This is the second in my series for the Good Times Making Noise blog. Below is some additional information to my original post on how to write a booking inquiry.
Dear (Insert venue booker name here),
ABC band is interested in booking ABC venue on June 4.
Best Practice: Included you band name and the date you want to book right away. You can also give a date range if you are working on routing your tour. For example – We are interested in playing ABC venue during the month of June, June 4 is our ideal date, but we would also be in the area between June 7-20.
We are a four-piece band (guitars, bass, drums, vocals) with a female lead singer.
Best Practice: Give your 30 second “elevator pitch”. Pretend you are in an elevator with someone you just met, they ask you about your band and you need to explain it in 30 seconds.
We have been described as power pop and trash-rock revivalists. Our music could be compared to early Kinks or the Strokes.
Best Practice: Categorizing your band and/or sound is a necessary evil. You need to give people some sort of frame of reference to help them assess you as a potential act. Even if your band goes on to win a Grammy, it will still be in a category, so best to pick one now.
You can listen to song samples at www.MySpace.com/ABCband or www.ABCband.com.
Best Practice: All bands should have a MySpace page. Many bookers will go straight to MySpace to check out your song samples. Giving them a direct link will just speed up the process. Also provide links to any other meaningful press or reviews.
Our last show was on Monday, January 12, and we drew 50 people to the ABC Bar. If we play a weekend night, we are confident we will draw more than 100 people.
Best Practice: Give concrete examples. Even if you do not have previous shows to mention, reference the last house party you played or how much money you made the last time you played a street corner – something to let the booker know that you have an audience.
We have a local Santa Cruz mailing list of 100 contacts as well as a MySpace page with 500 fans, a Facebook page with 200 fans and 50 followers on Twitter.
We will have a flier produced within two weeks of our show confirmation. We will print 100 copies and distribute them to local record stores, coffee shops and UC Santa Cruz.
Best Practice: Let the booker know exactly what you will do for them to help promote the show. The more invested you are in the success of the show; the better it will work for everyone. Also include any creative marketing ideas or examples you might have.
We have a relationship with A SECOND band and A THIRD band and feel that we would make a powerful package that will sell out your venue.
Best Practice: If you have relationships with like-minded bands let the venue know. If you can help them build a package for the entire night, you just made their job a lot easier.
We appreciate your consideration and would be happy to bring by our current CD and press kit if you are interested.
Thanks, ABC Band Contact Info Band Website
If you have a SC Music question you would like me to investigate – email me jenn@santacruzrehearsalstudios.com