Pounding the Pavement

It's one o'clock in the morning and I've been working since 9 am. I wish I could say this isn't typical, but it is. I'm feeling a little frustrated tonight because we had a band meeting that spun in a circle for about about two hours. We were dealing with some tough issues, like how to continue to feel inspired to write songs when your circumstances are difficult. And how, as their manager, I can support them in this task. But then the conversation moved into much more challenging waters like our booking strategy and how in God's name we are going to make something remarkable happen for ourselves by summer. We know we have what it takes, that we are special, but sometimes it just feels like "pin the tail on the donkey." The question has always been: how do you build a fan base - how do you get noticed -- how do you breakthrough to higher ground?

There are tons of ideas: slow and steady, hitting the same three markets every 8 weeks until the word gets out to the point that you grow into 500 person theaters. And well, maybe you can underwrite these tours with some high paying summer concert series gigs. Or, wait -- let's jump on tour with an established band like Umphrey's McGee or, no, even better, Widespread Panic. Or, I know... let's pester a boutique booking agency every day for a month until we convince them to sign us. OH, let's make a brilliant YouTube video and skyrocket to success. Does anyone know David Letterman??

It seems to me that these ideas just don't work. We have tried them all and more, without success. We have toured the country playing every kind of gig you can think of. We have literally busted into booking agencies and started playing for agents. We have driven to LA to court Tom Petty's manager, annoyed Sheryl Crow's agents, and tracked down business partners of Jack Johnson. We've applied for grants, created catchy YouTube videos, played inside investment firms, snuck into green rooms, and met with independent label owners. We have played benefits, street corners, radio stations, newspaper offices -- and nothing has propelled us beyond the glass ceiling of the club scene where we can't even fit on the stage. On nights like these, I have to call to mind my good friend Thomas Edison. I think he failed something like 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb.

Frankly, there is something that we are missing. We do finally understand the importance of the internet and I do feel confident around our ability to now start harnessing it. But there is something else. What is it? I know we have the answer. We do. We just have to have it occur to us.