While I was writing Grow Your Band’s Audience, Missy and Alison kept uncovering more stories of artists who reached out successfully to fans by staging their own events. Some folks kept things simple and staged house concerts, while other bands went to great lengths (like renting VFW halls or entire concert halls) to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of booking agents and talent buyers.

The book first landed on shelves in 2002, just as smoking bans and the real estate bubble teamed up to knock many established venues out of their homes in many markets. Since its initial publication, I’ve received so much great feedback from artists who used the book in conjunction with Grow Your Band’s Audience to put gigs together in towns where live musicians don’t have so many places to play.

Part “how-to manual” and part profile of the kinds of artists that can use this strategy most effectively, Host Your Own Concerts still holds up as an inspiring guide to taking matters into your own hands.

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