http://sharkscomecruisin.com/newsarchive.cfm Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:15:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com http://sharkscomecruisin.com/newsarchive.cfm?feature=1309113&postid=214374 As a follow-up to the last blog post, we would like to express our sincere thanks the House of Blues in Boston, the Dropkick Murphys and the Swingin’ Utters for the amazing treatment we received on 3/14. It was as though everyone involved read the previous post and made a point make good on the suggestions we made to bands and club owners. The greatest part of the night they did NOT read it, it is just what they do. The HOB in Boston runs their venue with a mutual respect for bands and music fans. It was a refreshing change. From the moment SCC stepped foot in the club, the DKM Crew and HOB staff went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Ken from the Dropkicks made a point to introduce himself to SCC and to make sure we knew who to go to with questions. The Swingin’ Utters were the easiest guys to share a room with backstage and, again, the staff was just out of this world. I also need to mention that we had a great week of shows at the Penatly Box and Galway Bay.  Ray and Sean are great to deal with, thanks guys I like to find the positive side in things and I think I, personally, would not have been able to fully appreciate the night with the Dropkicks without the unfortunate circumstances of the previous weekend. Gearing up for recording, checking the logbook to see who sings crew……… Talk soon, Mark  & SCC
From the moment SCC stepped foot in the club, the DKM Crew and HOB staff went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Ken from the Dropkicks made a point to introduce himself to SCC and to make sure we knew who to go to with questions. The Swingin’ Utters were the easiest guys to share a room with backstage and, again, the staff was just out of this world.

I also need to mention that we had a great week of shows at the Penatly Box and Galway Bay.  Ray and Sean are great to deal with, thanks guys

I like to find the positive side in things and I think I, personally, would not have been able to fully appreciate the night with the Dropkicks without the unfortunate circumstances of the previous weekend.

Gearing up for recording, checking the logbook to see who sings crew………
Talk soon,

Mark  & SCC
]]> Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:15:00 GMT AB258E67A488688E95639043D2381650 http://sharkscomecruisin.com/newsarchive.cfm?feature=1309113&postid=214368 The Bright Side March 6th, 2010, SCC got to hang out with two new friends, Roy and T, in a hotel room in West Springfield, MA, where we sang songs and had great, positive conversations about sailing and teaching and being passionate about what you do. It’s great to meet people in this world that believe in what they do and work hard to make it a reality. The Facts McCaffrey’s Public House contacted SCC in the fall of 2009 about booking the band for dates in 2010. At that time, we had played at the pub twice before (once with the Pubcrawlers and once on our own). McCaffrey’s was familiar with SCC’s sound, liked what they heard, and Robbie booked us for the entire weekend of March 5th and 6th as well as March 20th. We verbally agreed on a price for the weekend, then SCC booked hotel rooms because Springfield is an hour and a half from Providence and to drive back and forth when we were playing consecutive nights just didn’t make sense. I mailed fliers to McCaffrey’s in advance for the staff to hang up to promote the shows. Those flyers were not posted. SCC played three sets of music on Friday March 5th. The crowd seemed thin , but we had a couple folks that specifically came to the bar to see us. We played a solid show and even caught some patrons dancing in the back of the bar during the final set. I had a conversation with at least one local at the bar that was enjoying what he was hearing. We got paid and left the bar, without any indication that the McCaffrey’s staff or patrons were unhappy with the evening. SCC killed time on Saturday hanging out with our friend Jim in Northampton. We ate some food and went record shopping, then returned to the hotel to rest up before the show. When E.Shimps and I returned to McCaffrey’s at 8:30 PM on Saturday night to set up, one of the staff approached us and asked who was in charge of the band. She proceeded to tell me that a few of the patrons the night before had complained about the music, but that there were some people at the bar tonight, who had traveled to see the band. She asked if we would be OK with cutting the night short, if the crowd wasn’t “feeling it”. I said I was OK with cutting the night short, it had already been two long days for the band. Then she added that we would only be paid half of what was originally agreed on. I said I was not OK with that. I explained that we had traveled a long way and paid for a hotel for both nights and we would not take a cut in the agreed price. She said she would call Robbie to get his thoughts. The waitress returned with Robbie’s business partner, who explained that the prior night’s crowd wasn’t “feeling it” and that they would not pay us for a full night. He gave us the choice to either play at half the previously agreed price or leave with nothing. Since we had not requested this show, but had been invited by Robbie to play for two nights at an agreed upon fee, SCC chose to leave with nothing. We packed up the gear, found our out-of-town fans, and invited them to come back to our hotel room so we could play them some songs. We spent the rest of the evening with Roy and T from the NYC Harbor School, sharing songs, stories and drinks. My Commentary We do what we do because we love music and we love sharing our music with others. It works well because we have an amazing crew to share it with. We believe in our music enough that we make careful choices about which shows we agree to play. Although we’re not in this for the money, we do have to make decisions about which shows are worth the time and expense to the band. We make these decisions based on the information we are given in advance. Expenses for the Springfield weekend included gas, food, and hotel rooms, not to mention time. However, Robbie was eager to book us for two nights and because we’re in the process of recording a new record, the opportunity to spread our music and make some cash was a good decision. I have been playing in bands for a long time (going on 20 years). I could write a book about how fucked-up the economics of playing independent music, and maybe someday I will, but until then, here are some general suggestions for bands and club owners: Respect each other. If either party is going to make a decision that will affect the other, communicate that as early as possible so everyone has chance to do what’s best for them. Be honest. If you’re going to run your live music business like an episode of American Idol, let the band know that ahead of time. They will probably pass on the opportunity to play. If the fee is contingent on anything other than showing up and performing your music for the specified period of time, let the band know in advance. Promote shows. This includes you club owners! Putting ads in local papers goes a long way. Promoting through social networking is free. Putting up fliers that the band has provided should be the bare minimum to let your patrons know who you’ve hired to entertain them. If you’ve hired a band to play live music, turn off the televisions. It’s distracting both for the band and their fans. It should go without saying that you should also turn off the house music. If you want to be a live music venue, consider buying a PA. Understand that a PA is a significant investment for a band and requires additional space for storage, transport, and time for set-up. If you’re a band supplying the PA, recognize the value of that to the bar and make sure you are compensated accordingly. A bar doing live music without a house sound system is no different than a VFW hall or friends basement except that the bar is making money off the band and their friends’ drinking. I think we got the word out early enough that no one showed up to McCaffrey’s expecting to see us, but if you did go to McCaffrey’s Saturday night, please get in touch and we’ll make it up to you with a T-Shirt or some pint glasses. If you live in Springfield and would still like to see us, get in touch, maybe we can play in your living room or basement and avoid the clubs all together. We have our own PA can easily play as loud or as quiet as you like. Now I’ll get off my soapbox. We have a really exciting couple of weeks coming up, can’t wait to see you all soon. Mark and SCC The Bright Side
March 6th, 2010, SCC got to hang out with two new friends, Roy and T, in a hotel room in West Springfield, MA, where we sang songs and had great, positive conversations about sailing and teaching and being passionate about what you do. It’s great to meet people in this world that believe in what they do and work hard to make it a reality.

The Facts
McCaffrey’s Public House contacted SCC in the fall of 2009 about booking the band for dates in 2010. At that time, we had played at the pub twice before (once with the Pubcrawlers and once on our own). McCaffrey’s was familiar with SCC’s sound, liked what they heard, and Robbie booked us for the entire weekend of March 5th and 6th as well as March 20th.

We verbally agreed on a price for the weekend, then SCC booked hotel rooms because Springfield is an hour and a half from Providence and to drive back and forth when we were playing consecutive nights just didn’t make sense.

I mailed fliers to McCaffrey’s in advance for the staff to hang up to promote the shows. Those flyers were not posted.

SCC played three sets of music on Friday March 5th. The crowd seemed thin , but we had a couple folks that specifically came to the bar to see us. We played a solid show and even caught some patrons dancing in the back of the bar during the final set. I had a conversation with at least one local at the bar that was enjoying what he was hearing. We got paid and left the bar, without any indication that the McCaffrey’s staff or patrons were unhappy with the evening.

SCC killed time on Saturday hanging out with our friend Jim in Northampton. We ate some food and went record shopping, then returned to the hotel to rest up before the show. When E.Shimps and I returned to McCaffrey’s at 8:30 PM on Saturday night to set up, one of the staff approached us and asked who was in charge of the band. She proceeded to tell me that a few of the patrons the night before had complained about the music, but that there were some people at the bar tonight, who had traveled to see the band. She asked if we would be OK with cutting the night short, if the crowd wasn’t “feeling it”. I said I was OK with cutting the night short, it had already been two long days for the band. Then she added that we would only be paid half of what was originally agreed on. I said I was not OK with that. I explained that we had traveled a long way and paid for a hotel for both nights and we would not take a cut in the agreed price. She said she would call Robbie to get his thoughts. The waitress returned with Robbie’s business partner, who explained that the prior night’s crowd wasn’t “feeling it” and that they would not pay us for a full night. He gave us the choice to either play at half the previously agreed price or leave with nothing. Since we had not requested this show, but had been invited by Robbie to play for two nights at an agreed upon fee, SCC chose to leave with nothing. We packed up the gear, found our out-of-town fans, and invited them to come back to our hotel room so we could play them some songs. We spent the rest of the evening with Roy and T from the NYC Harbor School, sharing songs, stories and drinks.

My Commentary
We do what we do because we love music and we love sharing our music with others. It works well because we have an amazing crew to share it with. We believe in our music enough that we make careful choices about which shows we agree to play. Although we’re not in this for the money, we do have to make decisions about which shows are worth the time and expense to the band. We make these decisions based on the information we are given in advance. Expenses for the Springfield weekend included gas, food, and hotel rooms, not to mention time. However, Robbie was eager to book us for two nights and because we’re in the process of recording a new record, the opportunity to spread our music and make some cash was a good decision.

I have been playing in bands for a long time (going on 20 years). I could write a book about how fucked-up the economics of playing independent music, and maybe someday I will, but until then, here are some general suggestions for bands and club owners:
Respect each other. If either party is going to make a decision that will affect the other, communicate that as early as possible so everyone has chance to do what’s best for them.
Be honest. If you’re going to run your live music business like an episode of American Idol, let the band know that ahead of time. They will probably pass on the opportunity to play.
If the fee is contingent on anything other than showing up and performing your music for the specified period of time, let the band know in advance.
Promote shows. This includes you club owners! Putting ads in local papers goes a long way. Promoting through social networking is free. Putting up fliers that the band has provided should be the bare minimum to let your patrons know who you’ve hired to entertain them.
If you’ve hired a band to play live music, turn off the televisions. It’s distracting both for the band and their fans. It should go without saying that you should also turn off the house music.
If you want to be a live music venue, consider buying a PA. Understand that a PA is a significant investment for a band and requires additional space for storage, transport, and time for set-up. If you’re a band supplying the PA, recognize the value of that to the bar and make sure you are compensated accordingly. A bar doing live music without a house sound system is no different than a VFW hall or friends basement except that the bar is making money off the band and their friends’ drinking.
I think we got the word out early enough that no one showed up to McCaffrey’s expecting to see us, but if you did go to McCaffrey’s Saturday night, please get in touch and we’ll make it up to you with a T-Shirt or some pint glasses. If you live in Springfield and would still like to see us, get in touch, maybe we can play in your living room or basement and avoid the clubs all together. We have our own PA can easily play as loud or as quiet as you like.
Now I’ll get off my soapbox. We have a really exciting couple of weeks coming up, can’t wait to see you all soon.

Mark and SCC
]]> Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:08:00 GMT 653C043A90A269486633502015901E24