I know we’ve got sound dudes, but do we have any booking agents here? I’ve got questions..

following. Got a couple questions of my own

I work closely alongside some if you want to shoot. Always happy to ask people I know.

Cool, so recently a buddy of mine introduced me to a guy and to my surprise this guy is the drummer and only remaining member of a band I love from the 70s. He and I have become pretty close friends at this point. He had this band going on tour up until late 2019 then the Covid situation ruined it for him like everyone else. At the time, he was not having problems selling out 300-500 cap club venues. His problem though is he was trying to do all the booking himself with a friend of his who's no longer able to. He wants to resurrect his touring career and keep his band going, and in my opinion he really needs a booking agent to help him. My question, and his, is what is the best way to go about pitching these agencies and agents and what should we show them to generate interest? This is something I've never done before.

I'll give you my two cents, and then link you to an article that basically reaffirms most of what I'm thinking.

Unfortunately, and I don't mean the be a Debbie Downer, but it's going to be tough if he hasn't done much since 2019. Agents are going to look for evidence of current activity. They look at the same social media sites that everyone else does to see where bands are playing, how engaged they are with their fans, the crowds they're attracting, the comments people are leaving, etc. If nothing has been posted for several years, the chances of getting an agent to work for you are slim.

That's not to say your friend should give up, only that he may need to put some work into getting his band established again, and in a modern fashion, before shopping for an agent. This article gives some pretty good pointers:

https://www.iconcollective.edu/music-booking-agent-tips

That's a great article, and what you say makes sense. To your point, he basically has to re-launch his brand and and build it back up, takes a lot of work but he's determined to do a few more tours before he gets too old. I'll help him because I like the guy and his music, but booking is a major PITA and something I am just not good at lol.

OK I didn't want to be rude and hijack the thread until it settled. My question kinda goes the other way. My son-in-law has a band with 2 of his 1st cousins. They play as much new country as they can without getting into the pop BS, as well as a lot of 90's country, and toss in some old Cash, and a few classic rock songs if time permits.  They play most of the county fairs, holiday street dances, weddings , and all winter they are stuck in cramped bars. They have been trying for a few years to book the local casino with ZERO luck. I go and see a lot of bands in this place, and I know these boys are way better than some of the garbage that gets on that stage. They have left business cards with the entertainment director, they have become good friends with some of the bands that play there and even tried to get a good word of mouth signing from them. For some reason they just cant break through.

Enough rambling. I guess what I am trying to get at here is if there was a way for me to act as a booking agent and approach the entertainment director in that type of role, would they stand a better chance. If so what exactly could I do to make it a legitimate? Any advice would be great. I hate having to sit in bars all winter. I'm not a bar scene kinda guy and they are bugging the shit out of me to do sound for them now that they finally got the wifi working on the board to use the ipad

That sucks. Unfortunately I hear this from bands regularly, that they simply cannot get our entertainment director to give them the time of day. There's not much I can tell them.

All I can give you is speculation, but maybe it will help you in your approach.

First of all, the harsh reality is that it doesn't matter if your SIL's band is better than most other bands at that casino. Their entertainment director cares about one thing, and that is ticket sales and bar sales.

It is likely that he already has a band of the same genre that does well for him. These guys aren't into taking risks. If he already has a reliable country band that consistently makes the casino money, he going to stick with them, even if they suck.

You have to show him that your SIL's band can pack the place. That's really all it comes down to. If they don't have the things we've been talking about in this thread (electronic press kit, strong social media presence), they need to establish that.

Like I said, talent buyers look at the same things everyone else does. If I, as an impartial guy on the internet, Googled this band, what would I see? To be blunt, everyone thinks they have a great band, but no one whose paycheck depends on it (like the entertainment director) is just going to take your word for it.

The local cover scene is always a pain in the ass. Like Thawntex said, they will have to prove they have a draw. They should keep hitting up the director there on a regular bad too, they will eventually get a slot.