The importance of establishing and maintaining a good reputation goes without saying for musicians. Worth considering are the finer points of how ones reputation came to be, and exactly why it matters. There are multiple reasons why one’s reputation as a musician are deemed good. Of course there’s the actual musicianship. Then there are personality factors like, are you a relative nice person and pleasant to work with? Are you dependable? Then there’s something that can be easily overlooked. While it may not be talked about much among my peers, nor even consciously thought of much, I know that bringing venue contacts and marketing skills to a band make a difference.
In Part 3 of this “Getting Gigs” series, I wrote about relationships where venue contacts are concerned. Not only do these relationships bring forth gig offers, they give me a chance to show some organizational skills with venues and the bands I work with. Coordinating a paid gig isn’t rocket science, but there is a bit of cat-herding involved, and it does require some attention to detail. Both venues and bands benefit from these skills, and you’ll be remembered for them. Make booking a gig easy for everyone else, and guess who loves you? Everyone else. This is the kind of love the results in return engagements and referrals.