I never intended to become a booking agent for some substantial artists, but I started this process out of increasing frustration about how events were being run. Often the venue would not have the best sound, there location of the event was not great and the whole experience was not really about the love of music!
Early explorations
A number of years ago, I was convinced that there must have been some like-minded people who wanted to come to an evening that was totally about music. I’ve always referenced my experiences at the Village Vanguard in New York as a great place for music lovers. It’s a small club, the sonics are terrific, and people are there as a listening audience. This is a far cry from niche music festivals where its more of a social meet up and huge stadium gigs where you can become very detached from the actual artist.
My first explorations were in running the Music for Head and Heart events, where I would typically invite three artists to play in an evening of music. I would also encourage them to collaborate on at least one track so the audience would experience something new. I ran several of these, and they always sold out pre covid. Post covid, it was harder work to get people out to events and I started to realise that it may be better to host artists with a bigger following. My experience with local artists was variable. Many were great to work with, but then some were hard work and didn’t appreciate the value of collaboration. Green Eyed Records was set up to promote great music to a listening audience and the plan is working brilliantly on many levels.
Go BIG or go home…
Hosting major artists requires a lot more financial investment and organisation. First, you work with artist agents and look at bigger venues. This transition means moving from an arts centre with 75 capacity to a venue with 200 capacity. Everything then is scaled up in terms of cost. Crucially, this means a lot more promotion, careful pricing consideration and considerable organisation.
To date, I have hosted Jon Gomm and Martin Simpson, both superb professional musicians and have a much better awareness of how best to run events. I first met Martin in 2009 at one of his workshops and began seeing him for 1 – 1 lessons in 2010. I never dreamed I would be hosting him live and/or doing a support slot for him.
Its all about the details
I have learnt that marketing an event requires a great deal of work and a big timeline for promotion. This means a lot of online promotion as well as old-school non-digital promotion. Crucially great video and photos are essential. I am lucky to work with a superb creative team and have photographers and video creators on hand to produce some really great promotional material.
Running such events requires a massive amount of work and some financial risk. You need to pick the right venue, the right time of year, and the right artist. I’m cautious about working only with professionals. In the past, I’ve had to explain to artists that we need to maintain total focus until the actual night, which means us all working together. I’m hosting Martin Simpson and Liz Hanks this month, and we already have great ticket sales.
I have already signed a contract for a great trio next September and booked the venue. As well as this showcase event, I’ll be running an album launch next April with various UK and USA artists.
