festivals

The Art of the Application: Applying to National and Regional Music Festivals

[slideshow] Art of the Application: Applying to National and Regional Music Festivals

Monday, November 26 - 6-9 p.m. Santa Cruz Institute Of Contemporary Art @ The Tannery 1050 River Street #127 RSVP on Facebook

Open to all local musicians or those that love them. Cash donations will be accepted to help cover the room cost but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. We will also accept unopened candy and booze.

I have never met a musicians didn’t want to play the ever elusive festival. Let’s pool our knowledge, and make everyone smarter on all aspects of the process – from packaging yourself beforehand to promoting yourself once you get on the bill. We’ll share some stories, you can ask some questions and if you give me your email address I will share my spreadsheet with all the festivals and deadlines I have compiled. Questions – email jenn@santacruzrehearsalstudios.com

Panel:

Robert Cray, Peter Rowan and Flaco Jiminez were among the very first artists Tom Miller brought to Santa Cruz back in 1979, when he began his 10-year stint booking OT Price's Music Hall. He later booked Henfling's, before moving on to his present gig booking Don Quixote's International Music Hall in Felton.

Graduate of Berklee College of Music’s Artist Management program, Dan Sheehan started VEG Presents (Vibes Entertainment Group) in 2011. He is the co-producer of the California Roots Festival as well as manager to local artists including THRIVE, Matt Masih & The Messengers and The Whiskey Avengers.

Jeff Sloan two time Grammy Award winning artist and engineer has made his home in Northern California after escaping Oklahoma in 1987. After working on the road for many years now serves the entire bay area music scene with his live sound engineer, production, stage managing and back line technical skills. He is planning on dying a starving artist!

Andy Zenczak is a freelance producer/recording engineer and owner of Gadgetbox Recording Studios. Over the past twelve years he has worked with over 300 bands and songwriters, mixed over 1000 songs for commercial release and is on a constant crusade to help local artists get the viability and exposure they deserve from their music.

Moderator:

Jennifer Gallacher has worked in the music industry for the past ten years as the director of marketing and promotions at Dancing Cat Records and most recently as the owner of Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios and manager of local band Wooster. In addition she is the publicist for Club Fox in Redwood City.

Festival Deadlines - California - Part 1

For many bands the holy grail of shows seems to be "the festival". Here is California, we are particularly blessed with many an epic festival within driving distance. Here are a few of the upcoming application deadlines for a few or our favorites.

Don't wait - decisions for 2011 are being made NOW.

This is the first post in a new series. If there are other festivals you would like to see addressed, please leave a comment and we will try to include them in our next post.

Strawberry Music Festival - Performers interested in playing the Strawberry Music Festivals are welcome to submit CD's and promo packs any time of the year. Booking for the festivals begins in October and is completed near the middle of February. Please mail submissions to:

Strawberry Music Festivals P.O. Box 664 Jamestown, CA 95327 Attn: Charlie Cran

Please Note:  No booking or communication is conducted via e-mail. You will not receive an e-mail response to any inquiry.

Mateel Summer Arts and  Music - In addition to the annual Summer Arts and Music Festival, they also put on Reggae on the River, Hemp Fest, Humboldt Hoedown and the Winter Arts Faire. Their website contact page does not give an exact procedure for booking but I would start by mailing your package to:

Talent/ booking - Justin Crellin PO Box 1910 Redway, CA 95560

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival - Artists interested in performing at SNWMF 2011 should send their promo packets to the address below. Please only send materials that are commercially available (no CD-Rs).

SNWMF 2011 PO Box 208 Ryde, CA 95680

Monterey Bay Reggaefest - Artist Submissions: Andre Smith (831) 394-6534 asmithmbrf@aol.com 

Monterey Bay Reggaefest PO Box 1607 Seaside, CA 93955

Live Oak Music Festival - The Live Oak Music Festival Entertainment Selection Committee accepts artist applications from July 1st through October 31st for the following year’s festival. If you wish to be considered, please review our web site and either apply through Sonicbids or send an email between July and October to booking@liveoakmusic.org. Please include an EPK, including video and audio links, a brief description of your musical style, web address, and number of performers in act. The Entertainment Committee does not guarantee a response to inquiries. Thank you for your interest in our fundraising festival for the non-profit public radio station KCBX, serving San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.