More On Getting Gigs
Steve Horvath
>Jim Muller wrote:
>One thing I noticed in some of the other answers here was that people
>think along different time scales. Be prepared to keep a calendar of
>bookings that runs for months ahead of the present. If the manager
>tells you that he is all booked up for this month, tell him that's okay
>because you don't have any openings until, say, the umpteenth of next
>month anyway. He may then say he doesn't book that far in advance but
>try to talk him into a tentative booking anyway. The fact is, he *does*
>book that far, or at least *up to* the last gig he has booked. Ask him
>when the best time to call him would be for that next time-slot/month/
>whatever, but be prepared for a runaround. He'll say he'll start that
>on the 15th then you'll call on the 15th and he'll say he is already
>booked, so try to anticipate without bugging him into getting angry.
Yes, this can be a hurdle for managing your own band. Every manager
thinks differently about this, and you can have a rough time getting
your calendar together for the next 2/3 months when you have to deal
with 10 different personalities. (Probably why they invented agents :-)
This happens with both new gigs you're looking for after hustling your
tape, and with gigs you've played once or twice and had a mediocre crowd.
It really is comical that the same old lines (see above) happen everywhere
you go. I spoke to one manager about three weeks ago, and he said he was
going on vacay and would give me something after he gets back. So there
is some hesistation because he's making me wait or it could be some sort
of game where he doesn't want to act over-enthused. Whatever. Tonight is
the night I'm supposed to get back to him, so I'll know then. He probably
won't be in :-)
Another thing they try and pull on you is, they ask you to play
on a slow weeknight to "see how it goes." Obviously, they are testing
to see what kind of crowd you can pull. Like myself, most people that
come to see us are in the work force and don't want go out too late on
weeknights. I ususally tell them right away that I can't do anything
for them crowd-wise on a weeknight. I guess this doesn't sound real
positive, because they are probably thinking if they can draw on a weeknight
they can really draw on a weekend which should be true in most cases. This
still doesn't mean that a band that doesn't do weeknights, won't do good
good on weekends.
--
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Steve Horvath | Post No Bills |
| sp...@homxc.att.com | <- Please use this e-mail address. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
Dave Hayes
>they can really draw on a weekend which should be true in most cases. This
>still doesn't mean that a band that doesn't do weeknights, won't do good
>good on weekends.
This is just the typical "I want to make LOTS of money instead of just
some money" attitude. Here in LA it's worse because there are lots of
people that go out on weeknights....
--
Dave Hayes - Network & Communications Engineering - JPL / NASA - Pasadena CA
da...@elxr.jpl.nasa.gov da...@jato.jpl.nasa.gov ames!elroy!dxh
When you have been your own teacher for a time, you may be ready
to find someone else who can teach you.