Get Your Band Into Street Festivals

Street Smarts: Getting Your Band Into The Festivals
By Jill Haverkamp

Almost every summer weekend there’s live music being blasted on all sides of Chicago. Street festivals are a cheap, fun way to see a variety of musical acts. And for the bands lucky enough to land a slot on a festival lineup, it can mean an instant increase in recognition and the chance to significantly build their audience.

Take it from The Katie Todd Band, one of the local acts that has successfully broken into the festival circuit with appearances at some of the city’s most recognizable events including Taste Of Lincoln Avenue, North Halsted Market Days, and even this summer’s Lollapalooza lineup. “I think festivals are nothing but a good thing,” Todd says. “All you can do is gain fans.”

The elusive talent buyers for these festivals are bombarded by requests daily. So, how does a band break through the barrier?

The first step, Todd believes, is gainingsome buzz, which will hopefully lead to the band name becoming a known commodity. “When we first started out we had a really hard time getting booked at street festivals,” the songstress admits. “Now it’s 100 times easier, but it’s also four years later. I think the hardest thing I’ve found in Chicago is no matter how good or bad you are it just takes a lot of time to get your name out there.”

In most cases, the best way to get in front of talent buyers is through submissions. Jam Productions’ Ron Pateras books festivals such as Taste Of Randolph, Old St. Pat’s, and Naperville Ribfest and estimates receiving between one and two dozen requests per month.

The booking process for summer festivals starts early, Pateras notes. “October, November, certainly by December, we’re really into full swing. Ideally everything is done by mid April.”

Bands can still send material outside of this time, as Fred Brennan, music director for Chicago Special Events Management, points out. “Even when I get press kits at other times of the year, I hang onto them and review them when things lighten up.”

Brennan books bands for many of the city’s Northside festivals including Taste Of Lincoln Avenue, Lake View Music Fest, and Belmont-Sheffield Music Festival. He suggests submitting a CD and a simple one-sheet, but a few other things can help as well. “A list of some of the clubs they’ve played and some feedback from some other people, like in the Illinois Entertainer. I’ll see quick reviews that will be there. It will have an effect. I would be lying if I said it didn’t,” Brennan says. “If I’m on the fence about a band, it does give me a lead on whether or not to go with a band.”

But Brennan says his decisions are based around the music and not the hype. “I tell bands I could care less about what the wrapper is. When I get an elaborate package that I can tell has either been put together to impress me by its cleverness or extravagance, usually my reaction is, ‘I think this money could have been better spent.’ The CD can be a burned CD and the piece of paper can just be nicely typed so I can read it. The most important component is the music.”

Pateras agrees and warns bands to avoid gimmicks. “I always hear about bands that do that, you know, dress up in a monkey suit and that sort of thing. If I were to see something really gimmicky, it would probably turn me off. I think when bands are serious about their art and performing that comes through in their music.”

While the quality of the music is important to all talent buyers, aspiring musicians must understand the festival’s need to make money, which requires national acts to lure fans through the gates. “The events [Jam] are involved in all have charity elements to them. So, it’s really important they turn a fairly healthy profit,” Pateras says. “We are really looking for headliners that are going to sell tickets. We’ll supplement them with local bands whenever we can. But, the first order of business is to make sure we book a lineup that is going to be fun and exciting to the masses so they’ll come out and support it.”

Todd knows it’s important to stand out and suggests doing so by networking. “I think the thing with festivals is getting to know the people who are running the festivals and developing a relationship with them one way or another,” Todd explains. “If you do that they can keep you in the back of their mind.”

Having a rapport with busy talent buyers can be difficult. So, that’s when booking agents, who have numerous contacts, come into play.

“Using a booking agent is helpful in that a lot of times the most challenging part of the process is just getting through,” Pateras admits. “If you have a booking agent who already has a relationship it’s easier because you don’t have to spend all that time trying to get through and get an introduction going. Someone does that for you.”

Brennan agrees, but points out, “[Booking agents] need to respect my time and what I’m dealing with. If they can do that and be amiable on the phone, great. Occasionally I’ll get someone really pushy, obnoxious, and is completely unaware of the fact that I might be doing something that might be as or more important than what they have to tell me. I don’t have time for that. I think bands need to be really, really careful about who they pick to be their ambassador when getting gigs. But, I would say that the vast majority are fine and I’m happy to talk with them.”

Todd works with Auburn Moon Agency for college shows, but drummer Mark Cameron does the majority of the band’s booking. She notes, “Auburn is great because they book so many shows for me. But, I have yet to find somebody who is able to book us better than we are. It’s that tenacious energy that we all have. We have a lot of passion behind it, where as a booking agency doesn’t necessarily have as much to lose, so they’re not necessarily going to go to bat as hard as we would.”

If using a booking agency or a do-it-yourself method, the work doesn’t stop once added to a festival lineup. Pateras thinks anything an act can do to promote the event is a big benefit, not only for the festival but the band as well.

Brennan agrees and adds, “If there are people who are there to see [your band] and are enthusiastic, it’s obvious to me that they have gotten the word out and made that connection. That impresses me.

“It has a direct bearing on my decision of what to do in the future,” Brennan says. “Some bands will try hard and for whatever reason they may not get people to come out. And I understand that. As long as a band comes out and does their best, is pleasant to work with, and I think has some merit, even if there aren’t a lot of people there, I’m willing to hang with them and help them.”

Before playing festivals Todd is always promoting, and she knows it has paid off in the long run. “I definitely have people come up and tell us they came to our Double Door [show] because they saw us at the festival the weekend before.”

Maybe a street fest appearance or two will help serve as a launching pad, as it did with the Katie Todd Band. Even if that’s not the case, it will at least put bands in front of a whole lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t have ever seen them perform — not a bad worst-case scenario. And while this summer’s festival circuit is half over, talent buyers’ 2007 hunting season begins in just a few months.

— Jill Haverkamp

Category: Features, Monthly