[mplpost] Gigging and Touring

[Bill Usher]

Part 4: Gigging and Touring.

Back in the time of Touch The Earth and the original radio series I've
mentioned, there were very few 'folk' festivals in Canada - a couple of
handfuls? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Estelle got out to the clubs and kept her ear to the ground and heard the
'buzz' and then decided for herself whether the buzz was warranted and
whether that artist should be invited to play at Mariposa.

There were clubs too. In the Toronto area, John Smale's place (London) and
Grumbles (Neil Dixon's Jarvis St. club) come to mind - where you actually
got to settle in for a three to six night stay - imagine!

The provincial 'arts council' touring circuits started to play a more
important role for mapleposters around the early 80s.

One can observe now on maplepost the various 'independent' activity of
artists booking themselves. You can read the event calendars and see mini
and big tours with artists hopping from town to town playing a variety of
gigs with venues both big and small presented by both commercial and
volunteer producers.

How do you do it? How did you create the interest? From airplay? From
showcasing? Through an agent? From being a polite but incessant 'nudge'.

Can you make any money from touring after expenses? What's your proportion
of CD sales vs. fees? When do you do a loss leader? How long does it take to
get into a new territory? What's a good good gig/fee for a maplepost
performer? What's the range out there?

In the late 80s, the Ontario Arts Council instituted a minimum fee to
Canadian artists of $1500 as a pre-requisite for presenters to access the
Touring Arts Fund. In the late 90s, from a variety of pressures, that
pre-requisite was dropped and one could see fees to artists drop. How's it
working in other provinces now? Are fees going up across the board or
dropping?

And what about getting the gig at the festival?  :)  With only 17 or 47
spots to fill and 500 to 800 CDs in the In-basket of a Canadian A.D. what do
you/can you do to increase your chances? What can you turn your attention to
if you're not likely to be chosen this year or in the near future? In your
opinion, how crucial is it to play the 'festival circuit' for ongoing career
success and getting other kinds of gigs?

In Part 3, I referred to compilation promotional CDs. How much of a role do
these play in getting gigs outside of your natural stomping grounds? Is it a
given, that you need local 'indie' radio to be playing your songs before you
can get a gig in that town/area and actually draw an audience for the
presenter? How important is 'indie' airplay to getting the gig? How do you
get your CD into the market which is playing your sour songs? When does it
become financially feasible to hop in the car/on the plane to go play
somewhere where they are playing your songs on the radio?

How successful have you been at accessing tour support? From your record
label? :)  from government funded programs/subsidies?


-- 
http://www.billusher.com


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