Get Great Gigs

So many touring artists have been challenged to use their creativity in new ways, adopt new technologies and transition from their lives before COVID to something different.They have had to dig deep within themselves to come up with innovative ways to continue their work. Today I’m excited to be speaking with Doug and Telisha Williams, widely known as the band, Wild Ponies. They are reaching their audiences on multiple fronts, which we’ll get into, but none so innovative as their latest project. Let’s find out how their focus on community service, hard work, creativity, and food are all riding on their Dreamers Food Truck.My guests today caught my attention when they launched their new food project which whet my appetite. It’s certainly different, and yet it is putting their talent and skills to use in a unique way.

I. Whether you are doing a weekly live streaming event, or have begun to safely perform some live concerts, we are coming up on the best weekend of the year for gigs. Let me explain.For years, I’ve talked about Thanksgiving weekend as being the best weekend of the year for gigging. Well this year those live gigging opportunities are not available, for the most part. You may find an innovative venue here and there set up to present safe and COVID conscientious gigs, but they are slim and far from available in every town.So, the next best opportunity this year, is for a streaming gig.

Ruth Pelham is the Creator of the Music Mobile, a unique inner-city program in Albany, NY. She’s a children’s musician, singer, songwriter, recording artist, educator, activist, and global community builder. If you were a child in inner-city Albany, NY and heard the Music Mobile song playing from the speakers of a brightly decorated blue van as it rode the streets of your neighborhood, you came running to share some fun, some music, some crafts and a unique community building, learning experience, unlike any other. Check out how one musician changed an entire city one neighborhood at a time.

What can you do today in the service of your art that can make a difference in someone’s life tomorrow? How do you take your gifts as a singer, performer and songwriter and expand them to create meaningful, innovative additional streams of income? I’m excited to find out exactly how to do that in my interview with Lowry Olafson. . I’m speaking with Canadian singer, songwriter, keynote speaker, school and business workshop facilitator, sailor and most recently rower. Over the course of his career, he has created multiple programs that expanded his audiences, helped him get widespread media coverage and allowed him to use his songwriting, recording and producing skills. Let’s find out exactly what he has done and what he is doing now.

Many performers are beginning to accept gig offers for live performance situations and that is exciting. Some of your rescheduled gigs are now right around the corner. And, just like any live gig, you need to negotiate your contract and express your needs and requirements. You may need to review those upcoming gig contracts and reconnect with the presenters to make sure your new COVID needs are being considered. Normally, your contract riders, if you use one, includes any additional requirements to help ensure that you can present your best performance.In these COVID times, circumstances are such that you need to include additional items during your negotiations, follow-up and advancing your gig procedures.When speaking with various artists, I became aware that some of the issues I’ll discuss here, were not being considered.So, in this episode, I’ll share my LIVE GIG PROCEDURES COVID STYLE so you can be well prepared for your return to live gigging.

Johnette Downing is a multi-award-winning children’s performer, early childhood educator, author and an ambassador of Louisiana Roots culture and arts around the world. She shares her heritage and passion for teaching children.In this lively episode Johnette talks about her roots, her projects, her recordings, and books. Often referred to as the pied piper of Louisiana music traditions, Johnette concerts, author visits and educator workshops are now being retrofit to work live and online. I’m excited to share a peak into this artist’s work.

In this episode I’m speaking with Aengus Finnan, Executive Director of Folk Alliance International, a world-wide organization serving the folk community for just over 30 years. I’m excited to share this interview with you as we discuss the organization’s past, present and future and the impact it is having on all those who call Folk Music their home.How do you connect with industry professionals like agents, managers, radio DJs, festival, venue, and house concert talent buyers within the folk community? Where can you find the resources, advocacy efforts and events specifically designed to serve the folk community? Get the answers from the Executive Director of Folk Alliance International.

Connect with presenting organizations close to home to find great resources in your state, region or country. Ohio Arts Professionals Network - OAPN, can help you take your performance game to new levels.This is a network of presenting organizations, artist, agents, and managers who rely on OAPN.org for statewide resources and connections to present the performing arts throughout Ohio. As most presenting organizations, OAPN has had to adjust their programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, I wanted to speak with Jessica Rosenblatt to find out just what Presenter Networks like OAPN are dealing with to give you the inside scoop. If you would like to find out more, check out OAPN.org or go to the link in this episode’s show notes at getgreatgigs.com/009

Singer, Dancer, Actor, Speaker and Licensed Spiritual CounselorDean’s a performing artist who changed his career before COVID, to expand his presentations and maximize his impact on his audiences and clients. His changes were timely we’ll discover.If you are a performing artist, a touring musician and were struggling to create a viable career before the pandemic, then this episode is for you. If you are weighing whether to keep or quit your day job, if you have one, and go full-time with your performing career, when you are able, then you want to meet my next guest and gain some insights into what’s possible.I’m speaking with a dynamic music talent, a singer, dancer, actor, speaker and a licensed spiritual counselor. Dean Regan’s performances have taken him around the world including performances on Broadway and even The White House. Dean’s energetic, uplifting performances and experiences continue to change people’s lives.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Dean Regan, with his rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

College Markets Offer Performers Dependable Gigs and Growth Opportunities:Amber Shaverdi Huston is the executive Director of NACA. The National Association for Campus Activities has connected performers and other attractions to college student teams who book entertainment for campus events. The college market has often served as a great way for performing artists, speakers, and musicians to get their careers off the ground. Not only does a performer get good guaranteed paychecks, access to a young audience, but also the possibility of multiple gigs at many campuses if you gain some traction with the students and staff. I thought I’d get some insider info from the oldest and largest college activities organization and speak with NACA’s Executive Director. My interview with Amber took place prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation we had covers information about their live conferences and all the services NACA provides to their members. Since the pandemic, NACA has created a NACA Virtual section on their NACA.org website. This year they will be hosting two virtual conferences in October, 2020. Visit NACA.org/virtual for showcasing information, program schedules and ways that you can participate from home, in a dynamic college conference experience.Join me for our interview and get a deeper understanding of what the college market might offer you.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Zach Brock, jazz violinist, with his rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

How to Stay Connected with Your Presenters Can Be A Challenge: Michael Carducci, magician and enterprise software developer, struggled to stay connected with prospective buyers. He solved this problem for himself and performers world-wide, as you’ll discover in our interview. Finding your unique audience and keeping in touch with them is a career obstacle many performing artists struggle with daily. My interview with Michael Carducci addresses his challenges as someone with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and how he used his ADD to his advantage.He put his unique talents designing software products for large businesses to use to benefit his own bookings as a magician. But he didn't stop there. His work has helped performing artists world-wide solve that, "How to stay connected with your buyers problem."Michael shares how he found his unique niche, his software development story, along with some great advice for performing artists on how to nurture their contacts to book more gigs and turn potentially lost gigs into return gigs.If you struggle with staying connected to presenters, bookers and buyers, if you are challenged by the parts of your life that you are just not that good at and it effects your business success, if you want to spend more time working on the things you are great at and if you would like to see how an artist just like you overcame his own challenges, then join me for my interview with Michael Carducci.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Gary Stockdale, with his rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

Erica Wheeler is a keynote speaker, a workshop experience and community engagement leader and yes, an award-winning singer/songwriter. She tapped into her passion for place to discover her niche. Erica transformed her music career into a niche market focused career. Discover how this singer/songwriter went back to the things in her life she was passionate about and found new, appreciative audiences. She created a brand new market for her presentations, workshops, and retreats.Discovering your own unique niche helps provide loyal audiences performance opportunities. Erica dove back into her college major along with the themes behind her own songwriting to discover a life-long passion for the environment and the places we hold dear to create her own service/product and find an untapped audience for it.In this episode I offer a PDF exercise to help you discover your own unique niche audience. visit the show notes at GetGreatGigs.com/005 to download the PDF.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Johnette Downing and Scott Billington, with their rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

APCA Helps Performers Get College Gigs and Much More:Some of the more lucrative gigs for performing artists are found on college campuses. Learn why from Eric Lambert, the Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities. As a major promoter of college conferences, I checked back with Eric to get an update to our original interview and see how his organization was responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Then Eric walks us through the various membership opportunities, conference time frames and locations and showcasing benefits and how they are adapting to the current crisis and how they move forward. He also talked about all the varieties of presenters served by APCA. I was surprised to discover that cruise ship buyers attend the conferences opening another performance opportunity for artists. Also, event planners, festivals and venues attend in addition to college campus activity buyers.So many artists find great performance opportunities on college campuses. Eric and I will be talking about how APCA is providing artists, agents, students and campus professionals affordable entertainment experiences perfect for college campus activities.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan, with their rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

Conference StrategiesStreaming and LiveIn this episode I will help you navigate one of the major career boosting events that can put you in front of potential bookers, even in this Covid-19 environment. I’m talking about Booking Conferences and Trade Shows. As a former agent and manager, I looked for ways for bookers, buyers and presenters to become aware of my artists. One of the most profoundly effective ways to get noticed within your specific industry genre was to attend booking conferences and trade shows. So many of the conferences that were scheduled to take place in the coming months have been rescheduling their dates and some skipping this year altogether. And there are others that are holding firm on their dates but shifting to an online streaming conference. You may even find this to be true with some festivals as well.So, in this episode, I’ll share my best strategies for navigating the conference scene so you can network with those in the industry with ease, confidence and professionalism. I’ll help you think about how to prepare your materials so you may take advantage of those conferences that offer streaming opportunities and still be ready for a live conference situation.In the show notes you’ll find a PDF to download that lists several major conferences that happen in the U.S. and around the world. I’ll do another episode on some of the regional conferences that take place at other times of the year. I’ll also be interviewing some of the organizers of these major conferences in the weeks to come to see how they are managing this time period.For now, this episode shares some insights into participating in conferences that can save you money, assure that you meet various deadlines and help you navigate all that the conference has to offer that fits with your career goals even in these COVID-19 times.One Final Note: During this COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Great Gigs PodcastIs helping music people one T shirt at a time with our other project, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.” With so many music people having lost income from cancelled gigs, a portion of every T Shirt sold benefits MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity to help music people in need. Go to 360smiling.com to learn how you can participate and join our Global Smile Chorus. This week, here is Zach Brock, jazz violinist, with his rendition of my song, “I’m Smiling at You Behind My Mask.”

David Wimble Interview The Creation of the Indie Bible and the Useful Suite of Directories:Searching for venues to play can be daunting. Creating an efficient tour is sometimes harder. Finding media review outlets to play and promote your music can be overwhelming.

Thinking Beyond: A New Road Map to Get Great GigsWe all need some direction, a place to start, a focal point, a reminder of our artistic purpose and how to re-imagine our booking conversations. Get Great Gigs Podcast will help.