Television

I got up very early this morning. For the second day in a row, Frogs Gone Fishin' performed for the Vail morning news. Channel 8 and Plum TV (ch. 16) have both been more than accommodating toward our music and have provided ample publicity for the shows we are also playing while in the mountains this weekend. Some of our clips will air time after time throughout coming weeks in the valley.

But it is the very shows which we are on TV publicizing that make the interviews and performances exceedingly stressful. For example, we returned from our gig in Beaver Creek at 3 30am last night, went to sleep for 3 hours before waking up and struggling deeply to drag our hungover carcasses to embark on the 20 minute drive to the TV studio. Once at the studio, our time was characterized by much waiting and anticipation under lights that are so bright, we were told they retain UV properties.

TV personalities are unbelievably caffeinated and energetic in the morning. They have to be to compensate for the sleepy interviewees who stumble in for the morning show. I suppose the guy from the winery, showing off his new vintages in the segment before we played, went to sleep sometime before 3 30 last night. Nobody ever said bands are supposed to be morning people.

After two morning news performances, two interviews, and a raging show last night, I figured writing a post this afternoon would help me comprehend the last 24 hours, move on and take a nap with all this TV business behind us for now...

..Until waking up at 3pm to drive over to our last interview of the weekend, before loading-in for the show tonight. I suppose sleep can wait.

Play It Out pt. III

Lay It Out So You Can Play It Out
pt. 3 Read the Crowd so you'll Please the Crowd

So by now you've undoubtedly followed the advice in my first two Play It Out segments and not only overcome the mental obstacles blocking your path to a new music career (and new life), but booked your very first gig, as well. 12 days into the New Year and you're practically a new man!

I'd like to spend this post talking about reading the crowd who has shown up to see you execute your meticulously practiced performance. You might say to yourself, why haven't I talked about your meticulous rehearsal, or how I promoted so well to get all these people here?!? I'm assuming that if you want to play gigs you probably practice a lot anyway, and most promoting is done initially by word of mouth that will occur between you and your friends naturally. That said, the next segment will be about both practice and advertising (and all the other musician-type stuff you'll do in your ample spare time during the day).

I want to start with reading the crowd because it is an art which takes the longest to perfect (I certainly haven't) out of the many skills that playing in public requires. After all, once you've practiced concentrating on keeping time and playing that bridge section just right, selecting which drumsticks to use for which song and which songs to play at all, peering out from behind the cymbals just to watch people dance might seem futile or pointless at best.

At first, it will be. After many shows of practice however, musicians can learn to remove the visual/auditory barrier which can, at first, hinder playing. If this barrier is removed, music can then flow out of you in a manner that is fueled by the audience and in turn, fuels their energy to keep dancing or listening.

While all of this can be accomplished by watching people's feet or hips, it's also important to observe the overall mood of the entire room. If your audience looks tired from the 20-minute jazz-funk-metal odyssey the band just embarked on, they are! Play something slow and simple next. Refresh their ears. Most importantly, put yourself in their shoes on the listening side of the equation. If you think things are getting boring and monotonous, you're probably right.

We'll get to the rehearsing and marketing stuff soon. Just watch those hips for now and in the words of the Isley Brothers:

"It's your thing, do what you wanna do. I can't tell you, who to sock it to."

Play It Out pt. II

Lay It Out So You Can Play It Out
pt. 2 Obstacles

The primary obstacles to starting a music career are mental. Most aspiring musicians can’t imagine putting in the amount of time and effort necessary to “make it”. The biggest problem with that way of thinking comes with the definition of “making it”. Many people assume “making it” means playing sold-out shows in large amphitheaters or stadiums, money and widespread fame.

By that definition, most of the musicians we know and love have not “made it”. Of course that depends on the style of music you prefer; Top-40 listeners will certainly enjoy some artists who play stadiums and end up making money off of touring and merchandise, but most artists do not enjoy revenue from their record label (it’s better to run your own) and during these economic times, touring and selling records becomes tough. “Making it” then becomes providing for your self and family and expecting a steady income, even if it is not an enormous sum.

If the aspiring artist is willing to adjust his conception of what “making it” means, and is willing to treat his career as a nine-to-five like any other job, great results can come about.

Once our aspiring artist’s attitude is adjusted toward realistic success, he is then ready to tackle the very real problems associated with the transfer from his current career path, to a musically oriented lifestyle.

If our musician is a student, she can quickly enter the “real-world” of gigging regularly and selling recordings and merchandise after finishing her studies. If she is currently employed, she may have to spend some time gigging and working intermittently, in order to save enough to make the full-time switch to music.

After that switch however, a musician’s success will be directly proportional to how hard they work at what they do. They must eat, sleep and breathe music everyday: write, promote, book, market, advertise, rehearse and polish, not to mention playing the gigs themselves.

For those who choose this path there is great reward. The first step is the hardest. There are many decent resources regarding different aspects of the music business and how to promote and protect yourself. Everyone should copyright their material and most recording artists should consider joining a PRO (Performance Rights Organization) who will make sure you receive your royalties if your music is played live or on the radio.

Get out there and lay it out, so you can play it out!

Happy New Year

Happy 2009!

Great music happened live and in the studio throughout 2008 and we can't wait to see what 2009 brings to our ears.

We received several pieces of good news to close out the year:

Frogs Gone Fishin' was ranked one of Denver's most interesting local bands of 2008 by MetroMix. Peep the article here.

Our first show in New Orleans will be the day we get there, February 20th, opening for Russell Batiste and Friends with George Porter Jr. and Jason Neville. Russell is a friend of mine, always crazy to hang out with around New Orleans and consistent partner of George Porter Jr., a legend in his own right after founding The Meters four decades ago.

As a final New Year's present, I got to see Widespread Panic at the Pepsi Center last night. I had never seen a Panic show before and was greatly impressed by the lights and overall production quality of the jam band's set-up. It certainly psyched me up to play tonight.

Have a safe and happy new year!

Play It Out pt. I

Lay It Out So You Can Play It Out
pt. 1 Booking Gigs

The New Year is upon us and many aspiring musicians are making plans and resolutions about how to get their act together this year.

I am by no means a veteran at this whole music business thang, not by a long shot. I do feel I can share some of the advice that I've learned, in large part by trial and error, which might make these posts a little more useful than your generic "How to Succeed in the Music Business For Dummies" book. Rather than start at the very beginning (tuning your guitar...), or jump to the advanced stuff like copyright law, I'll begin my Lay It Out So You Can Play It Out series with what most musicians want to do badly, but have the most trouble accomplishing: booking gigs.

Obtaining successful gigs at clubs will depend largely on your definition of a successful gig. If you want to pay rent and build a fan-base through a regular gigging schedule, it will require much more work than if you seek to play only a couple gigs for the experience and fun of it all. For this article, we’ll assume you’re trying to make music your living. Weekend warriors will still find this information helpful, but I’ll try to outline a complete, step-by-step strategy for booking and playing gigs at clubs around your town.

Research.
How you research your potential gigging market depends on what genre of music you’ll be playing. In the jazz scene, there will only be a few clubs around town that specialize in hosting jazz music. Even between those clubs, some might prefer traditional acoustic jazz, while other joints might book electric avant-garde groups. It’s important to know if the music you want to play live will mesh with the vibe/preferences of the club you’re trying to book.
In the early days of booking my band, I’d sometimes alter the description of our music to suit what the club owner wanted to hear. This can be dangerous ground, but advocating your “jazz-influenced” rock sound can be more advantageous than the “Black Sabbath-influenced” elements of your playing.

Cold calls.
This means either calling or literally calling on the club for the first time. Unless you have a friendly connection, chances are you don’t know the bar owner from a barstool. Your first contact with this needs to be professional, but not sterile, and will focus on asking them some key questions. Try not to be too drunk or stoned and inquire about the following information:
What nights of the week do you have live music?
Do you have any open nights between these dates (insert dates here)? Most club owners like booking their schedules at least two months in advance.

At this point the club owner will either blindly give you a gig (not really a good sign) or inquire about your act. More than likely they will want to see a website, Myspace, or physical press kit before they will discuss further.

Booking.
After the club has seen your immaculate website and heard your stupendous tunes, you will still have to be persistent in calling them back to book the gig. This time when you ask if they have any open dates, and they say “sure, Feb. 24th sounds great”, you ask:
What time is load-in and sound check?
How long will we be playing and for what set-lengths?
How will we be compensated? Cash? Check? Beer? Make sure and agree to this before you set foot in the door.

Some clubs even require that their acts fill out contracts and 1099’s for tax purposes. If you are making enough dough for these formalities, congratulations!

Playing the gig.
So you got the gig... way to go. A big factor in whether you can come back next time is how you perform (both musically and otherwise) while you’re at the club. Again, try to not show up drunk or stoned. A good policy is never drink more than you think your audience is drinking. This keeps your head in a place that’s congruent with the energy in the room. Play good songs (a healthy mix of covers and originals), keep time between songs short, talk to your audience but don’t ramble or preach and overall, smile and have fun.

This advice will obviously differ between genres. There will be heavier drinking for heavy metal music at biker bars, more covers in a jazz set, more time between songs for singer/songwriters, more preaching in praise music and less smiling in emo music.

There is one thing all musicians of all genres can agree on, however, and that is getting paid for your performance. While artistic in nature, playing music is a job like any other and should be seen as such. Everyone gets stiffed at some point in their career. But, contracts or verbal agreements about payment before the gig go a long way toward avoiding this situation. If you do get a club owner who ducks out before you’re done packing up and leaves his waitstaff to explain to you that you are getting exactly zilch for schlepping your gear around and playing an awesome show, you can only do a couple things short of damaging property. You can do everything in your power to get back in touch with the club owner and get the coin, or simply tell every musician you ever meet to never play at the shady establishment. It goes something like this:

“Never play at the Absinthe Lounge in Dallas, because they stiff musicians.”

See? Just like that.

In the end, persistence is the key to booking gigs. Oftentimes it takes many calls over a period of weeks to make that initial club contact. After that, it takes one phone call or email to that club to book a date. So get out there, research, and lay it out so you can play it out! Happy gigging everyone.