Gigs In Your Own Market - by Jeri Goldstein
Are you missing some potential opportunities for gigs in your own market because you are focused on touring two or three states or countries away from your home base?
Some of the best gigs might just be surrounding your own home town. If you’ve been paying attention to the various types of events going on in your community, you might have noticed many of them feature music of some sort. Somebody is getting those gigs, why not you?
Here’s a list of some possible gigs in your own market that happen on a regular basis—some during the warmer weather, others can happen any time of the year. Perhaps your town, county or province has some similar types of events where your act can get booked.
Potential Gigs In Your Own Market
- Winery festivals and concert series
- Summer downtown free pavilion events
- County fairs
- Grand openings
- Car dealership tent events
- Sorority & Fraternity parties
- University homecoming events
- Sports events
- Arts Council concert series
- Elementary school assemblies
- Library concert series for nursery schools and for adults
- First Night- New Years Eve concerts
- Genre specific festivals, like Blues, or classical music fests
- University Department specific sponsored parties, special events and series
- Museum concert series
- Business, organizational sponsored special events
- Civic or Conference Center events sponsored by incoming organizations
- Catering hall events
- Farmer’s Markets
- Craft Fairs
All of the above are largely events outside the normal clubs or performing arts centers. They may be sponsored by local businesses, organizations, government entities, schools or universities.
Research Gigs in Your Own Market
One of the best ways to research these kinds of events is simply to pick up the local weekly papers. Sift through the calendar listings as well as the various sections of the paper to see what’s been going on and what’s coming up beyond simply the Entertainment sections. Sometimes communities have monthly arts calendars that list events upcoming over a period of multiple months. These are great to collect throughout the year to get an overview of your community during the various seasons.
This seasonal approach can provide you with a database of events which you can delve into for the next year. Start to gather these resources now, so you can be ready to make calls to the appropriate entities and get your act on the list of names to be considered. It’s never too late to start your list of potential new opportunities for gigs in your own market.
Have you tapped into the wealth of gigs in your own market? What have you come up with?
Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PerformingbizSuccessStrategies.
I can’t wait to hear about your success.
Thanks to Carol Ehrlich for this week’s Biz Booster graphic image, “Gigs In Your Own Market.”
Now, Thanks to the Band Curfew from the UK for providing the Biz Booster theme Music, Future Dance. Check them out at www.curfew.co.uk
And for more career boosting tips, articles, books, resources, tele-seminars and online courses, visit me at Performingbiz.com
