Gigs

What would be your advice to a foreign , About arranging Gigs in the U.S ..

How can I do that ?

I'd say get some hookups from people that have bands in certain states in the USA. THen ask them about local venues, and get their phone numbers, and emails and contact them.

First, have a product that clubs want to book.

No offense, but I don't know of very many places booking instrumental blues/rock, and if they are, you aren't going to make any money.

Just the sad reality. With there being 150, 000 bands competing for 5,000 venues, I don't think I'd waste my time coming to the states.

Where are you now?

Greenland?

Israel

I sing too .. Soon I'll have it on my site..

If you guys are college age you might try getting on the college/university circuit. This generally requires being represented by one of the college/university booking agencies. Usually some sort of student activities fund pays for these gigs and they don't expect to make a profit or even get their money back.

But if you're looking to play for pay in the private arena I think the example above of 150,000 bands competing for 5000 venues is good logic to consider. Only the most popular bands will get the gigs.

Don't be discouraged... maybe lean toward performing more popular music with some blues/rock mixed in.

I'm 29 .. How can I roll this idea to reality ?

I think a booking agent is a must.. but there are a lot of scams in the show business , how can I find good loyal booking agent ?

Good luck. Unless you can find someone with connections who knows you and believes in you, you are going to have to rely on someone you don't know. Now, a good agent with a reputation to maintain will likely be an honest agent, because if he isn't, word travels fast. However, you won't get booked by him unless you can do what his proven sellers already do, which is play material the he can sell and perform it in a way that he can sell it. Keep in mind that an agen works for 10 or 15% of what yiou make. Since few clubs and almost no events in the states are buying unknown talent, you had better be smoking hot, have a killer stage show, a tight band, and still be prepared to lose money your first time around. Sad, but just the reality of it.

Based on what I heard from your sound clips, I wouldn't be hopeful about getting booked into high profile or well paying gigs here. There just isn't a huge market here for blues/rock guitar players. Most of them play in dingy little bars that don't pay a whole lot. Furthermore, blues/rock guitar slinger bands are a dime a dozen. You could practically stand on any streetcorner in America, throw a rock, and hit a guitar slinger, a lot of them quite good and most under or unemployed. There are exceptions, of course, and the fact that you're from overseas may be a selling point (it worked for a fairly weak to average band that plays shows around the US simply because they're from Russia). But I wouldn't get my hopes up. Unless you live here and are prepared to slug it out like everyone else, you might do better in Europe.

Here's a thought: Every nationality is represented in some enclave here in the States. For example, there are clubs in Boston and NY owned and operated by Irish immigrants who will book acts from "back home".

You might consider targetting areas of the US with close connections to Israel. You may uncover opportunities to showcase your talents in very specific venues in a couple of larger cities, for example.

Mrgreen, may I be so bold as to ask why you want to come to the states so bad?

Is it to try and "make it?" or is it because you want to live in the states?

- Sean

That's a good plan.

Maybe this will help targeting areas...

"The 2000 American Census recorded 5.2 million Jews in the United States, accounting for less than 2% of the population. Jews in the U.S. settled largely in and near the major cities, first in the Northeast and Midwest but in recent decades increasingly in the South and West. In descending order, the metropolitan areas with the highest Jewish populations are: New York City (1,750,000), Miami (535,000), Los Angeles (490,000), Philadelphia (254,000), Chicago (248,000), San Francisco (210,000), Boston (208,000), and Washington DC (165,000). Miami's Jewish community skews older than most other U.S. Jewish centers as it heavily consists of retirees from the big cities of the northeast (however, this has been offset somewhat by more recent immigration to the area by younger Jews from Latin American countries such as Argentina, Cuba, and Brazil). Several other major cities have large Jewish populations per capita, like Cleveland, Baltimore, and St. Louis. Also, some areas of the Sunbelt outside of Florida and California (in which both states have always had significant Jewish communities) that have seen a large general population growth have also seen both the size and proportion of their Jewish population grow significantly. Examples of this are Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Charlotte, NC, and especially Atlanta and Las Vegas. In many cities the majority of Jewish families have moved to the suburbs."

LOL! The number of Jews anywhere is irrelevant if there's no market for blues rock, isn't it?

Maybe, maybe not. It might not be that simple.

A lot of ethnic groups (and other groups) like to support their own. I believe that some Jewish organizations/groups would hire a band from Israel regardless of their musical genre.

Example: I'm involved with an Arts Council, our members come out to support all musical events at our venue (rock, punk, jazz, choir, orchestra, etc.).

The idea could be worth a shot.

The marketting approach wouldn't be to target blues clubs in statistically dense ethnic populations.

The approach would be to contact civic organizations, heritage societies and others with a focus on the ethnic or nationality in question.

It's a total guess, but an artist travelling overseas where the market is slim for that style of music could stand a better shot in an ex-pat venue.

I suppose it's worth a shot. I remain skeptical, however.

The deal for me is this: if he can't get booked in Europe, which is far more supportive of blues and blues-rock bands, what chance does he stand here?

Exactly.

Why is that? ( If it happened )

I don't know if this is the reality ...

People in the US are neurotic about our national identity. On the one hand, we're glad to see ourselves as a forward-moving, innovative culture. On the other hand, we're mighty quick to say that we're something-American. We want to embrace the ethnic and cultural identity of our individual heritages.

And, in many ways, there's a mint to be made off this false idea that, even those of us who were bornand have always lived in the US, still carry some sort of collective memory of our "native" land.

Also, quite literally, there are areas, mostly in the urban cities, where there are communities of immigrants from other countries. These communities have social organizations and local entertainment venues that will host entertainers from home.

I do risk over-stating the case. It's not a sure bet, but it might be a marketting niche to consider.

Then again, you don't know any of the realities for what you want to do here, either, but you seem determined to do it anyway.

I suggest you look at just about any national blues act's touring schedule and see how much time they spend in Europe and Asia. You'd be surprised. Blues/blues rock bands do quite well in Europe, mostly in Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, parts of France, England, and Germany.

I have to agree with Bluestrat on this one. Blues and Blues Rock is the foundation of much of what we call "American Music". I think a group from outside of the US that plays that kind of music will be far more successful by performing in venues where they have less competition. It's true that the Beatles essentially performed Blues/Rock style music and made a big splash in the US, but, at least at the beginning, that had a lot to do with image also. A Blues/Rock group imported from Israel is like sending a US Celtic group to Ireland. Why would the Irish embrace a US Celtic group when they already have the masters of that music in their own country.

I agree that there are ethnic groups in the US that may welcome an import, especially from their homeland, but I view that as more a "Cultural event" than a profit making venture. I think success for a non-US group playing Blues/Rock is far more likely in Europe than in the US.

JR

Mr. Green, first of all do you have any idea how many top-notch blues rock bands there are in the USA?

Thousands. That is reality.

You will not be able to compete against the 'home team' on their 'home field'...heck, most of them struggle for gigs as it is. I know several who tour Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Tai Pei, Kampuchea, Phillipines, Peking, etc.) in order to make money...and a few who have made forays into Europe, although that market is getting clogged with Brits now...the money there is American Metal bands.

I gave you the demographic list because you may be able to play the religion card and get some 'sympathy' bookings that way...but it won't be about your music.

I agree that you'd have a difficult time selling your band in the blues rock arena just for the music.

Exploiting the cultural angle would probably be a more likely avenue of success (I feel it would succeed).

It wouldn't be about the music, but then many bands aren't about the music, they have a different 'hook', such as the fact that your band is from Israel.

I guess the bottom line is you'll never know unless you try, so give it your best shot, and good luck.

(There's a new poster in another thread mentioning some free advertising/marketing services for musicians. Maybe give him some of your questions and see where it takes you.)

You could be right. There is a band that comes around here a lot (see link below), the very definition of barely adequate mediocrity (IMO, of course) who are from Russia, and apparently it's what gets them gigs, because it sure isn't because the band is great. The festivals all hire them, the press tinkles all over them, all the while locally, there are half a dozen bands doing what they do that could bury these guys without working up a sweat but can't get booked at the festivals. So yeah, maybe simply being a foreign novelty act is enough.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bluescousins