Article No. 2: Getting Known, From Open Mike to Club

Things are looking good. You have played five or six open mike nights and haven't been dragged out into the street and beaten silly. Don't get cocky however, because you are still a long way from "stardom", if that is ever achieved.

You are ready now to try your luck at booking your band. The first thing you have to do is prepare a Press-Kit. Oh yeah, how do you do that when you've had no Press yet? Simple; you embellish just like everyone else who came before you. Forget Press Clippings, you don't have any, so just use bold face type like "Impact" on the cover to grab their attention with words like "dynamic" or "explosive", perhaps even "innovative" if in fact you are. Surround the name of your band with those words and that's your cover. The first Page should be brief and will be because you really don't have anything to write about yet other than "influenced by". If any of your band mates have played in any other bands before, put that down. Someone might remember them. get a photo taken of you that can be reproduced. Black and white is all you need and make it an 8x10 so it fits in your Press Kit. Add your song list in which you will list your "cover songs" or at least the artists you cover. Place a small blurb about playing "some originals" because if you scare them off, you'll get no dates/bookings.

Don't get me wrong, original is good, very good. In fact if it were not for original music we'd all still be listening to the same old stuff over and over and there would be no musical evolution, but for a young band trying to make a buck and have people notice them in an area that is very transient, you'd better play some covers unless Bob Dylan is writing for you. Only one out of about every 2,000 original bands ever makes it past local to regional then it's about one in 10,000 to make it national. hey, but do what you want to do, you're young and positive that the (green) world will burn perfectly.

When calling clubs use just one person to call. That person becomes your manager, to anyone outside of the loop. To you, well you know he's just your band mate, but club managers and owners don't like having more than one contact person. Find out the best time to go by and drop off your Press Kit, which will include the Demo you made back during the open mike nights, and who you will leave it with. Make a note of that person's name. Go by, find that person even if you have to wait and personally hand the Press Kit to him or her being sure to shake their hand and making good eye contact. While shaking their hand ask when is the best time to get back with them. If they say "I'll call you" tell them your answering machine is on the blink and it's best if you call them. If they insist on calling you and not you calling them, well, personally, I'd take the press Kit back and say "thank you, but that's not the way we do business".

Oh I'm sure I'll be bombarded with comments about that saying that it would ruin chances of getting dates there, but guess what. They wouldn't have called you back anyway. So with the clubs you have hit and have told you when to call them back, do just that, even if you are sick. Don't have anyone else call them. When you get them on the phone ask them what they thought of the Demo. Their initial reaction will let you know where you stand. If they say "well I've been really busy and haven't had the time yet", they probably weren't too interested in the first place, but you should press them for another time to call them back and be sure that you do. Persistence will win one way or another. If it takes five, six or seven calls to them, do it. You need to play in front of a crowd other than an open mike night crowd.

Wow, you got a booking. Now you have to have your sound engineer go to the club to see what he is going to need to do to operate your system. You do have your own soundman, right? If you don't you're going to blow all your money on getting one. He becomes your fifth (or sixth) band member and will be very important to you down the road.

[Next Article: Your First Real Paying Show]Next Issue we will explain how to conduct yourself at your first real live show that pays money. This is probably most important of all as it will set the stage for your entire future believe it or not.