Sometimes you are not a fit.
A necessary part of being a performing musician is booking venues. After all, we need places to play. Most of us are in charge of booking the venues we perform at and others of us use a booking agency. The booking process varies from musician to musician, but for the most part, it’s an ongoing endeavor.
How do you book a gig at a venue? That’s a great question and the approach differs based on where you are in your musical journey. For example, if you are new and just starting out, booking a performance at a venue can be a little challenging. A lot of venues will ask for social media pages or a website where they can look you up and check your fan base. Some may ask for performance videos or the names of other venues that you currently perform at. These are obstacles that need to be overcome with the venue. Perhaps, you were in other bands that performed locally or maybe you performed in another state or area. You need to answer the question, Why should the venue hire you? If you are an experienced performer, your reputation may be your best ally. Venues tend to talk to each other and ask for recommendations on performing musicians, which is good for you, assuming the venue loves your work.
During the booking process, I work with a lot of different venues from wineries to breweries to distilleries, restaurants, hotels and many others. I also contact a lot of new venues every year for more opportunities. The odds are in your favor, the more venues you contact, the higher the hit rate. I do research venues before I contact them, to see if they have previously had live music and if so, what type of live music. Some venues don’t advertise their live music and those are the ones, that you need to discover by simply reaching out to them. I also try to determine the scale of live music they offer, by group size and how many times a year they offer it. Some venues are seasonal.
I offer venues the choice of solo acoustic or a duo with sax and I also offer either a blend of covers and originals or all originals. Sometimes, my offering is not what the venue is looking for. For example, the venue may only do full bands, which doesn’t align with my solo or duo offering. Or perhaps, the venue already has an existing group of musicians they hire every year. I may not fit their current offering, however there may be a cancellation or a musician drop out the following year, that creates an opportunity for me. The music I offer, which is a blend of country/pop/rock covers and originals may not be a fit, if the venue is looking for strictly country only.
Booking is hard and sometimes you may not be a fit for the venue or the venue may not be a fit for you. It really does work both ways. Find your niche and promote that to the venues, where you feel you are a fit. Have an amazing day.