Promoting Your Band By Scott Quinn 

Finding venues that showcase your band and working with them on a regular basis is necessary to maintain and expand your visibility in the music market place. For instance, local venues like The Whiskey were (and still are) important to us when we first got started playing. We would attract all the musicians in town, whom all made it a point to come and check us out, night after night. The Rusty Nail, where we play every other Thursday night, has supported us and allowed us to develop a following, in a relaxed casual atmosphere where our fans know they can come out, sit back and enjoy the show on a regular basis. So finding the right clubs is very important to developing your art, while having an outlet for your product.

 I caution, however, to make sure to have both a verbal and a physical contract before you step on stage, especially when playing newly opened establishments. If you fail to do this, the night could end in catastrophe. This is exactly what happened to us a few weeks ago.  We had a pre-arranged contract for “X” amount of dollars, yet, come the end of the night, they wanted to pay us next to nothing and it took us over two hours to “renegotiate” the contract. What a disaster! Please don’t let that happen to you! While most establishments in our fair city understand that musicians are a part of a very tight community, others don’t seem to care about the ripple effects of their actions. 

As mentioned last month, with the release of my latest CD, Without Until, the amount of work involved in making it is nothing compared to the amount of work now needed to promote it. A press kit is a vital and important tool in that process. You will need to get them in the hands of as many club owners, promoters and booking agents as you can. But don’t send them without contacting the decision maker. Otherwise, they will simply trash them. Make them look forward to receiving it from you.  

Remember, most times, “less is more.” Keep it simple.  Till next month, keep playing out live and promote your band correctly.