Chapter 21: Playing for a Small Audience

Posted by admin on June 23rd, 2010 | 50 Comments »

This past thursday we ventured back into Central Pennsylvania for a 2-set show at a great venue that we had played at once before called the “Stage on Herr.”

Having only been to the area once before, we don’t have the biggest following out there just yet, and given the fact that there was the big Harrisburg annual block party festival across the river, we played to a very small audience.

It costs money to travel to venues way outside the city.  Every time we do it we have to ask ourselves, is this worth the investment?  Will this help us grow and build our fanbase?

When we first took the stage and saw the small amount of people in the audience, though I was excited (I’m always excited to play shows) the business part of me questioned whether it was worth our money to travel all this way. The venue and the people who run it are spectacular but were we going to be able to walk away feeling like we had made enough of an impact to come back?

Every show is an amazing learning experience, and this particular show provided me with the learning experience that there is no audience too small to fully “bring it.”  Our “Stage on Herr” show was a huge success for us not only because we had a good time and the music was solid (for the most part but more so because we brought it completely, and the 20 or so people in the audience loved us, put their name down on the email list, asked for autographs and told us they would bring friends the next time we came.

I asked a couple of the people in the audience whether they thought that we should come back or not, and how they felt the rest of the audience liked the show.  One guy even said to me “don’t be discouraged because of the lack of turnout tonight.  There is a huge anual block party going on tonight and most of the town is over there.  You guys were truly spectacular and I think that people in Harrisburg would love you.  You should definitely come back.” Another fan offered us their home for us to all stay in the next time we came back.

The sound guy also said he wanted to open for us the next time we came around with his local band.

I left feeling proud of us for bringing our best no matter what.  The Stage on Herr was so hospitable the last time we came there in April and we were very excited to come back last week.  Same goes for the next time we come back as well.  Thanks Harrisburg for being so great.  We’ll see you soon.

Zach

Chapter 13: Is the Music Business Not A Business?

Posted by admin on April 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

My band and I are playing a gig in Harrisburg Pennsylvania tomorrow night.  In line with my last post about hard work etc, I thought I would shed some light on some of the non-musical aspects of this business that are REQUIRED for success.  This is why artists have managers, so they don’t have to focus on all these details, but here is a taste of just the logistics aspects of what is needed to successfully put on one electric show out of town.

Here is the reason why I’m posting this: If you want to be a successful artist you have to understand that you are not just a musician, you are an entrepreneur.  Period.  End of Story.  And part of being an entrepreneur is dealing with the business side of things…and part of that is dealing with details and logistics.

Events Checklist for Zach Maxwell Music

Equipment:

o Guitar

o Amp

o Effects pedal board w/

o Power strip

o All power adapters

o Guitar chords

o Capo

o Guitar picks

o Extra batteries

o Extra guitar strings

o Microphone (if needed)

o Microphone stand (if needed)

o Microphone cable (if needed)

o Guitar stand (if needed)

o Stool (if needed)

o Computer

o Computer charger

o USB chord for iphone

o Blue Snowball microphone for recording show

o Phone

Merchandise

o Box of CD’s

o Newsletter mailing list

o Pens and markers for people to write their info on

o Business Cards

o Cash box

o Starters cash

o Other merchandise

o Banner

o Download cards

Clothing and Misc:

o Stage clothes and shoes

o Washed and Ironed if needed

o Travel clothes and shoes

o Headphones

o Hands free device

o Overnight clothes (for overnights)

o Toiletry kit (for overnights)

o Leathermen

o Lighter

o Dog food for Samson (on overnights where he comes)

o Leash for Samson (on overnights where he comes)

Venue Logistics

o Confirmed time for Soundcheck

o Confirmed Yes or No for soundboard recording

o Confirmed backline

o Drums or Bring your own (BYO)

o Bass Amp or BYO

o Guitar Amp or BYO

o Keyboards or BYO

o PA system or BYO

Travel Logistics

o Vehicle

o Aux cable for music in car

o Address of venue

o Directions

o Phone number of venue

o Estimated travel time

o Cash to pay band

o Reservations for Hotel (overnights)

o Expense Sheet

This has been a busy week in terms of rehearsals and preparation for our first electric gig (we have many more to come, check out the Live Shows tab) so I will be back next week with story updates.