Gigging in America

markwho

Looking to do some gigging in america next summer.
How hard is it to get a residency in an irish bar in new york or something similar? anyone have any advice on where to look.
And what would be best for accomodation, get an apartment for a month or two? what areas would not be very safe, or what would be nice.

Its an acoustic duo with full range of backing tracks and a plethora of songs.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Totally clueless about how to go about it. Don't know what the cover scene is like in america.

MilanPan!c

markwho wrote: »

Looking to do some gigging in america next summer.
How hard is it to get a residency in an irish bar in new york or something similar? anyone have any advice on where to look.
And what would be best for accomodation, get an apartment for a month or two? what areas would not be very safe, or what would be nice.

Its an acoustic duo with full range of backing tracks and a plethora of songs.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Totally clueless about how to go about it. Don't know what the cover scene is like in america.

Uhh trad music or pop or what?

It shouldn't be impossible, but you'll need to try pretty hard. Plus, you'll need a working visa, so plan for that...

Boston is also a good (if not better).

If you want Boston suggestions, ask.

markwho

Anywhere in america is an option. New york would be a preference though. Boston sounds good though. And we'd have a few setlists.
We can throw together a trad one. But mainly pop and the likes of that. We have a decent bit of gigging experience too. So its not like we're going into it totally blind.

Edit: would i be right in thinking that bars over there would book the bands for the whole year at the start of the year. So i'd have to start organising them now. Any idea what the payment would be like over there too?

MilanPan!c

markwho wrote: »

Anywhere in america is an option. New york would be a preference though. Boston sounds good though. And we'd have a few setlists.
We can throw together a trad one. But mainly pop and the likes of that. We have a decent bit of gigging experience too. So its not like we're going into it totally blind.

Edit: would i be right in thinking that bars over there would book the bands for the whole year at the start of the year. So i'd have to start organising them now. Any idea what the payment would be like over there too?

Depends on the venue, anything from 2 weeks to 6 months.

3 months is safe for most places I'd guess.

As for pay.... Not much.. Booze and less than 100 in small places.

You'd be competing against locals with the ability to draw.

But... If you're willing to work at it you'd prolly have a few decent (500$+) paydays.

Course coverbands function very differently so maybe you'd make a BIT more... Not much.

NYC is fanatastic, but you won't afford it by gigging a coverband.

You MIGHT be able to do that in Boston. Might.

Be realistic about it and you'll have the time of your life. In other words, maybe consider working during the week and giggng at weekend.

Living in awesome places is kinda hellish if your broke.

Trust me.

KeithTS

Do some research, look around online for bars and that, most places stateside are going to have websites, spend some money on your phone bill and contact places by phone as well as email, from experience they work the way places over here should and will more than likely request your playlists and will want to hear you play them so prepare material and have it available to send them.
The best thing you can do is try and find somewhere that is interested and then go over on a one way flight with some extra money in your pocket.
That way if you get turned away or can't find anything you can have a bit of a holiday with your money then go home when it runs out. On the other hand if it all goes well you can stay as long as there is work and then come home whenever it dries up.

MilanPan!c

KeithTS wrote: »

Do some research, look around online for bars and that, most places stateside are going to have websites, spend some money on your phone bill and contact places by phone as well as email, from experience they work the way places over here should and will more than likely request your playlists and will want to hear you play them so prepare material and have it available to send them.
The best thing you can do is try and find somewhere that is interested and then go over on a one way flight with some extra money in your pocket.
That way if you get turned away or can't find anything you can have a bit of a holiday with your money then go home when it runs out. On the other hand if it all goes well you can stay as long as there is work and then come home whenever it dries up.

Good advice.

I would say that a lot of those phone calls will end with a request for a playlist and either a demo of a weblink to songs.

Make sure that end is ready, before you start calling.

If anything, there's more bands (and therefore more cover bands).

markwho

Yeah, we have a decent demo done. And a full press pack. With setlists, newspaper cuttings and some gig photos
Will send that over to a few bars over there. See if i hear a response back. Do many bars do residencies? Cos i know a friend that went over to spain and played in the same spot 6 nights a week. Would it be similar in america?