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bars that you play on a 6 to 8 week rotation. If a club owner likes you he can put you in touch with his friends who have bars in other parts of town that will not interfere with his regular customers. The other option is to get a booking agent but they will be taking a cut of your take.

Now you will have to broaden your fan base to fill those bars. The best way to do that is to get out and mingle with the people who are at the shows you are playing at. Find out who they are, what songs they like in your sets and the stuff they didn't like but most importantly where are they from and who they came with. If they came from another part of town let them know where you will be playing near them and if you are not in that area then find out as much as you can about their regular bar to try to get a show there. The more personable you are with your audience the more they feel like they are part of the band and the more they will want to be part of anything that you do. People having a great time tell 10 friends but people that hated the show tell a hundred others so play the tunes that they like and if you get a request for a tune in your repertoire, play it. If you don't know the song and it fits with your genre then consider learning it for an upcoming show. Things like that help build the "family" which is the type of an atmosphere that will bring you the most success in the end. There are many big recording acts that get little radio play that exist on the loyal family of fans that will follow them anywhere.

Lastly, as I have said, bar owners talk to each other so don't go stabbing one of them in the back or you might find yourself out of 5 shows instead of one. Play for the people that come out to see you and not for yourselves, you can do that on your 3rd record. Give your crowd everything you got and let them know that you appreciate that they chose to come out and spend their hard earned money supporting you. Most importantly, try to have everyone in the band introduce themselves to several new people at every show. If you remember their names and make a point of greeting them the next time you play you are well on your way to a solid fan base.

Learn more about this author, Al Reilly.
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