From the category archives:

Hosting Concerts

Gatekeepers Keeping Your Band Off the Stage?

Featured Article

Bob asks this morning whether there’s a new “indie pecking order” that makes it difficult for bands to get booked at “indie-friendly” venues.
Absolutely, there is.
The house concert circuit among folk performers is probably the best example of this. As I wrote in Host Your Own Concerts, pretty much anybody has the ability to stage a [...]

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Proposed Chicago Law Would Make It Harder to Host Your Own Concerts

Featured Article

It always strikes me as odd how Chicago doesn’t always embrace its heritage as one of this nation’s most important cultural cities. A city-backed study revealed that Chicago is a “music city in hiding,” with lots of vibrant clubs and venues hidden from view. Sure, it’s fun to visit a club that doesn’t advertise or [...]

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Did a Single Noise Complaint Shut Down Your Favorite Venue?

Hosting Concerts

Probably not, but twenty complaints from the same resident just might.
In many cities and towns, noise ordinances are written in such a way that venues can be fined or shut down over as little as one or two complaints. While so many local lawmakers squeal about the need to lure “creative class” residents to their [...]

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Farewell Little Brother’s — Another Live Music Venue Closing

Concerts

I was talking with a musician the other day about why it’s so hard to find places to play lately. We’re in another real estate surge nationwide, which means that all the cheap spaces and run-down buildings that are great for rock and jazz venues can suddenly fetch double or triple their current leases upon [...]

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WaPo’s Joshua Bell Busking Experiment

Growing Your Audience

UPDATE 4.9.07: Some experienced buskers brainstorm about ways Joshua could have upped his collections that morning — some really great ideas!
For anyone who’s ever made more money from subway busking than from a club gig, here’s a fascinating experiment from the Washington Post. To see if average working Americans would make time in their [...]

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Athens House Concert Venue Gets Shut Down by Code Enforcement

Hosting Concerts

I wrote about this in Host Your Own Concerts, but we’ve got an example of it here in Athens, where lots of folks host house concerts, backyard parties, and tailgates with live music.
House concerts typically work best in a controlled space, where you know at least half the folks on the invite list, and there [...]

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Revenge of the Singer/Songwriter: The LIVE Shuffle

Hosting Concerts

Over the past few months, I’ve been advising artists to make some waves by forming collectives and staging great collaborative events. Philadelphia’s Mick Choder just upped the ante — in reaction to the Shuffle Nights at clubs in town, he’s pulling together FIFTY singer/songwriters to play in an all-night “Live Shuffle” as part of Philly’s [...]

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CD Release Party Gets One Philly Band a Jail Sentence

Hosting Concerts

I keep telling folks that they’ve really got to pull out all the stops on CD Release parties. Leave it to our friends in Showin’ Tell to go above and beyond, holding a lock-down party for fans in an actual (former) penitentiary!

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Host Your Own Concerts

Classes

Learn how music lovers are taking their live music experience into their own hands during our FREE conference call, Tuesday night (tomorrow) at 9pm Eastern. To register, send a blank e-mail to spa0719g@taylor.sendfree.com. We’ll e-mail you all the details immediately.

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