If You Were Picking The Bands For A Festival....

[strathound]

... how would you do it?

 

Craigslist?

 

MySpace?

 

Facebook?

 

ReverbNation?

 

Sonic Bids?

 

I have been tasked with picking all the music for the Frisco Arts Festival. This is a local arts festival based in Frisco, Texas (a northern suburb of Dallas). I have a lot of contacts within the local blues community. So I'll be able to leverage that to get some really great talent in that genre. But this isn't a blues festival. It's an arts festival. So I would like to get a wide variety of musical styles on the stage. And I'd like to highlight some cultural music if possible (think Festival Internationale in Lafayette.)

 

If you were in my shoes, how would you begin? Also, if you have advice for me on how to run a professional festival, I'll take all the lessons learned that you guys have acquired over the years.

 

Thanks,

 

Michael Schaefer

Director - Frisco Association for the Arts

[sickman]

I have no idea, but I wouldn't go to craigslist. Good bands will not respond to craiglist ads... I would think you need to contact them directly. If you go to craiglist you are going to get the delusional bedroom hacks.

[strathound]

 

I have no idea, but I wouldn't go to craigslist. Good bands will not respond to craiglist ads... I would think you need to contact them directly. If you go to craiglist you are going to get the delusional bedroom hacks.

 

 

Good point.

[TrickyBoy]

To do it right, you are really going to have to do it the old fashioned networking way. I mean an ad on those other sites wouldn't hurt, but like Sickman said, you're going to have to weed through a boatload of crap to find anything worthwhile.

[strathound]

To do it right, you are really going to have to do it the old fashioned networking way. I mean an ad on those other sites wouldn't hurt, but like Sickman said, you're going to have to weed through a boatload of crap to find anything worthwhile.

 

What exactly is that old fashioned networking way?

[TrickyBoy]

Talk to club owners and people who book bands for clubs. Talk to other bands that play in the area that you respect. Find out who people like to go see in the area. Basically use word of mouth.

[mr3lions]

I'd put an ad on CL. Make sure to include the words "free", "exposure" and "showcase". That way you'll get free publicity here.

 

seriously, good luck with your endevour.

[BlueStrat]

 

... how would you do it? Craigslist? MySpace? Facebook? ReverbNation? Sonic Bids? I have been tasked with picking all the music for the Frisco Arts Festival. This is a local arts festival based in Frisco, Texas (a northern suburb of Dallas). I have a lot of contacts within the local blues community. So I'll be able to leverage that to get some really great talent in that genre. But this isn't a blues festival. It's an arts festival. So I would like to get a wide variety of musical styles on the stage. And I'd like to highlight some cultural music if possible (think Festival Internationale in Lafayette .) If you were in my shoes, how would you begin? Also, if you have advice for me on how to run a professional festival, I'll take all the lessons learned that you guys have acquired over the years. Thanks, Michael Schaefer Director - Frisco Association for the Arts

 

 

 

 

How much time do you have? How big is the festival? How big is the stage? Is it a pro concert stage? Is there an admission fee? How many bands are you booking? What's the budget? These are all questions that dictate the answer to your question.

 

Typically, the festivals I play book the bigger talent 8 months to a year in advance, then the regional guys 5-8 months out, then the local talent about 6 months out. This gives them lots of time to solicit and receive applications, do some research, and go hear the people when they can, or at least find out about them from other venues.

 

No festival I play books based on social network sites. The want to see your track record, where you've played, hear your CDs, read your press, and talk to other festival directors who have hired you. I'm sure there are probably some that do, though, depending on the festival.

[Austincowbell]

1. NO NO NO on craigslist. I can't think of a single decent band looking at craigslist for gigs.

2. Myspace is good for listening to the bands

3. ASK AROUND - A lot of Dallas/Plano/Richardson people have bands they like and would be happy to give you recs

4. DONT FORGET ABOUT AUSTIN!!!! - It -is- the live music capitol of at least Texas so there are a lot of great bands down here. I'd be happy to recommend some great bands who are all-ages-friendly and span all genres.

[rhat]

Take the budget ,, the festival site , and the stage. find your headliner , then work back down the feeding chain to fill out the time slots. You have to hold the budget. Alot can be done to hold the budget by using popular bands that have a good draw on the local level. Home town favs make people happy. Spending too much on out of towners can be a waste. You do want a headliner than has good name recogniciton even if its not a national act. even a strong well known local act can work for a low budget show. You need a draw and people good enough to entertain the crowd.

[strathound]

1. NO NO NO on craigslist. I can't think of a single decent band looking at craigslist for gigs. 2. Myspace is good for listening to the bands 3. ASK AROUND - A lot of Dallas/Plano/Richardson people have bands they like and would be happy to give you recs 4. DONT FORGET ABOUT AUSTIN!!!! - It -is- the live music capitol of at least Texas so there are a lot of great bands down here. I'd be happy to recommend some great bands who are all-ages-friendly and span all genres.

 

We'll talk.

[strathound]

 

How much time do you have? How big is the festival? How big is the stage? Is it a pro concert stage? Is there an admission fee? How many bands are you booking? What's the budget? These are all questions that dictate the answer to your question. Typically, the festivals I play book the bigger talent 8 months to a year in advance, then the regional guys 5-8 months out, then the local talent about 6 months out. This gives them lots of time to solicit and receive applications, do some research, and go hear the people when they can, or at least find out about them from other venues. No festival I play books based on social network sites. The want to see your track record, where you've played, hear your CDs, read your press, and talk to other festival directors who have hired you. I'm sure there are probably some that do, though, depending on the festival.

 

 

Festival is in October. There will be two medium size stages this year. And next year, we should have access to the main stage at Pizza Hut Park (the FC Dallas Soccer Stadium). There will be an admission fee to enter the festival grounds ($7 last year). We had approx. 30 bands on the main stage last year over the course of 3 days. Plus we had a community stage with probably the same number of acts from local schools and such.

 

Budget. I'm not able to release those numbers. But last year, it was over 6 figures. This year will be less than last year. But it will still be significant. Pressure is on by the city this year to be profitable. So there's downward pressure on variable expenses like entertainers. But I think we can be a little smarter this year and still get some great regional headline acts if we move quickly.

[BlueStrat]

 

Festival is in October. There will be two medium size stages this year. And next year, we should have access to the main stage at Pizza Hut Park (the FC Dallas Soccer Stadium). There will be an admission fee to enter the festival grounds ($7 last year). We had approx. 30 bands on the main stage last year over the course of 3 days. Plus we had a community stage with probably the same number of acts from local schools and such. Budget. I'm not able to release those numbers. But last year, it was over 6 figures. This year will be less than last year. But it will still be significant. Pressure is on by the city this year to be profitable. So there's downward pressure on variable expenses like entertainers. But I think we can be a little smarter this year and still get some great regional headline acts if we move quickly.

 

 

 

 

I didn't mean to imply you had to reveal your budget here-just that it's a consideration.

 

You may want to work with some agents for your upper end talent.

As AC said, there's lots of diverse talent in Austin. But you have to have the budget to put them up if you book them from out of town. Typically, my band gets two motel rooms for every out of town gig we do. When I was a 7 piece, we got 3.

[strathound]

 

I didn't mean to imply you had to reveal your budget here-just that it's a consideration. You may want to work with some agents for your upper end talent. As AC said, there's lots of diverse talent in Austin. But you have to have the budget to put them up if you book them from out of town. Typically, my band gets two motel rooms for every out of town gig we do. When I was a 7 piece, we got 3.

 

 

Ok, next question. How do I find a good talent agent in my region for the upper level talent? Word of mouth?

[BlueStrat]

Well, one way is to locate an upper level band you might want and find out who represents them. This could be as simple as emailing them or even finding it on their website. Often their agents represent several people and usually know the other agents, since they often work together to bundle their collective talent in shows.

[strathound]

 

Well, one way is to locate an upper level band you might want and find out who represents them. This could be as simple as emailing them or even finding it on their website. Often their agents represent several people and usually know the other agents, since they often work together to bundle their collective talent in shows.

 

 

Ok, good stuff. Basically, I think for this year (2010), we're getting a late start and the budget is down so we will keep the festival a little smaller and pull in mid-level talent. But we can begin to plan for 2011 when we'll have the full stadium for a big concert. Should be fun.

 

Thanks for the input so far everyone.

[S.L.B.]

... how would you do it?

 

Harmony Central with a big bank roll.

[vanlatte]

Knowing the area the festival is going to be in is half the battle....take a look at the bigger draw bands in the area and check their schedules, if they have open slots then contact them.

 

Is this in your area or somewhere else? If it's home court than you should have some idea who the popular bands are, no? If not then you need to do some legwork.

[BlueStrat]

 

Knowing the area the festival is going to be in is half the battle....take a look at the bigger draw bands in the area and check their schedules, if they have open slots then contact them. Is this in your area or somewhere else? If it's home court than you should have some idea who the popular bands are, no? If not then you need to do some legwork.

 

 

 

It's an arts festival, so I doubt that popularity enters into it much (correct me if I'm wrong, Strat).

 

We have an art festival here called "Art on the Green" and they book things like jazz groups, Central American pan flute bands, gospel choirs, world music groups, string quartets, singer/songwriter bands, the occasional blues band and so on. You won't find a commercial band in the lot. The upper end bands are acts like Michelle Shocked, Alejandro Escovedo, Russ Freeman, etc.

[SunRaFan]

My impression of how the way the arts festival books here is that the big acts get booked through agents. In the past couple of years they've had things like Booker T, Medeski, Martin & Wood, and Television on the Radio. Bands at that level all have agents representing them. You need to shop around for a band that has a touring schedule that fits into your festival's schedule. It can cost extra if you want to get a particular band that isn't already passing through Texas that weekend.

 

The committee that does the booking also picks a couple of local acts that they want to feature in good time slots (and pay decent cash).

 

Finally they announce (including on Craigslist) that they are accepting submissions for the bad time slots and very little pay. They still seem to get plenty of submissions. They usually manage to fill these slots up with good local bands.

[Steadfastly]

Kijiji and radio....but I'm in Canada and Kijiji is not that big in the USA.

[rhat]

Hire austin cowbell ,, they can sell more beer than milwaukee ,, hell they can prolly drink more beer than the whole state of WI lol.

[strathound]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. Rhat, I got your recommendations. I'll take a look. And obviously, I've gotta keep Austin Cowbell on my short list.

 

I found out our official budget on Monday. And it's not good. It's essentially zero. I'm fighting to get at least enough for a couple of headliners. But it's going to be hard.

 

So yeah, expect to see a "Looking For Bands" post on Craigslist to fill what I can't fill myself through my own personal contacts. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to recruit bands that want to play for free. Sucks. But that's just the facts of life right now. If we lose money again this year, that will be the end of the festival. So they are being ultra conservative.

 

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve though. I'm doing a promotion on The Texas Blues Roadhouse (my website) and we're going to raise money to pay one of the bands on my site (we'll be a sponsor, basically). I'm looking for other ways to raise cash for the bands. Gotta get creative.

 

Micheal

[strathound]

 

It's an arts festival, so I doubt that popularity enters into it much (correct me if I'm wrong, Strat). We have an art festival here called "Art on the Green" and they book things like jazz groups, Central American pan flute bands, gospel choirs, world music groups, string quartets, singer/songwriter bands, the occasional blues band and so on. You won't find a commercial band in the lot. The upper end bands are acts like Michelle Shocked, Alejandro Escovedo, Russ Freeman, etc.

 

 

I guess it depends on who's running it. Last year's festival was very much like you describe. But that was mainly due to handing over the entertainment coordination to the local singer-songwriter association. We had quite a diverse group of performers, from classical to grunge rock, from jazz to country. We even had a belly dance troupe (gotta get my wife signed up for that.)

 

But the board is allowing me to set some direction. And I'd like to pattern our festival after one of my favorite cultural and heritage festivals in Louisiana called Festival Internationale. The difference, in this case, is we aren't Cajuns. We're Texans. So it will be a lot of jazz, country, blues and rock and roll. And if I can do anything about it ... some BBQ.

 

Michael

[BlueStrat]

 

I guess it depends on who's running it. Last year's festival was very much like you describe. But that was mainly due to handing over the entertainment coordination to the local singer-songwriter association. We had quite a diverse group of performers, from classical to grunge rock, from jazz to country. We even had a belly dance troupe (gotta get my wife signed up for that.) But the board is allowing me to set some direction. And I'd like to pattern our festival after one of my favorite cultural and heritage festivals in Louisiana called Festival Internationale . The difference, in this case, is we aren't Cajuns. We're Texans. So it will be a lot of jazz, country, blues and rock and roll. And if I can do anything about it ... some BBQ. Michael

 

 

Cool.

 

Have you sought out sponsorship to pay bands?