[Dixielandjazz] dixieland and dancing

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/3/04 12:25:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
acjspres at aol.com writes:

> 
> The key is to go play where the kids`are hanging out....a few years ago we  
> approached a club owner and suggested a monday night weekly gig as a swing  
> dancing night. We agreed to play for free for two weeks to get the gig....we 
>  
> packed the joint and were there for over a year. Lessons from 7:00 to 8:00 
> pm  
> and the band from 8:00 to 11:00 pm. The key is to hook up with your local 
> swing  
> dance (not ballroom dance) crowd. The beauty is we never get asked to play a 
>  
> latin nor a waltz...just good jazz. East coast "Condon style" dixieland.
> 
> I 

Atta Boy Joe:   Good on ya man, that's what it takes ingenuity to go make 
gigs happen and stay with em long enough to make them profitable, just like any 
other real business.

A Band is a business and you have to make investments into it with time and 
money to get it ready for the market and then you have to showcase it and 
promote it Market it continuously to keep it working and turning dollars.  Thinking 
outside the BOX works, go find a bigger Box and move into it. :))

Try doing the same thing a few afternoons out at the local Colleges in 
Arizona, go play a free show during Lunch hour and see how many paid gigs you will 
book as a result, not to mention turning on a whole new audience that won't get 
exposed to it anywhere else.

Take those dancers with you and watch them sign up new members as well.

Before you know what happened you too will be playing 160 gigs a year and 
selling CDs and be a very profitable business.  It usually take about fifteen 
years of working your butt off to wake up and realize that you are an overnight 
success.

Unless of course you are a Blues singer, then you have to do it for fifty or 
sixty years before you achieve Legend status and get discovered when all the 
90 year old ones die.  :))

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins