[Dixielandjazz] Advertising

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

I have worked for guys in the remote past that did that but I was never 
thrilled with it.  When I first came to St. Louis I was part of the cattle 
call and got gigs from guys that were booking multiple bands.  Sometimes it 
worked but I was never comfortable with it.  I know if you hire carefully 
the right people you won't have any problems but the performances tend to be 
ho hum.  The old joke about introducing the band and they all shake hands 
with each other is true. I worked for a guy that had the Carpenter's hall 
sewed up.  He booked the five halls plus the pub downstairs so he had six 
bands on the weekend going.  He was a fair sax player and he would orbit to 
the halls and play a tune or two and then off to another hall.  About 10 
o'clock he would collect his checks or usually cash and then go around and 
pay off the hall manager and a few other people.  He laid cash on the guys 
that allowed him to keep his bands in there.  At least he made several 
personal appearances during the night and M.C.'d the cake cutting and things 
like that.  Personally I think that while it made a few guys a lot of money 
it damaged and continues to damage the music business here.  Having said all 
that It's not a terrible idea either.  With the people I know now I could do 
it but I wouldn't want to make a habit out of it.

We used to do that with the wedding couples but you can burn up a lot of 
time doing that and while I wouldn't turn down a wedding if it was right you 
earn your money doing them.  Have you ever heard the term Bridezilla?  How 
about wedding planner?  Both can be an absolute pain in the ass.  We had a 
wedding planner stand there and rifle through our books and call tunes one 
night.  The leader finally asked her if she didn't have something to plan 
somewhere else.  Then ignored her.  The wedding planner then went to the 
bride and ratted on him who pitched a fit.  I was so happy that I wasn't the 
leader that night.
Larry
St. Louis
The most dangerous city in the country.  Caution Bridezilla crossing.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pat ladd" <pj.ladd at btinternet.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 2:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Advertising


> there is only one of you to sell for a particular night.  >>
>
> Hi Larry,
>
> why is that?  Form another group. There is a guy I used to play for who 
> runs a group called `French Connection`.  He can be covering 5 different 
> gigs on the same night. All with different guys making up the band. All 
> under the French Connection` label.
>
> Don`t your newspapers announce Engagements?.  I always read them and then 
> rang  up the happy couple and angled for the wedding gig.
>
> In my building materials business I always read in the local weekly 
> newspaper the list of Planning Permissions that had been granted then rang 
> up the person concerned and sold materials.
>
> Once I just went  to a local pub, had a drink and talked the landlord into 
> giving me a gig, `just to see how it goes `. That gig went on once a week 
> for 5 years.
>
> Cheers
>
> Pat
>