[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland and/or Hot Dance Weddings

Steve barbone barbonestreet at earthlink.net
Sat Oct 8 20:30:12 PDT 2005


tcashwigg at aol.com wrote,( polite snip)
 
> Some of those Weddings pay more money for a band than A Jazz Society
> does for a festival for all the bands.
> 
> I know I just did one,  Barbone Street does a few of em too.

Yeah, we do about 10 a year. Without trying or promoting. Word of mouth only
by kids and parents who hear us elsewhere. And by our young swing dancer
followers. 

I had to get a sub trumpet player for our upcoming Oct 22, 1920's music
style wedding. Explained the format to sub . . . typical Dixieland of the
period. He laughed and said, hey, I have one of those tomorrow. Same set up,
6 piece Dixieland Band, same tunes. (Margie, Sweet Georgia Brown, and the
other TOP HITS of that decade)

David Littlefield (Sheik) also does these type events in the Washington DC
area. Bottom line, they pay well, are tons of fun and lead to more.

HINT: Be your own DJ too. Connect a CD player to your sound system and play
whatever they want on your breaks and your dinner break. (Yes, insist on
dinner and a band table too.)

SECOND HINT: Price competitively with other "Wedding Bands". Anywhere from
$2500 to $7000 depending upon the "society visibility" of the event, 3 hours
or less, 6 piece band, local venue. More if in excess of 3 hours. Add $500
and up for singer of Brady MacKay or Becky Kilgore quality. (Use her on 1/3
or less of the tunes)

And why not? There are not that many bands around in your local area that
can play this music well, or be comfortable with it in a wedding venue. It
therefore is a unique service and should receive commensurate compensation.

Cheers,
Steve



 




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