The Importance of Acting Professional As A Working Musician: Part 1 – Playing Locally and Regionally

Nothing gets under my skin more than having to work with musicians that haven’t a clue about how to conduct themselves, i.e. acting professional.  Whether they’re taking advantage of my kindness or not performing up to the standard they should be; whether they’re acting like rock stars or creating too much miserable drama an unprofessional musician can be intolerable to deal with. This really extends beyond the realm of being a musician, too.  I think we can all relay some story of having to deal with a person that makes it seem like their sole purpose in life is to make things difficult for people.  Well, working musicians are a unique batch because their job is to play music – that is to say, their job is to have fun and attempt to enable others of sharing their fun.  This opens up a wide range of problems that a musician needs to be mindful of if they want to continue into a career as a working musician.

The purpose of this article is to help musicians not only understand their role in live entertainment but also to help musicians become cognizant of their behavior (both in private and in public forums) and how it could affect them both adversely and advantageously.   

When I was first starting out as a musician and playing in bars and clubs I had a policy in my band that I didn’t want anyone to drink alcohol before a show.  If they wanted to drink after the show it was fine but they had to keep it in moderation and by no means should they drink to excess.  As I’ve grown older I’ve lightened up a bit but my reasoning behind this remains sound: I didn’t want my band to be known as the irresponsible and stereotypical rock band of unreliable drunks.

I now no longer have a problem if a band member wants to have one or two beers before a show.  I don’t think two beers really adversely effects performance. At least, I’ve never really heard a change in performance from a couple of beers.   I still have a personal policy of not drinking before a show.  I rarely, if ever, drink on a night of a show.  Even after a show I will limit myself to maybe one drink, but that’s it.  There have been times that I’ve filled in for a band and had some member have one too many before a show and been unable to perform the songs competently.

I’m a person that advocates rational self-interest.  That means I think it’s okay to be selfish but it’s not okay when your selfishness affects other people.  Having too many drinks before a show is a situation where selfishness affects other people.  Getting drunk before a show hampers the other musicians’ performances.  If you can’t keep time, if you forget the arrangements, if you slur your words, if you’re stumbling over the notes, there can be no way that the rest of the band can benefit.  Who wants to be known as the band that shows up to give piss poor performances?

Here’s a case in point:
There was a local band that I knew of from a few years back.  This band would go to a gig, run up a bar tab, then skip out without paying.  They drew people in but the bars and clubs hated them.  Eventually it got to a point where the bartenders would go online and talk about this particular band and how people shouldn’t go to see them.  Bars stopped booking them and now no one ever hears of them.

This is the same band I almost got in a fight with because one of their guitarists was drunk and thought I was talking bad about his band, which I wasn’t.  But now that I know what kind of people they are if I ever hear of some ex-member of that band wanting to record with me or work with me in any way they might as well look somewhere else as I’ll never have anything to do with them in any capacity. I even know of a sound engineer that refused to book studio time with them because he knew of them and their reputation.

Look, you’re a musician and someone is willing to pay you to put on a good show so everyone can have a good time. This doesn’t give you carte blanche to act like a complete jerk to everyone.  This especially goes for people who haven’t earned the position of an actual rock star.  Unless you’re Van Halen don’t start acting like you can request all the brown M&Ms taken out of your dressing room.

Odds are that no matter how great you are there is going to be someone around the corner that’s way better. Odds are that no matter how original you think your sound is that it’s already been done before and done a lot better by someone else.  So don’t act like God’s Gift To Music because you’re not.

Only in music can you act like you’ve paid your dues after a couple of years of practicing in your room.

Now on the other side of this coin you have to act in a way that makes clubs, bars, or booking agents want to book you.  I’ll venture to say that you not only have to make venues want to book you but you have to become essential to their success.   You should be the band or the musician that booking agents talk about as an example of the kind of artist they love to book and can rely upon.

This is what your aim should be.

I remember there was a band that would come to town that all the live venues loved to book. I remember standing outside of this bar one night in between bands.  The band that was supposed to play that night wasn’t able to make it. They cancelled at the last minute because the singer had some medical problem.  So I’m standing outside and I overhear the guy that books the bands for a number of clubs talking.  He’s talking about how he loves to book this out-of-state band because he can always rely on them.  That even though this band was from out-of-state (meaning they were from Texas and we were all from Louisiana) and didn’t draw as big a crowd he could always count on them to promote their own shows, bring in consistent fans, and act professional.

He could count on them and they were a notch above what he was used to dealing with.

This band he was talking about had created a mailing list.  And when I say “mailing list” I mean an actual snail mail mailing list that required actual postage stamps, printed on paper stock, and required you to go to what’s called a “post office.” This was actually before the internet was readily available to all is what I’m driving at here.  People would sign a mailing list sheet by the band’s merch table and then whenever the band came to their area that fan would get a postcard in the mail.  This was a band that had their act together.  This wasn’t a band that would run up a bar tab and skip out without paying. This wasn’t a band that acted like they had 6 Grammy Awards under their belt.  This wasn’t a band that acted like the world owed them a favor.  This was a self-promoting, reliable, band of musicians that were competent at their instruments and were serious about going forward with their career goals.  They gained fans because of this.  I wasn’t completely crazy over them but because they were such nice guys I would buy their merch and attend their shows.  Yes, because I liked them as people I was willing to give up my free time for their live shows and part with my hard earned cash for their merchandise.

I was listening to their albums and the T-shirt I wore was spreading the word.  Isn’t that what we all want?  We want to be heard and we want the word spread.

I learned a lot from these guys.  As I got older I started making my own mailing list to keep track of fans and where they lived.  I sent out promo kits to clubs that booked us containing flyers that I designed and printed.  They could post in their venue to advertise weeks in advance. I would also send them CDs that had our music, the music of our supporting act, and advertisements in between tracks for the venue’s upcoming events.  The local clubs loved that kind of stuff because not only could they play new music at their place but also they’d have a unique ad campaign running in between tracks.  Also, about a week before the show, I would also go down to where they were located and post flyers all around the area.

When you do play out locally always keep in mind that you’re not only out to grow your audience but you want to help the other bands that are playing with you as well.  The point of playing with other bands is to expose your material to new audiences.  One band brings their crowd, the other band brings their crowd, and hopefully you’ll get some cross pollination and gain some new fans.

It doesn’t help anyone for you to hang out with your friends in the parking lot while the first band is playing.  Then, all your fans and friends go outside to join you and miss out on the other band.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played where the supporting act and all their friends and fans bailed as soon as they were finished playing.  I will guarantee you that I will never book your band with my band ever again if you do this nonsense.  .

I know I’m coming across as idealistic but I just have a certain opinion on how people should conduct themselves.  It floors me when people don’t act with common decency.

There was a time I booked a show, chose the bands, designed the flyers, printed them up, personal went out and posted the flyers up around town, and then had one of the bands cancel on me.  They didn’t cancel for any medial reason or because they broke up.  They cancelled because they got a better gig…at a pizzeria.  So after I took my personal time to book their band, to put their logo on a flyer I made, and then promote them and our show around town they’re going to bail on me for a different show.  This means I have to change the flyer and basically do everything all over.  And no, I never charged the other bands for flyers or for my time when I post these flyers up around town.  I do it because it benefits me.

After this guy yanks his band from my booking he tells me that he still enjoys my band and would like to book another show with us.  I email him back and tell him that he’s unprofessional and that I’ll never book his band ever again.  Also, every time I saw this guy at the music store he worked at I’d want to knock his teeth out of his mouth.  I’m just staggered at how some people have their heads so far up their asses.

The last thing I want to say about playing regionally and locally is that you have to keep to your word.  If you say you’re going to do something then you better follow through and do it.  If it’s something I’m trying to pound into your head it’s that being reliable is #1 in my books.  I must be able to rely on you to play the songs. I must be able to rely on you if you say you’re going to do something. I must be able to rely on you to show up on time, to be prepared, to be sober, and to be ready for anything.