This F'd up economy is hurting everyone!

Start a blues band!

Hi there. My relatives have owned a local nightclub restaurant for 6 years now. A nice somewhat upscale former church converted.. They have usually booked bands only if he knows they will draw a decent crowd or can bring people with them. As a result, some pretty bad bands have played there but hey, if he can make money, he'll book them.

Most popular bands seem to be -

1 - disco

2 - classic rock

3 - blues

4 - prog rock tribute bands (Yes, Genesis)...

5 - jazz bands - not too popular sadly...

There've been less than 10 original bands that have played there in 6 years. Seems unfair I agree.

Slingerland, you are so very right! Since we play original music as well, I know exactly what you mean. We recently played a charity concert to raise money and food for the homeless. I really enjoyed it BUT, people don't realize what an undertaking it is to break down and lug equipment around, set it all up, do checks, perform and start the whole process over again! We also had to buy lumber to extend the stage because it wouldn't acccomadate all of our equipment. That's okay though. We had a ball and did some good work. For paid gigs, it seems that lately, the money isn't worth all of the effort. I guess it is the economy. Maybe just changes in lifestyles and trends. Maybe, we'll have to learn to rap or play some Justin Bieber songs. NEVER!!!

Brian

Gary the day of the weekend warrior is behind us, now its all about what you can bring to the table that is one reason im not gigging right now to get a room is tough enough let alone to pack it with your friends and family i can see it easier to work smaller rooms with dress codes than beer and shot joints as those guest are there for atmosphere, not the drink i like rooms that require formal ware or jackets and softer approach to music smaller venue and less sets good luck Gary

Getting work with original music exclusively, is hard, mainly no one knows your music. With the club/dinner gigs, the truth is no one wants to hear it. Even if it's good music. The audience doesn't know you, until they do, original music will have a tough time getting in the door.

Get in the door with covers/standards. Play music people know to get it started, get them dancing and tapping their feet, once that happens then you can drop in the set, unannounced, an original song. If they continue to dance then you're good. You can later on drop another original, ween the audience onto the originals. If they stop dancing or the crowd thins out, the song, no matter how good YOU think it is, it's a dog. Try another song.

Give the people what they want. Once you have them in your pocket, drop the originals in the set. Work this method with every club and you'll have work and you'll have a sure fire way to get your originals heard because you already have a willing audience, you've made them happy and want to hear new.

I know of a few clubs in Houston, TX that are pretty much "pay to play." My days of doing that crap are over... but I was there once. My playing these days consists of open mic blues jams mostly... which has gotten me a few paid sit-in gigs. I just dont have time to permanently commit to a band.

In Portland, there are plenty of places that will have you play their venue for drink tickets. If you want to make music doing original music, you'd better become well-known, liked, and respected. How do you do that? Play lots of freebie gigs...

This is not a new problem actually.

We have done original stuff since the late 80's and even back then, it was the same story:

Draw, or do what everyone knows.

We decided to stay true to our music, and have not made a cent doing it naturally, even though we did have the crouds well animated (and one mosh pit once- that was an interesting show) when we did play. Either do it for the love of the music, or do it for the money. VERY FEW get both... Even "popular" original music bands often have to sell out in one way or another to get the fame and fortune, and this generally leads to them breaking up.

Take the advice above: Start/join a blues band. You can make a lot more doing that.

It is sad. For 6 yrs (1998-2004)I played in a band doing original music back in Long Island NY. We were in our early 20's, the local music scene was great. Lots of smallish bars putting on all ages shows every weekend. Kids payed a few bucks to get and see 5-7 bands, bars made lots of money, and the bands got a cut (most of the time). Occasionally, bands had to sell tickets to play. Most of the time however, 100-200 kids would show up regardless ready for music. It was a great place and time to play original music, at least in LI.

I joined a blues cover band a few years ago in Houston Tx and it was the exact opposite. We played a few times a month at the same bar for about a year. It was a much different scene. 10-20 people tops, we played four 45 minute sets a night. Bars in the area were using promoters to book bands. It was not easy to get a show and a lot less fun....

James