Elevator Pitch

The band I'm in is just changed our bass player and it is an opportunity for us to revisit our branding. We are looking at what it is about our act that differentiates us from others. This includes everything from the performance, logos, posters, the songs we write and include in our set, etc. I would be curious to hear how others out there position their bands in the different marketplaces we all find ourselves in. What is your "elevator pitch" for your band?

Hire us, we don't suck.

The easiest way to sell a band is by a promo pack. That includes things like a good professional photo, song list, demo CD, and whatever you think is important (we even included a complete equipment list in ours...sometimes that alone impressed some venues).

Remember...a picture says a thousand words. If you look like a bunch of thugs or losers in your photo, the venue owner will think so too. Get a pro photographer with experience in bands, a great real location (not some fake background), make sure everyone is dressed nicely, and shoot dozens of poses and shots. First impressions are sometimes best (or worse).

I've been in this business a long time, and if I was a venue owner and looked at a promo pack, and the first thing I see is a photo of a group of guys in "wife-beaters", cargo shorts and flip flops, I promise you...I'd toss it straight into the garbage can.

Regardless of what you do, have some "class" and let it show. That alone sets you apart from 50% of the bands out there.

Our music is truly Americana. It covers a lot of ground...from straight country to borderline jazz to raw punk. The elevator speech only worked in buildings with more than twenty floors.

Then we came up with "Western Gothic", a totally invented term. It means whatever the listener thinks it means and it's very easy to remember. We do have an elevator speech to go with it and the promo pack and one sheets for both clubs and radio...but Western Gothic is what people remember.

I can't imagine what Western Gothic is, but I would definitely go to a show to find out.

I hear Western Gothic and i think plaid shirts Big hats and Really dark eye makeup... pale skin....

We're here to have a good time - so you don't have to!

Our shows are a bit of a circus. We always have a theme, possibly related costumes, often times special guests doing crazy stuff. Our music would fall into the Rock/Pop category, but we definitely try to make it a crazy party with a few surprises thrown in.

We have been approaching venues to booking the whole night, so we pick the other acts and it gives us flexibility so they are not always all bands. The venues like this because they don't have the hassle of putting a whole bill together and deliver the numbers. We can tailor the whole evening and deliver a more entertaining night for people.

Our singer has been working with other people to bring the variety show back, and I think some of that haas worked its way into our band. This is why our branding and "elevator pitch" gets complicated.

Hire us, we don't suck.

Actually, we have a good promo pack, three studio CD's, a track record of gigs and a great picture. If you have quotes from people who booked you before, put 'em in there. Good press, even if it's just one sentence out of an otherwise lukewarm review, put it in there.

But if you just have 30 seconds to pitch yourself, give 'em something to remember.

Western Gothic... I imagine the desert around Four Corners and Clint Eastwood as the man with no name... Cinemascope and Technicolor, of course on the big screen. Landscapes that go on forever...

The band I used to play with, Tuatha, came up with "World Fusion" and "Tribal Fusion" which is also a belly dance style. Maybe that's why we played so many belly dance gigs.

I hear Western Gothic and i think plaid shirts Big hats and Really dark eye makeup... pale skin....

Great idea.

We usually wear hats outside. Christina dresses in black. Laura sometimes goes steam punk and Troy is the best dressed drummer in the Southwest. I've got some vintage shirts and coats.

This is from a Santa Fe gazebo show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psZ809bmFqo). I don't know who shot it or why the effect is on it. (And I wish she'd shown the crowd off to stage left.)

We play 50s rock and roll from Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Elvis and all the greats, but we do it with a sound of our own. We get people up and dancing, and always give them a good time. We don't take ourselves seriously but we are totally professional in our approach and we work hard to promote every gig we do.

(This pitch seems to be getting us gigs and we also have pictures, audio and video to prove it.)

The trick we have found in getting gigs is that we have found a genre that isn't very common around here but that people want to hear.