datamusicata

Well, I can’t believe it, but I learned something else this weeked doing some dates in the Sacramento area and in Santa Cruz. You keep thinking that you have it together and then life, your wife, your career…something shows you that “everything you’ve ever learned in life, …you have to learn again.”

First let’s talk about the drive from Los Angeles to Sacramento. My plan was to leave at 9 am, but I left at 10:20, so I ran into traffic where I wouldn’t have if I had left on schedule. Secondly, there was a major accident on the 5 near Los Banos. If I had left on time, I would have been throught it and yes, it’s true I had no way of knowing there would be a major pile up, fire and 5 closed, but the point is, I gave myself a schedule and disregarded it and paid the price. An extra three hours driving (and at four dollars a gallon here in California, that’s substantial).

    1. Make an informed, expedient plan and then stick to it.

Secondly, when I got the the house concert venue, I decided to unload everything and set it up the night before the concert, as I had a 9 am live radio show on KVMR to do. So I put all my posters, mailers, CD’s, postcards, etc in the room where the concert was to be held. Needless to say, when I got to the radio station the next morning, I had no CD’s, no posters, no “nuttin” to give to the radio station or the DJ.

2. Do an idiot check before you go to a gig, a radio station, a meeting, …even the beach. Do the check.

The last time I played Santa Cruz, I left my glasses on the night stand at a friend’s home, because I put on my sunglasses (also prescription) when I started loading the car, so I never looked for, picked up or used my regular glasses. They had to overnight them to me…and that’s really going to endear you to your hosts. Well, I did it again in Sacramento. Exactly the same scenario. The first time, hey, things happen. The second time,…I’m just an idiot. And I did my idiot check without my glasses on, so I didn’t notice my frameless glasses, OR the case. Stupid.

Fourthly, I had planned the show around my new CD. I like to do all the songs from a specific CD in the first set and then during the “meet and greet” whenever anyone asks about a certain song, I just say that all the songs I sang are on this CD. It makes it so very easy for them to decide which CD they want to purchase. What I didn’t remember was that even though the CD, The Eternal Contradiction (www.jamesleestanley.com/eternalcontra.html) was not released until the end of June of 07, I already had copies with me when I last played the room in March of 07, so the audience that came mostly already had that CD.

If I had made set list when I was done with the show, or God forbid, made up a set list BEFORE the show, I could have just looked at it and then known which songs and stories to do this time. You see, with over twenty CD’s released, I can do a show from any of them. And if you have already done that show for that audience, why in the world would you do it again. I could have taken any of the songs from my other twenty CD’s and put together a different show…and sold them a different CD.

As it was, I did a show that I was very proud of and the audience seemed to genuinely love it…and then to a nearly sold out house, I sold only five CD’s…instead of 30. So my recommendation to you, and this should be touring 101, is to keep your set lists from every gig and when you return to a room, make certain that you don’t do the same songs from the same CD.

    3. Keep a record of your gigs, and the sets and look at them before you return to a room.

The easiest way to sell CD’s to your audience is to do the bulk of the songs in the first set from one CD. In the second set (which is always my favorite—I’m warmed up and tuned and so is the audience) you can be more spontaneous and adventurous. Now of course you can do this in the first show, but if your second priority is selling the maximum CD’s, then do yourself a favor and make it easy for them to make up their minds.

If you do any song from any of your CD’s and then have to tell each person who comes up that this song was on this CD and that song was on that CD, then you are going to spend too much time explaining yourself and too little time getting your music into their homes, cars and hopefully, their hearts. And frequently, the audient can’t make up their minds, so they buy NOTHING. And though they say that they’ll do it on line, or at a store (if any are left), the truth is that they don’t.

If you sell them a CD, then the next time you come to town, there is a good chance that they will come and see you again. That’s the cool thing, to build an audience of people that not only love you, but with whom you have a relationship. It’s so much more rewarding than the anonymous twenty five cities in thirty days tour.

So there are a few more tips from someone who considers himself a pro, but still makes those amateur mistakes. It is very humbling being me.