Photo of Peter Rea by Rick Furber
* KEY POINTS to Increase Local Gigs *
- Know your fanbase and play for them
- Keep your chops in top shape
- Engage your audience
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Want to increase local gigs in your area? One of the first things you need to establish is whether you want to play cover tunes, originals or maybe even a mix of both.
This blog is about playing cover tunes and the next blog will touch on strategies for playing your own songs (or a mix of both) in your local area.
Cover bands/artists definitely have a bit of an advantage because the songs they are playing have a ready-made audience. People will usually come out to gigs to hear the songs that they love or are familiar with.
Local artist, Peter Rea is one of the top local artists in the Quinte Area (Ontario) as one of the founding members of the 50/60s cover band, The Reasons.
3 Reasons why The Reasons fans keep showing up to their gigs again and again.
1. Know your fanbase and play for them
The Reasons play a music genre to a fanbase who love that era of rock and roll music which translates into a ready-made audience. The songs are timeless, still fun which not only engage a certain demographic or a certain age but continue to bring in newer & younger audience members as well. Their dedicated fans follow them almost everywhere they play locally and sometimes even further afield.
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2. 10,000 Hours Of Perfecting Your Chops
The Reasons have put in their hours.
They are each seasoned players who have without a doubt put in their 10,000 hours of practicing their chops and gigging. They play in various combos including as a band, as a duo and Rea often plays as a solo act. Plus they regularly play with an array of other musicians.
3. Engage your Audience
What The Reasons do is not as easy as it sounds. There are many bands who have learned that playing the same songs over and over again can sometimes become tiring for the audience who then come out less and less to hear them play.
What The Reasons have learned to do is to engage and interact with their audience.
Lead singer Rea has a winning combination of being both an accomplished musician as well as gifted entertainer who knows how to interact with his audience. He is well-known for bringing musicians up to the stage to sit in on a song and for inviting singers up from the audience to sing with the band. And of course, his repertoire includes a lot of sing-along songs for the whole audience to participate.
Want to know the secret to increase local gigs? Then make sure your audience has an experience at your show. They want want to hear, see and feel the music, not just listen. They want to be moved, escape life for a moment or be fully immersed in life for an evening of music, drinks/food and socializing.
Yes there will come a day someday soon when we will get back to that!
You can be much more than just a musician playing a song that someone hears with their ears. You have an opportunity to make it an experience and THAT’s where you begin to connect with your fanbase to keep them coming back for more.
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BIO
JAMS Canada (Jeanette Arsenault Music Services) has set out her mission: “Helping Musicians Help Themselves” by offering consulting, resources & administrative support services.
Jeanette has over 30 years of experience as a singer/songwriter/performing/recording artist. She has independently released 8 albums, performed for the Canadian Olympic Team in Salt Lake City (2002) & again in Athens Greece (2004) and also opened the 37th World Congress of the Business & Professional Women International (BPW, 2011) and has produced/organized/performed in numerous benefit concerts/fundraisers/variety shows,
JAMS Canada can help you focus on what you want most – more gigs, more fans, more money.
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