material.

Playing a band booking with a well-planned and well-structured set-list will go a long way to securing a repeat gig for you. The more regular repeat work you can get from venues, the less ongoing effort you have to put into getting your band booked. Poor set-lists result in luke-warm crowd responses and little repeat bookings. 

Ultimately you can split up or give up just because you didn't spend enough time planning out what you were going to play....

Check out the balance between uptempo material and versus slower numbers for example. If you're a covers band make sure too much material isn't from the same  all the songs from the same era or genre (unless you specialise of course).

Think about the function of each song within the set-list. Do all of them merit a place there? If so, why?  Which numbers should be played next to each other and why? 

Do you have a strong number to start with? Is it also one which is not too technically taxing so you can relax and gain confidence early on in the show? Which song can ease you into the gig and make a big impact at the start?

You'll also want to plan which song will create the most memorable ending (and most favourable impression) to the set for you. Also, how can you structure your set so other numbers give you a strong, logical build up to your "finale"?

Do a Google search for "band X set-list" and have a look at the structure of some of your favourite bands set-list structures. Ask yourself why you think certain songs might be in and others no,t and why they're positioned where they are in relation to other material..

Band booking ebook

Better Gig Crowd Reactions ebook

4th Day of Christmas Band Booking Tips

When you want to increase your band booking success how do you make finding gig venues even easier?

You can check the basics on the link further down but here's a couple of simple extra tips many bands don't think of.

Your aim should to establish a good size list of potential live music venues you'll target. My own band started with 50 prospects but you'll have more (and faster) success if  aim to draw up a list of  100 potential band booking venues.

"No way!" you cry. "I don't even know of 10 places that have live bands on around here!

The trick is to carve up the responsibility for finding venues between band members and areas.

So for 100 venues if there's 4 in your band each has to find 25 venues. Much less strain  than one person being faced with finding 100 venues. 

You can make this even easier still. Designate different towns for each band member to focus on. Join the Facebook pages for "nights out" or "night life" in each of these towns to get abreast of live music venues - as well of course using the techniques mentioned earlier for finding band booking venues.

For solo artists of course, you'll have to do the work yourself but you too can  think about who you know in each town you want to target.  Who amongst your friends or work colleagues might be able to "scout" for you to find even more venues. 

The key point to remember about establishing a long list of venues to target is that band booking is just a numbers game. The more venues you pitch the more gigs you'll get. If you focus on just a small handful of  potential gig venues the tougher you'll make it for yourselves. 

And we all want band booking to be easy don't we?

Band Booking ebook

Band Booking Paperback