The space between open mics and real shows

Posted on | January 6, 2010 | Comments Off on The space between open mics and real shows

For a newish performer like myself, there exists a huge chasm between playing at open mics and playing real shows. Open mics are about getting stage time, working out kinks in your songs and your act, and for me, working through performance anxiety (and not the kind where your penis doesn’t work). But open mics don’t really help you promote yourself, nor does anybody sells CDs there, because the majority of people who come to the open mics are other struggling performers like yourself. And forget what people say about using open mics for networking. Sure you meet a person now and then, but it’s horribly inefficient for this purpose.

The best way to stop playing open mics is to stop playing them.

But playing real shows takes patience. Booking agents, even at smaller venues, often want to know the size of your mailing list, or how many people attend your show. They are protecting themselves financially, of course, and there’s no shortage of musical acts that can put butts in seats anyway, so newbies like myself probably get shuffled to the back of the deck.

I wouldn’t even know, though, because lately I can’t even get replies from the booking agents. So I’m going to guess that the secret is facetime. Go to the venues you want to play at and find somebody to talk to. Maybe the booking agent is there, or somebody who can put you in touch with them directly.

That’s the strategy I’m going to go with. Two venues I want to hit up immediately are Local 121 in Providence, the Loft at Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square (for their Acoustic Showcase). And maybe Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. I’ll report back in a month to see how it’s going.