The band was back out this past week, on Friday night at The Hop in Wakefield. This was our third visit and it's a case of 3 out of 3 good gigs really. The main thing that helps is that the pub gets busy-this is not always the case these days!- also the positioning of the stage makes the band hard to ignore, and people do tend to get involved and enjoy themselves.
This then leads to the band enjoying themselves even more, and it makes the sometimes tough job of hitting the high notes and running about far easier. You may think that a rock band in a pub would be hard to ignore, but believe me some people try!
So all in all a very good night again in Wakefield. There's a few things changing on the gig front for me at the moment. The band has been my main thing certainly for the past 2 years, but I'm feeling that as a means of promoting what I'm doing it's definetly not the easiest! It's time consuming, energy sapping work, and the rewards are skant in comparison to the effort put in. If every gig was anything like as good as The Hop it would be no problem, but of course many aren't so good and that can get you down.
So the band will be being scaled back considerably this year, maybe to the point of going into hibernation, but that's not definiete yet. (it's been a long winter!). It could be that it carries on on a more casual 'fun' basis without the same emphasis placed on progress and world domination and such like. I have to admit I'm not sure yet.
This brings in the wider issue of how much gigs help to further what I'm doing in general. And that includes all gigs, not just the band. I recently read an article in which the results of a survey were very revealing. The survey was of people's musical habits and interests and it shows that all of us can largely be put in one of four categories:
Savants, Enthusiasts, Casuals and Indifferents. The four ranging from people for whom music is everything (also known as insiders and curators) to those for whom it means very little (to quote from the survey: 'Would not lose much sleep if music ceased to exist).
And here's the bad news (to quote a well-known music publicist): That bottom group of couldn't care less folk make up 40% of the population. The casuals make up 32%, meaning that only a quarter of us are in the music-lover division. So on a typical night, that's 3 out of 4 of you heading for the door!
But it gets worse. That's assuming there's a broad cross-section of society at the gig. Of course that's never normally the case. So there may well be an audience made up of 90% from the bottom two categories. That's daunting especially if the audience numbers less than 10 to start with!
Cover bands aim for the 'Casuals' as well. But for original music, those top two sectors are vital. So which category do you fit into?
It's comforting to know that there's some statistics to back up all these years I've been braying my head against a brick wall. It's also fascinating stuff. If I'm ever to get a following I'm going to need to bear some of this in mind. And where can I target and hone in on those categories best??
On the interweb, and not in the local free entry boozer.
It makes you think doesn't it.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
No gigs last week, so it falls to me to open the blog out a bit and talk about something else. Not that I'm complaining about not having any gigs in a week, it's no longer quite such a priority to be out all the time. I've done enough of that lately!
It was my mum's birthday yesterday, it was one of those landmark ones, somewhere between 59 and 61. We had a party on Saturday night. In fact, I tell a lie about gigs, because I played one song at that! Everybody wanted me to do more, but I just did one. I wish every 'gig' was like that! I played Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn, as it's one of her favourite songs. We had a superb evening, with lots of family and friends present, some who we haven't seen in a long long time, in one case 20 years! It got me thinking more and more about how important it is to keep in touch with people. There are enough idiots in life to make it all the more important to keep aquainted with those who you get on with to start with!
I wish I saw more of these people, we're not a close family geographically but when we do get together we tend to pick up from where we left off last time.
So that was another Saturday night where I did as I pleased, instead of playing a paid gig that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much. I've spent years not having what you'd call normal weekends, and now I'm enjoying having them. For a long time, my weekend started on Monday and lasted til Friday, which was very nice, but a totally different routine. Then I've had busy weeks followed by very busy weekends. And that just makes you knackered. So it's nice to have a weekend I can call mine. In fact, this one coming up isn't much different. My band is playing at The Hop in Wakefield on Friday night but then the rest is clear.
GREATEST HITS MEDLEY ON MYSPACE
If you click onto my myspace page, you will find that the first song on my player is now a compilation of 5 songs, faded in and out in snippets of about 45 seconds each. This is available to download for free and includes excerpts from the songs 'Cold Cold Day', 'Young, Lost And Hopeful', 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man' and 'It Will Pass'. The download is really aimed at newcomers to my music, so that you can have a broad overview of what I've done without having to trawl through full-length songs. But, seeing as all you blog readers are avid converts with full collections, you won't need to bother with this, will you? will you...
It was my mum's birthday yesterday, it was one of those landmark ones, somewhere between 59 and 61. We had a party on Saturday night. In fact, I tell a lie about gigs, because I played one song at that! Everybody wanted me to do more, but I just did one. I wish every 'gig' was like that! I played Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn, as it's one of her favourite songs. We had a superb evening, with lots of family and friends present, some who we haven't seen in a long long time, in one case 20 years! It got me thinking more and more about how important it is to keep in touch with people. There are enough idiots in life to make it all the more important to keep aquainted with those who you get on with to start with!
I wish I saw more of these people, we're not a close family geographically but when we do get together we tend to pick up from where we left off last time.
So that was another Saturday night where I did as I pleased, instead of playing a paid gig that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much. I've spent years not having what you'd call normal weekends, and now I'm enjoying having them. For a long time, my weekend started on Monday and lasted til Friday, which was very nice, but a totally different routine. Then I've had busy weeks followed by very busy weekends. And that just makes you knackered. So it's nice to have a weekend I can call mine. In fact, this one coming up isn't much different. My band is playing at The Hop in Wakefield on Friday night but then the rest is clear.
GREATEST HITS MEDLEY ON MYSPACE
If you click onto my myspace page, you will find that the first song on my player is now a compilation of 5 songs, faded in and out in snippets of about 45 seconds each. This is available to download for free and includes excerpts from the songs 'Cold Cold Day', 'Young, Lost And Hopeful', 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man' and 'It Will Pass'. The download is really aimed at newcomers to my music, so that you can have a broad overview of what I've done without having to trawl through full-length songs. But, seeing as all you blog readers are avid converts with full collections, you won't need to bother with this, will you? will you...
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Another week, another couple of gigs. I haven't done quite as many lately (plus one or two were cancelled) but they seem to be going pretty well when they do happen. On Saturday night the band was out at the Royal Oak at Paddock and then it was onto Greetland on Sunday night for a solo set.
Greetland (not Greenland) is near Halifax and the Rose & Crown stands on the main road heading uphill to the moors. They're making a real go of live music there and that is always to be credited. This night was run by LiveSpace, of whom you will know about from Hebden Bridge if you've followed past blogs...they're now running singer-songwriter nights at 3 venues in Calderdale which is fantastic and long may it continue.
I played a 40 minute set of mainly originals and the response was pretty good, especially considering this was the first LiveSpace night there. An original material night is not always easy to pull off but a lot more rewarding when it does work! I urge everyone in the area to get behind these nights and give some support, there's so many talented musicians out there, and I sometimes play as well!
Check out the LiveSpace myspace site for more info!
SONG OF THE WEEK: Included in my set on Sunday night was 'I Can't Believe The News', one of my oldest and dearest songs, which was written in 1998 but then re-recorded for the Love Town album in 2006. Please take a listen if you get a moment!
Greetland (not Greenland) is near Halifax and the Rose & Crown stands on the main road heading uphill to the moors. They're making a real go of live music there and that is always to be credited. This night was run by LiveSpace, of whom you will know about from Hebden Bridge if you've followed past blogs...they're now running singer-songwriter nights at 3 venues in Calderdale which is fantastic and long may it continue.
I played a 40 minute set of mainly originals and the response was pretty good, especially considering this was the first LiveSpace night there. An original material night is not always easy to pull off but a lot more rewarding when it does work! I urge everyone in the area to get behind these nights and give some support, there's so many talented musicians out there, and I sometimes play as well!
Check out the LiveSpace myspace site for more info!
SONG OF THE WEEK: Included in my set on Sunday night was 'I Can't Believe The News', one of my oldest and dearest songs, which was written in 1998 but then re-recorded for the Love Town album in 2006. Please take a listen if you get a moment!
Monday, February 01, 2010
One Step From The Lash...
There's always a new experience to be had when playing gigs. Sometimes it's a new town or venue, then sometimes it's an event you never foresaw. On Friday night, just after coming off stage, I was confronted with the bizarre sight of our drummer being whipped by a lady with said implement, in the vain hope we'd play another song. Audiences are getting more violent these days...
This was at the brilliant Cricketers Arms in Keighley, definetly one of our best venues. We'd played a good set to an enthusiastic crowd, then came the drummer lashing. OK, don't get too carried away, it was only a light tickling but the question still remains: what was this lady doing carrying a 4 foot whip around Keighley in the first place ?! I think it's better we don't know.
The following night I had another new experience, my first ever gig in Todmorden. This one was a solo set which came about via the Hole Note/Hole In The Wall people in nearby Hebden Bridge. The venue was the 3 Wise Monkeys on Water Street, and it was a really enjoyable night. As with the Cricketers, they have a PA system: other venues PLEASE take note!! I played two sets of mainly covers, to a good crowd. It was rather like the Zephyr Bar crowd, a good mix of ages, no idiots, and an encouraging response. So I'm really happy with how the weekend's gigs went. There's been some fairly lacklustre ones lately, so it was something of a relief. And for the record, not a whip in sight in Todmorden!
SONG OF THE WEEK:
The new Song Of The Week is Lost In Love Town, the title track from worldwide-selling* first album, which was also called Lost In Love Town.
So far, each week I've featured a song from my back catalogue, the track in question has reached a new high on the soundclick charts, which is based on song plays (streams). So please do have a play of the song by clicking the link on the title above. It's another of my favourite songs.
*= I make no mention of the quantity :)
Gigs this week......
Band at The Royal Oak in Paddock, Huddersfield (6th)
Solo at The Rose & Crown, Greetland, Halifax (7th) - this one being with LiveSpace featuring other acts.
The rugby season starts on Friday...only a month to the start of the stock car season, is winter finally loosening it's grip?!
This was at the brilliant Cricketers Arms in Keighley, definetly one of our best venues. We'd played a good set to an enthusiastic crowd, then came the drummer lashing. OK, don't get too carried away, it was only a light tickling but the question still remains: what was this lady doing carrying a 4 foot whip around Keighley in the first place ?! I think it's better we don't know.
The following night I had another new experience, my first ever gig in Todmorden. This one was a solo set which came about via the Hole Note/Hole In The Wall people in nearby Hebden Bridge. The venue was the 3 Wise Monkeys on Water Street, and it was a really enjoyable night. As with the Cricketers, they have a PA system: other venues PLEASE take note!! I played two sets of mainly covers, to a good crowd. It was rather like the Zephyr Bar crowd, a good mix of ages, no idiots, and an encouraging response. So I'm really happy with how the weekend's gigs went. There's been some fairly lacklustre ones lately, so it was something of a relief. And for the record, not a whip in sight in Todmorden!
SONG OF THE WEEK:
The new Song Of The Week is Lost In Love Town, the title track from worldwide-selling* first album, which was also called Lost In Love Town.
So far, each week I've featured a song from my back catalogue, the track in question has reached a new high on the soundclick charts, which is based on song plays (streams). So please do have a play of the song by clicking the link on the title above. It's another of my favourite songs.
*= I make no mention of the quantity :)
Gigs this week......
Band at The Royal Oak in Paddock, Huddersfield (6th)
Solo at The Rose & Crown, Greetland, Halifax (7th) - this one being with LiveSpace featuring other acts.
The rugby season starts on Friday...only a month to the start of the stock car season, is winter finally loosening it's grip?!
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