Playing gigs is what being in a band is all about. Well, some bands might want to just play in someone’s home or studio for fun, or strictly to record their music, but for the most part, playing gigs is the reason to be in a band. But how do you get them?
The executive summary is: you have to ask.
First, I need to be up front about something. Getting gigs is the part of the business that I’m the least good at, and dislike the most, decades of experience notwithstanding. In fact, that’s probably true for most musicians I know. We’d rather create, or work on our chops, or browse gear forums, or sit through a root canal, or do anything but go around and knock on doors and plead with club owners. But as my grandmother used to say, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Second, the biggest limiting factor is time. Most of us are busy and have day jobs, and have little to no time to pound the pavement, make phone calls, send e-mails, maintain a social media presence, and do all the other stuff I’m going to talk about. Lack of time will restrict the amount of gigs you’ll be able to get.
There's an obvious way to look for and get gigs – hire a booking agent. Most bands on the local level won't be doing this, but if you really want your career to take off, you'll probably have to get an agent at some point. They'll take a percentage, but if they get you gigs, and relieve you of the task of having to do it yourself, it'll be worth it.
Before you’re even in a position to look for gigs, you have to be prepared.
First of all, you need to be at least good, and if you want to be successful, you need to be really good. Be brutally honest with yourself. Are you and your band good enough, and ready? There are hundreds of bar bands out there, and I’ll be frank: a lot of them are nothing special, or just not very good. You don’t want to be one of those bands.
Have some kind of identity, a hook, whether you’re That ’70s Band or my friends the Karpenteers – kind of obvious what kind of music they both play – or Long Island band Wolfghoul. I don’t know who they are outside of finding them online, but their name tells me they're not a Carpenters cover band.
If you don’t have a solid repertoire – and for a bar or club gig this means at least 50 or so songs for a three- or four-hour night – you’re not ready to play out. For an original band, you need to have great, not good, songs that work in front of an audience. Get your act together – literally. It might take a few months, or a year, depending on the level of the musicians in the band. Sure, pros can get together and play with no rehearsal, but that’s not being in a band and having tight arrangements and dynamics and vocal harmonies.
Speaking of bands, most musicians I know are in more than one, or do occasional solo or duo gigs outside of the band. Obviously, this increases the amount of gigs you'll get and the money you'll earn. Even name players do side gigs. Unless you're signed to some kind of exclusivity contract, why not? Playing in different situations makes you a more well-rounded musician.
You have to have a video. As one pro told me about 15 years ago, “if you don’t have a YouTube video, forget it.”
Venues will not hire you without one (unless you get a gig through knowing somebody – more on that later). Try to make it as good as possible – not some crappy phone video with jerky motion and muffled sound. Ideally, you’d make a professional-looking video with multiple camera angles and good sound, done in a studio, but for most of us, that’s not realistic. The good news is that today’s phones can deliver excellent video and good audio quality, and there are a number of easy to use editing programs like iMovie. The trick is to have good lighting. Shooting in dark bars means grainy images. Use multiple cameras or phones or tablets to shoot from multiple angles – nothing looks more amateurish and boring than a static single-camera video. You can even create a montage video of static images over music, but many venues want to see some kind of live performance video (preferably, a recent one) to see a representation of what the band can do at a gig.
Having a video – preferably multiple videos – is the bare minimum. for band promotion. Your band should have a website with said videos (which should also be on YouTube), a succinct description of the kind of music you play, a listing of upcoming gigs so people know where to come and see you, and an electronic press kit (EPK), which is exactly what it sounds like – music clips, photos, a band bio, press clippings, and the all-important contact information.
You've gotta get in to get out: here's an excellent promotional video from the Genesis cover band Seconds Out.
If your band is at a level where you’re selling CDs, vinyl, and merch, by all means have a means for fans to buy these things on your website. Sites like Wix, Canva, Squarespace and the like make it easy. (I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of securing a domain name and so on here.)
Social media is critical. It’s a free and ideal way to spread the word about your band. You must have a social media presence, even if it’s just Facebook. When you have an upcoming gig, create an Event and send invites. As a corollary, develop an e-mail list. You can do it the old school way by having people sign a list at gigs, or by asking people to join online.
In fact, Anything you can do to get the word out and remind people that you’re playing is helpful. Promote, promote, promote! Tell all your friends and ask them to come to the gig. Even the time-honored method of putting posters up can work. Don’t just put up one Facebook post or send one e-mail – do some follow up, even the day before, or the day of, the gig – some people don’t make plans until the last minute.
Look at your band’s promotion as an ongoing activity, not just something you do when you remember to do it.
At the gig, make sure to have a sign with your band name on the bandstand where people can see it (and have a Venmo code on the sign so people can send you tips electronically).
Before you even start approaching venues, research what kind of music they like. Don’t waste time approaching clubs and bars that aren’t going to book your kind of band.
How many gigs per month or year do you want to play? If you’re an original band aiming for a record deal, you probably want to max out. If you’re a weekend warrior working a demanding job, you may not want to play out more than once a month. Get agreement on this from all the other band members right from the beginning to avoid potential conflicts of expectation later.
Like any other field, networking is essential. But how do you do that? Especially at a local level, go to other musicians’ gigs and concerts. Get to know the people at your local music stores and radio stations. Go to an open mic every now and then – if the owner likes your act, it may lead to a gig. Introduce yourself to promoters, even if via e-mail at first, and that's one area where that electronic press kit and website come in. When you go to another musician’s concert, ask them how they got the gig, and if possible for an introduction to the venue owner or talent booker, if the musician isn’t too busy (use common sense). Post on social media on other peoples' sites. Become friends with other bands and musicians. Not all of us can play every gig, so referrals from other musicians can help. Like so many other endeavors, word of mouth is invaluable. Talk up your band whenever possible – you just might wind up talking so someone who's interested in hiring you. Word will get around in the local music community. As James Brown says, stay on the scene!
Eventually people will start saying, “oh yeah! I heard of you guys!” But it won’t happen overnight. To you, you’re a fantastic band and everyone will want to drop what they’re doing to go out and see you play. To almost everyone else, you’re nobody. You don’t exist.
Ready to Rock: She the People perform at the Montauk Music Festival, Montauk, New York, May 18, 2025.
Consider playing on a bill with another act or acts. This can help each other’s bands build a following, and combine forces to draw more people to a dual- or multiple-band show. Make friends with the people behind the scenes – bartenders, ticket takers, and especially the people doing the sound. Be professional and courteous. You want the word to get around that you are a band that people want to hire, and that the band members are easy and pleasant to work with. Always work to build your reputation.
This seems obvious, but wait until the first time you forget them and wish you didn't – have business cards. If someone sees you at a gig and wants to hire you, a business card is still an ideal way of giving them your contact information. If you tell them to “go to our website,” they’ll forget the name of you and your band in an eyeblink.
Look, venue owners are busy. They have a hundred other things to think about other than booking your band. And they are besieged by other bands looking to get their foot in the door. So there’s nothing like going to a club in person and introducing yourself to the owner or person who books bands. E-mails and phone attempts are easily ignored. So, you have to be persistent, but not a pest. Be ready to go to a venue multiple times and prepared to get blown off. Nudge people with e-mails and phone calls every now and then. If you just had a good gig to brag about, tell them. There have been venues where it took our band more than a year of trying to finally get a gig. Even local bars are usually booked months in advance.
You have to catch the person doing the booking at the right time, when they have their calendar in front of them. This involves a certain amount of luck and being in the right place at the right time. Yes, it’s discouraging. On the other hand, once you get in and the owner or booker knows you’re a good fit, you can get a steady gig out of your efforts. A good way to approach it is to tell the person in charge that you know they’re busy, but to keep your band in mind if they have a cancellation or unforeseen event. It can happen. Always have your band’s calendar of open and blackout dates available on your phone (our band uses Google Calendar).
Think about doing gigs in other than the usual bars, clubs, summer festivals, and the like. I know musicians who make a good living playing in senior communities and assisted living facilities. Libraries are great places to play, and pay well. To get booked, you need to have a theme. Our band does a Spirit of the Sixties show, and other bands have been successful presenting themselves as Latin, swing band, Sinatra tribute, classic country and other types of acts where attendees will know exactly what kind of music to expect.
It may not be Madison Square Garden, but playing at senior living centers provides a good income stream for many musicians, and you'll never find a more appreciative audience.
There are online resources to help bands get gigs, like ReverbNation, WheresTheGig, Sonicbids, Gigmit, Gig Salad, and others. I'll be honest – I haven't tried any of these yet. I went to register for a couple, and the sites wanted access to personal information that I wasn't comfortable giving, including a request from one site to agree to transfer my personal data to other countries in which the site did business. Sorry, no. Maybe your comfort level with this sort of thing is different; for now it will remain a gap in my knowledge.
I'm seeing more and more of these “secrets to getting gigs overnight” posts on Facebook, where, for a fee (naturally), they'll tell you why trying to get gigs via the usual channels is a waste of time, and they'll give you the secret knowledge you really need. One post started by saying, “the music industry is lying to you!” Another read, “Tired of posting every day and still getting ghosted...learn the system I use to book 8 - 10 paid gigs per month.” If anyone has tried these services, whose ads read like get-rich-quick schemes, please let me know. Call me skeptical, and that's being diplomatic.
All that jive aside, if you keep pursuing gigs, there will be a snowball effect. Being out there will get a reputation for being good, and venue owners and other musicians will hear about it. People will start to talk about your band and approach you. But as you can gather from everything I've said above, it takes hard work to get established and to build a fan base. Unless you get very lucky and have an instant viral breakout song, it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort. You will get discouraged by getting rejected. You may fail multiple times. You will wonder if it’s worth the effort. For some musicians, ultimately, it’s not. No one ever said this was going to be easy. Well, if they did, they were uninformed.
But again, persistence really does pay off. Put yourself in a positive mindset. When the band is good, you know they’re good. Let everyone know about it. Have confidence in the band. Radiate it. Play your music with everything you’ve got. Keep at it. The gigs will come.
Header image: Johnny Echols and Love at The Cutting Room, New York City, May 4, 2025.
All photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.
