So I’ve been playing guitar and singing for almost 25 years and my acoustic partner has been playing longer. We’ve been jamming for over 5 years now and have a great chemistry. I’ve been out in Halifax and Dartmouth and have listened to a lot of crappy acoustic bands and wondered to myself, “How the hell did these yahoos get booked here?” Most recently, we’ve decided to give it a go and have run into one wall after another.
“Well, (fill in the blank) does all the music bookings and he only works Monday to Wednesday from 8 to 12.”
“Leave me a CD and I’ll get back to you.”
“You guys sounded great during the open mic, but I am booking gigs for next year and I have contracts with bands I need to fulfill.”
I am starting to sense that bar owners are either clueless about music or don’t care. Rather than just bitch about this, I would like to ask if anyone out there in bitch land has any advice (or connections) on how to get a bar owner to give a great acoustic duo a chance in this city? —Just Wanna Play
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.
Where have you been playing the in your previous experience?
You say you’ve been jamming here in HRM for 5 years. What about before then?
Did you recently move here?
Get an email addy, get a card so you can call when they are actually in…
you have to be pushy and don’t take that passe crap for an answer.
Since the Idol and xfactor and voice shit shows started, now everyone thinks they can sing and perform.
If you really want it, keep on it.
Also, wheelie, where are ya?
Help out a fellow musician like the kind citizen you are.
I dunno, a few years ago me and my friends had a band on the go and we were shit. But we hung out at the bars with other bands (‘bands’) and met lots of people and they just kept offering us venues. Mind you we weren’t playing the lower deck (pretty much 3-5 band own the waterfront in this town) but there are plenty of other venues that give newcomers a fair shot. A good place to start anyway. Try Gus’, Michaels, Reflections (open mike monday) and the seahorse. Good luck.
Also, the oasis has an open mike night and they’re pretty decent for drawing a crowd. The manager’s name is Adam and he’s a cool cat (bit of an ego on him but decent none the less) he does lots of shit in the city, good guy to know.
o.p., i used to get that same shit all the time. when i handled a group called,”short of cash”, and doug mclean and the “old” langley beach crowd. yep, that was moi. i have been in the music business myself, in one form or other for over 40 years. i also used to play bass, drums and lead guitar, plus sing, before i started smoking too much. did i really just say that?
anyhow, most places do not have clue one, when it comes to bookings, and the union, if you are in it, says you have to charge x amount of bucks for time played. but i feel for you, and really wish that i would have kept up my music, as i have not sang or played for about 10 years now. hopefully, you will find a gig that suits you, and maybe, just maybe, some scout will happen to be there. but getting foot one in door is the hardest part. keep on keepin on o.p.
and don’t forget the humanittee place downtown. they do a everyone performs i believe.
Go to the bar and start drinking with the band. But not as a groupy. You need to introduce yourself as a fellow musician. You might want to develop a cover story like “would you be interested in recording a song with us?”
But yoou need to be sincere. You need to care about the people you meet and merely enjoy their company. Do this only a few times and i garantee that the advice will pour out at you.
I basically have no usable advice for you OP whatsoever. So you don’t have to blow me.
I can only speak of my experience in the punk and metal scene, which is probably a bit than the one you’re trying to break into. But I think this one piece of advice applies: To some degree it’s all about who you know. Start going out to see local bands who you think might like your stuff. Make nice with people at the shows and contacts will eventually come your way if you’re not a jerk.
Everyone here giving pretty good advice, Zed.
I more or less retired from the local scwne for time being to do photography for money. Business has been good, but I’m doing portraiture etc, not weddings.
The scene in Halifax is small but there are places, OB. To “make a living” you need to use social media marketing, play venues appropriate to your group(Humanittee place sounds like a good suggestion, BM). To get to the point where you actually MAKE money, I believe you have to tour and cultivate a wider following than the few venues locally.
Maybe try to get a house gig, once a week/twice a month, to build a local following, adding in original material so the public/venue owner sees what you have to offer, and make an EP or sOmething? Try a local agent. In my experience, some venues only work with specific agents.
Good luck. Glad I’m not starting now!
P
Take a shower.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
There are a lot of other guys(bands) in the same boat you are, everyone and their dog has a band or thinks they can perform, and I would guess there are only so much room and time and money. Good luck with it all but maybe stay away of critizing other bands, a negative to others won’t help at all.
Thanks everyone for their help. I don’t openly criticize other musicians, but I think it’s indicative of how clueless bar owners are when they book sub par acts. I played in bands in Cape Breton for over 10 years and never had trouble getting gigs and people there truly appreciated good acts and good times. Unfortunately, in this city, most musical acts turn into background noise and are not really appreciated at all. Maybe I’ll just continue entertaining parties and avoid the pub scene all together with
Ummmm, shouldn’t that be “Whom”?
Everyone. You have to blow everyone.
Meeeee too
B-Roc,
Keep in mind(as you have learned) that the bar owners and bookers know NOTHING about music. They will try to give you advice, as if selling beer and underpaying artists gives them some insight into the music business.
Do it because you love it, for people who enjoy it, and play for what you think is a fair price.
And ignore the bullshit.
🙂
P
one more thing. It is not who you know, it is who you meet. get it?
clueless about music or don’t care?
Wow. I don’t care how long you’ve been playing, that’s just arrogant. You can’t assume you’re really good just because you’ve been at it a long time. Experience is a totally different road from genius after all..
I’m not saying you’re bad. You’re probably not. You’re probably a lot better than most of the useless acts i’ve seen around here.
But obviously something is making them more desirable than you. Can’t say what it is.