Anonymous asked: How did you start booking gigs?
Hi anonymous!
I started booking gigs as a teenager and I applied the same method I applied to finding a summer job: I walked into likely-seeming places and asked if they ever had live music. If the answer was yes, I would ask if I could come in and audition and/or bring in a demo.
And actually, that’s still the best way to find a new gig, in my opinion. Find the place you want to play, ask, and have a good live performance and a good demo ready to pass over immediately. (Actually, a press kit is even better. Want to impress a small venue in another state that has never heard of you? Send them a shiny, well-presented press kit and act like you know what you’re doing. It works, my friend.)
Another upside to the “do it like you’re finding a summer job” mentality is that rejection isn’t that big a deal from that perspective. You remember how it was looking for a summer job in high school. All the good ones were taken by college kids before you were even out on break yet. Everyone took applications from you and nobody called you. But one week and forty applications later, if one or two people did call, you felt awesome about that. It’s the same with getting a gig — or with anything. Put the time in, expect that it’s a numbers game and feel awesome to get ANY results. Then go take the gig(s?) you get and make it (them?!) amazing.
Repeat this process often enough, and at some point you don’t have to work so hard to find local gigs anymore. Some of them will come to you, because your name is in circulation and because you’ve made it known that you take a gig seriously and give the best show you can. That’s great! You have just level-upped. You can now start zero-ing in on venues that seem prestigious to you, or expand to a nearby locality — whatever you see as the next step you want to take. In the meantime, keep the relationships you have current, and act (and feel) thankful for EVERY opportunity to perform.
Oh, yeah, and send thank you notes. Handwritten and mailed is better than email—people are tickled when someone does that in this day and age. I have had so many good things happen to me because I send thank you notes.
I don’t know exactly why I turned this into a little “rorie kelly’s guide to getting a gig” advice column and I certainly don’t mean to presume that you need the help, Anonymous. For all I know, you posted this question and then went to go play Madison Square Garden. In which case, hats off to you… mind telling me who does the booking there? :)
Anyway, though, if any awesome young musicians were hoping for some gig-getting advice, there’s some. Any of my fellow musicians have anything to add to this?
