You need a weekly gig

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever been given:

Play the same place each week.

A steady. A residency. A weekly gig. Being the house band. Or whatever it’s called in your part of the world.

Dave Sarkis, who gave me this advice, played at Duke’s every week for ten years.

Think about that. That’s FIVE HUNDRED shows in the same room.

The consistent money is nice, of course, but also the ability to give a short answer to the general question of where someone might see you play.

It’s a great way to dial in your PA, to craft your overall sound, and tweak the logistics of loading in & out.

It’ll help you figure out what songs to keep, which ones to mothball, and what requests your audience wants you to learn.

Your relationship with the staff & the regulars gives you confidence to try things that might not work.

You get to run experiments with at least one controlled variable. (What if I bring in a percussionist, second vocalist, or a horn section? What if I play with tracks? Add a light show? Have themed events? Wear a suit? Promote hard? Or not at all?)

Playing a gig with last week’s gig still easily accessible in your memory is how insight accrues.

In the original, literal sense, it’s how you “get your act together.”