Ever since this past May, when I performed with singer/songwriter Jack Lacitra at the Boulton Center for the Performing Arts in Bay Shore, NY, I've had the bug in my ear about self producing another concert for my jazz quartet. At this point it has been nearly 2 years since I have done that!
If I were to only consider the amount of time it takes to put a concert together, or the amount of money that is needed up front to rent the venue, get the insurance, and otherwise set the wheels in motion, my attitude would be "who needs it". However, there are benefits to self producing concerts and it has always fit into my long term plans and goals.
Since day one, I have known that the only way to ever really get to the sorts of performances that I can really make a good living off of was to be taken on by one or more booking agents. That meant several things:
- I had to STOP performing with my quartet in restaurants or other venues where we would not be the focus (NO MORE BACKGROUND MUSIC!!!!).
- I had to sharpen my ability to interact with my audience and provide them with an EXPERIENCE and not just good music.
- I had to increase my fan base and my reach.
- I needed to find some way to prove my worth to booking agents so that they wouldn't feel that signing me on would be too much of a risk to make it worth their while.
In regards to the last thing I listed (proving my worth), I figured that money talks. So, the best way I could prove my worth is to show the ticket sales receipts and the other proof that people are willing to pay to see me in a concert setting. Well, at this juncture I have proven this several times over...so where are the booking agents? Unfortunately for me, part of the problem is the genre of music that I have chosen to specialize in...jazz.
Since jazz accounts for such a small percentage of the concert going public, the only jazz musicians that the booking agents are interested in are the ones who are already big names, who already have booking agents...there's no interest in emerging artists that are showing they can draw a ticket buying audience.
If it wasn't for the fact that self producing concerts take up so much time, energy, and financial resources up front, I'd say "SCREW THE BOOKING AGENTS" because I have always done pretty well with my concerts, financially. I'm not driving a luxury car, but I have certainly managed to make it at least worth my while to pursue such a coarse of action. I also see that it is a viable way to go.
However, time is no longer on my side. At only 36 years old, I'm already starting to feel some of the wear and tear of being a full time musician for nearly 15 years and burning the candle from both ends, combined with being a new father, trying to look after my now aging parents, and always looking for ways to try and be available more for my wife. The past year or two I have been feeling tired constantly.
Doing this for a living has proven to be exhausting work, and it has only been my drive to: A) prove all of the people WRONG that told me or continue to tell me that this can't be done for a living, and B) to be successful in general at whatever I do, that has kept me going. That and the broom I have hidden behind me to prop me up and make it look like I'm still standing up.
Despite my venting, I remain convinced that doing more self produced concerts, where I can continue to prove that people (from different regions) are willing to buy tickets to see me and my group perform, is probably the best path to follow. The problem or challenge is to find a way that doesn't leave me so exhausted during the process of putting the events together and promoting them, that I'm too tired to actually perform in the first place.
