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Q: You are known as a successful self promoter of your music. How do you approach getting shows in new locations and towns? What are some tricks of the trade in booking and promoting your shows? Also, what should we avoid when setting up shows at new venues so we don't get screwed?
I am really focused on promotion, but not really on getting gigs in other locations, unless there is a specific benefit in terms of visibility. Some gigs I've gotten out of town, such as the Bluebird and Gibson Cafe in Nashville, were because they are primary singer-songwriter venues and I wanted to be able to have them listed in my credentials. The gigs themselves aren't always that great: you are playing an open mic or a 3-4 song set. I always get a name to speak to and try to have a referral, such as "Joe XYZ suggested that I call you to set up a booking when I'm in town next month." Persistence should be the main word in your vocabulary, because you will need it! Check out the arts & entertainment papers that are on-line. In Nashville, it's the Nashville Scene. In Boston, it's the Boston Phoenix. There, you can get a feel for important venues in a particular area. Also, research booking agents on-line. One of the big ones for the folk circuit is Fleming & Tamulivich in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Last year I played at Disney World, which SOUNDS fantastic, and sounds bigger than it was. The way I got that gig was: I read about a local group of line dancers that were going to Disney World on a promotional trip (big discount for the volume going on the trip, and then a 15 minute "performance" on a stage in the theme park), I called the instructor/organizer and asked if I could tag along and sing a few songs that they could dance to instead of just the records they usually used. It cost him nothing and he agreed. I played that up for all it was worth, but actually, it was just a trip with a reduced cost, so I got my PR value out of it.
Always look for an unusual angle to promote yourself. My song, "My Girlfriends Quilt," talks about friends being like pieces of a quilt. Well, rather than attack college radio, I thought this warm and fuzzy feeling song would appeal to quilters! I went to Barnes & Noble and looked at all of the quilt magazines and wrote down the editor's name and address and sent a CD of the song to each of them with a query letter (about 12). Bingo! One of them contacted me and wrote an article about the CD and even my PO Box for mail order! I couldn't have paid for that advertising to an actual targeted audience that would like this music.
Just always think about what makes you different from all of the rest. For example, two other songwriter friends of mine and I discovered that our birthdays were sequential: March 10, 11 and 12. It was too good a coincidence to pass up so we came up with the idea for a series of concerts featuring the music of the three of us as solo acts, and called it the Pisces Girls Tour. Media and bookers loved it because it gave them a new way to promote us. But it was the same old music in a new package.