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Looper's Delight
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Well, one aspect is to try to get lots of press in your home town, and book a show like any other out of towner when you call them up. They figure you must be 'somebody' because of all the press (before I had any, all of my press quotes were fictional!). Except a select few, rarely music you make with looping devices as a solo performer is a 'draw' in the sense that it will keep people drinking all night. No matter where you are, or where you are going, solo looping is a hard sell. We have to convince someone that they want to hire us, despite the fact we can't bring the crowds the Poison tribute band can down the street. Also, *we* have to be confident enough in what we do to come across as professional, and if no one comes in while you are playing in a place 200 miles away, it isn't *our* fault. What kind of advertising did they do? Did they send out a press release? Did they hang the posters you sent? Are you in their monthly flyer all over town? So, what can we solo loopers do? How do we get and keep gigs? Where should we play? What about the really *weird* solo loopers? I live in a small town north of Tampa Florida. I got met and got involved with all of the people in this area planning festivals, art shows, gallery openings, etc. It takes a lot of time. All unpaid. Cool thing is, they call me now, because they know me personally and I am easy to work with (this is *very* important). And now they pay me. I applied for state grants, chaired the Cultural Affairs Committee in my town and met the people making decisions about funding for music in the area. I made a point of meeting the local tv and print press and let them know what I am doing all the time- learning to write a good press release people can copy and paste is a great skill. In a small town, there isn't a lot of arts news, except for the odd school play. So they will put you in the paper. There are other options besides bars for us out there. Dave Eichenberger- http://www.hazardfactor.com/collectives <--- 50 CDs, 50 hours, no copies > > Yeah, I don't seem "arty" enough for galleries and museums. > I've played some in the past, it seems to go well, everyone's > nice at the time, and then years go by without them returning > my calls or emails, so I figure that something was lacking > for them. There also seems to be a tendency to view music in > visual art galleries as an afterthought. > > I think the root of the problem of trying to play 200 miles > from home when you have no name is that they know that no-one > will come to see you--the usual group of friends, workmates, > etc. aren't going to be there, so I'm limited to hunting for > places that don't expect you to be a draw, and it's tough to > find those from a distance. >