My first residency in the UK

[Heybopper]

Hi
so things have been quiet for a few months, lots of practicing but little else. Last year we had a few gigs with agencies and that was with our trio, guitar, sax and double bass.
As it was quiet I decided to pay some money and do a new promo video

Since doing this we have only had a couple of gigs paying between £60 and £150 each but two days ago I was offered a residency one a month at a beautiful pub here in Norfolk, right in the city centre.
I had to think about this as I want it to be a success both for the pub and me and I started to have a re think about things. No pub outside of London is going to be able to offer more than £30-£40 a musician for a trio or duo and I need the gig and opportunity to play every month. It sucks when you have no gigs.
So I said I would take control of there monthly music event for £70 that I will give to the bassist. I will play for free and ill pay out of my own pocket up to £100-£150 for a guest musician each time. the guests will be a range of musicians from African kora players, African singers with mbiras and jazz musicians and these musicians will have a high profile and are well known throughout the UK and are based in our city.
I going to run it for as long as I can and do the flyers and advertising and ive created a Facebook page. It hurts to do this but there are a few very good musicians here in Norfolk and no one is gigging. The only people earning money are singers with backing tracks that sing hits through the decades and their calendar is jammed for the whole year and they probably get £150 a gig
I know that im undercutting but I need to make the most of this chance I feel its my last chance to make something happen in the city. Weddings through agencies are good and well paid but the gigs don't do nothing for your reputation or profile.
Any advice on how to make this a successful event for the venue ( which is most important) and for me would be great.
There are many female singers in this area. For most, there idea of Jazz is Amy Whinehouse and sittin on the dock of the bay. I have two other singers but they like singing stuff like autumn leaves, summertime, aint misbehaving and dream a little dream. I don't think thats going to cut it. The residency is a chance and I feel I have to knock the ball out of the park even if it costs me money

[Liarspoker]

Wow, you're paying £100-£150 per gig? Madness.

Play solo or in a duo.

Edit. Lovely tune. I play it too in my duo

Edit 2: reading your post again I sort of see what you are saying but ten gigs in and you are out of pocket a grand. That's a terrible business.

Ditch the agencies, make your own promo package and start sending out requests to play. Just keep working and the music scene in your city will take care of itself.

I don't know, I feel like I'm missing your main point

[Liarspoker]

Sorry again. But I just can't get the above post out of my head. It is just such a flawed business idea.

If you want to revitalize the music scene in your town why not start a music festival.

Ring every place that you can think of where people can play, tell them your idea and see if people can play there and how much they pay.

Also ring hotels, tell them your idea, tell them you'll advertise their hotel in return for some support from them financially. Out of town people will need somewhere to stay.

Also approach the council etc.

With some funding up front you can make a promo video for the event and do advertising for the event.

Then you can get the big guys to come to your town and play plenty of gigs yourself.

On a much smaller scale why not start a weekly jam session somewhere? You'll be playing for free but at least it won't cost you £100-£150 per gig.

[RJVB]

Liarspoker has a point...

It hurts to do this but there are a few very good musicians here in Norfolk and no one is gigging.

Why? Because no one wants to pay them a reasonable fee, or because (they think) there are no interesting opportunities?

I can imagine one could prefer not to play all rather than to play gigs in shitty conditions and that pay peanuts. But they're not making any money now doing nothing, so maybe they'd be open to not making money doing something nice with other musicians, if someone pulls the cart to organise it. As LS said, try to get some funding left and right in return for exposure, hopefully enough to cover the major expenses you might have to make (rent of a venue for instance). Make a ruckus about your event so locals cannot not be aware it will take place. Maybe even consider making admission free - and crack the old joke at the end (of the 1st part if you have a break) that the beloved audience got in for free but won't get out that easily

All things we did back in my student orchestra days and later to do serious projects with "enlightened amateurs", conservatory students and the occasional established professional.

[Christian Miller]

I think you should consider applying to the Arts Council. You can say that you are increasing access to cultural diversity in Norfolk or some such.

Making the application is a massive pain, but it might be worth it. You won’t need a massive grant to keep the lights on.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heybopper]

Hi
I really appreciate the comments and for your time in responding and I have taken it all on board. I have done the above things as suggested. I have been working the scene for 7 years. Its Just Norfolk is 10 years behind everywhere else in the UK, Its a beautiful city and I was out last Saturday night with my partners children it cost us £80 for a meal at Nando's and £55 for five drinks. The place is full of clubs, bars and cafes a and restaurants and its packed full of people.
The music scene is crap. Its all tribute bands, pub rock covers and folk. Its a predominantly white area but that has started to change over the last 5 years. There is one jazz jam that runs in the city once a month He has been trying to build it for years. He charges each musician £5 entry which is something he started to do two years ago to accommodate the overheads of moving to a new venue. Festivals forget it, the paperwork planning and costs of bands would be a nightmare. There are many trying to do it as we have lots of fields but people won't come unless you have well known bands. There are lots of local festivals in the countryside but they do it just for fun.
Ive considered moving and maybe still will but I feel this is my last chance to make a success in the city.
I have been given some grants, there are two organisations that can help musicians but its a lot of time and takes me away from the guitar but I am very grateful.
I am single no family, for the last 35 years I have been collecting vintage starwars toys but now have everything. I don't really have anything else to spend my money on so maybe its time to spend and invest in my music career and go all out. Do the flyers get it in the paper every month announcing each guest and really give it my best shot.
I don't think a duo would bring in a crowd and thats what's needed. The pub is Wonderfull its part of an old castle and I think it needs to be buzzing with people every month.

[Christian Miller]

Building a night like this is basically about building a community.