Gig Getting Advice

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Trotter

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Hi, I've put together a solo act and am having a hard time getting gigs. I've made a little promo package with a video, sent it out to local night spots, made flyers, advertised in a local entertainment publication, and have videos on YouTube. The show is made up of songs by Elvis Presley.

So far no one has shown any interest. The only thing I haven't done is talk with folks in person.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks
 
there are not too many venues that cater to that genre of music any more.
good luck finding a gig.
 
Try the Casinos in Southern Miss. They would surely be interested! Prolly a 4 hour drive, but if you can line up 4 or 5 nights, it might be worth it.
 
You're 52 and you want to do Elvis gigs? Try the nursing homes. Don't break a hip.
 
I said to myself "Don't be cruel" and I'm ashamed of what I just said. Elvis still works in Vegas, nightly. Maybe there's a '50's bar still around? Do people still Rock Around the Clock anymore? You might be "Caught in a Trap" between what you love and what might actually sell in your area.
 
For what it's worth, I'm 23, and if there was a one man act playing Elvis songs in a bar near me, I'd be there most nights until closing time.

I'm really not sure what you can do - try some open mic nights first, maybe? Good luck with it, though. The world needs more old school rock and roll.
 
32-20-Blues said:
For what it's worth, I'm 23, and if there was a one man act playing Elvis songs in a bar near me, I'd be there most nights until closing time.

I'm really not sure what you can do - try some open mic nights first, maybe? Good luck with it, though. The world needs more old school rock and roll.
Click to expand...

True story dude!
I'm 23 as well and jammed some Elvis at an open mic a few weeks ago.

Getting gigs is all about persistence. Keep calling and showing up to venues and talk to whoever books shows. Check the event calendars and look for open dates, mention those and book them.
 
I wouldn't mind listening to a guy playing Elvis tunes either,but limiting your scope of music also limits the venues that will hire you.
Ideally an act has enough material to adjust to what the crowd wants to some extent.
I used to play in an acoustic duet and we would just go to bars and talk to the owners to get gigs.
 
I would do my best to keep it real, don't try and use drum machines and electric guitars, with a solo act... that just gets cheesy fast!

Play it acoustic and keep it real, Elvis is a great show, I have to admit I wanna play his stuff too!

Keep it real, talk to a starbucks near your house and see if yo can get a night a week, call up venues direct and find out just who at the place you wanna play does the booking and pander to them instead of passing out costly press packs that the booking person may never even see.

Something that could really boost your numbers if the venue can support it is to close the show with Love Me Tender, but pick out a random female from the audience and give her a rose and sing the song to her... I dunno why but even a cheep gas station rose and that voice and song will create enough stir that suddenly you will have a LOT of women showing up at your veneu to see "Elvis" and if a lot of girls start showing up.... So will a lot of guys to come hit on the girls!

I used to a know a cover band in Cincinnati that would take a part of the show and pick out the best dressed couple in the room, and give them a bottle of wine and a dozen roses, suddenly a rather casual bar gig turned into a pretty classy gig for them, and the choices started getting a whole lot better for winners of the contest, course it was cheep wine and cheep roses but IT WORKED!

My show I give out a copy of my CD, bring out a guest musician to play 10 minutes for me, and almost every time they bring some people with them to hear them play, but most of the time they stick around to hear me too!

Gigs have to have something to draw people and keep them coming back, if you play the same old Elvis gig every night it is gonna get dull, but you should be able to get something going if your show is unique enough.
 
Trotter said:
Hi, I've put together a solo act and am having a hard time getting gigs. I've made a little promo package with a video, sent it out to local night spots, made flyers, advertised in a local entertainment publication, and have videos on YouTube. The show is made up of songs by Elvis Presley.

So far no one has shown any interest. The only thing I haven't done is talk with folks in person.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I'm down the road from you(montgomery) and know just about every club
owner in town.Most wont hire a solo act at all.Most wont hire a duet unless
it is a week night.None will hire an act that covers only one artist, with the
exception of an occassional rock tribute band.(and that is rare)
To play out regular here you must cover a wide range of music and be prepared to adjust your set list if you are not reaching the audience.
 
Trotter said:
The only thing I haven't done is talk with folks in person.
Click to expand...

In other words: "The only thing I haven't done is the one thing that will be more effective than everything else I've done added together."

There's no substitute for face to face. It's 100 times harder for them to say no. Get off yer lazy ass and start pounding the pavement.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. I think open mic night is a good idea, I don't know, I might do some free gigs just to get started. I appreciate all of the advice, and now I am beginning to realize what my problem is, as far as getting gigs. I've been to websites with info on how to get gigs and nothing that I recall was mentioned about face to face discussion.

Guitar junkie, I know keeping it real is the best way to go, but a lot of Elvis songs can't be done with just an acoustic, some songs have horns, strings, choirs, and the only way I can do it is with accompianment tracks. I don't have the resources to start a large band.

Moonrider, I think you are right about the face to face approach. I'm going to try that. I don't won't to waste all of the hard work I've put into my show.

Thanks,
David
 
the biggest part of his stuff can be stripped down to just an acoustic guitar and work fine, mostly because that was how he wrote it.
 
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