Dryvetyme Onlyne

Bandcamp: Booking a Tour Recap
Caroline Collective
Sunday, December 7th, 2008

Count me as a fan of these Bandcamp events, because, even though this edition was truncated and rescheduled for January 4th, 2009, it was an enjoyable and productive experience for all. Key attendees for this event included Gretchen Schmaltz of The Western Civilization, Marie Angell of The Snake Charmers, and the husband-wife duo who front Wayside Drive. Originally designed to be an opportunity for Houston-area bands to learn more about booking tours, our time together evolved into a chance to those in attendance to present their issues, concerns, and queries to Gretchen regarding what they would like to learn at the January meeting.

The key topics of interest included, but were not limited to, the following: how to book a local show, specifically, the various ways to book with certain high-profile locales around town; how to get onto a bill with a larger touring act coming through Houston; and booking regional tours, specifically how to contact venues, get onto bills with popular local acts, and how to play to new faces in those towns. Furthermore, the idea was presented that there should be a collaborative form and/or document that the interested bands and artists can contribute to that is to contain any/all venue- and city-specific information they might want to share with others. Anyone wanting to assist with the creation of that document can contact Gretchen at [g dot e dot schmaltz at gmail dot com].

Thus, while the crowd was much smaller than earlier events in the Bandcamp series, much progress was made on this day. If I were to sum it all up, it would have to be as such: booking a show and/or tour is all about determining who you know (aka networking around the town, region, and nation) and focusing on your specific needs for your event(s). Stay tuned for more information regarding Bandcamp, especially exciting new promotion ideas and a fully functioning website.

Hooray Houston!