It has taken us four years to train our regular venues to book early! We like to take care of our regulars, but aren't going to turn down a lot of gigs while waiting on venue decisions. It finally has gotten through to them... we currently are booked in three places for New Years & three for Valentines Day. We can play as a 2 -8 piece band with a horn(s) & vocalist(s), so we can split up and it is not uncommon for us to do 3 or 4 venues on one night.
So, bottom line is, be a bit of a pest with your venues, let them know you care about them but you are booking up. Many venues are so focused on daily responsibilities of staffing, food orders, insurance, inspections etc etc that quite often entertainment is at the back of there minds & require some initiative on your part.... I know we don't want to feel like pushy salesman, but it works... we did 260 gigs last year.
So, bottom line is, be a bit of a pest with your venues, let them know you care about them but you are booking up. Many venues are so focused on daily responsibilities of staffing, food orders, insurance, inspections etc etc that quite often entertainment is at the back of there minds & require some initiative on your part.... I know we don't want to feel like pushy salesman, but it works... we did 260 gigs last year.
