Note: These are some perspectives, opinions, and truths I’ve found from my travels and dealing with humans for many years in music and business. These are no brainers for many but I hope these thoughts may assist you in building a great band and make you a better band member or artist. If you disagree with these, no worries.. these are just my thoughts and what I’ve found to make a difference in the development of great bands and people. There will be more of this rambling as time goes on. Enjoy
Have the same commitment:
Commitment (noun): the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.
Whether it’s with a band, business, job, or life, finding folks with the same commitment is crucial to success and happiness.
What I’ve learned in my years of experience (surviving mistake) is that productivity, success, and achieving goals requires great commitment and sacrifice. Achieving those goals requires those around you (your band) to have the same commitment, values, and work ethic as well.
As a software developer and project manager, there is a corny story about a Chicken and a Pig that relates to commitment.
The story goes like this: One day a chicken approaches a pig and suggests they should start a restaurant. The pig is intrigued by the idea and says, “That sounds great. I’m an entrepreneurial type of hog. What are we going to call the restaurant?” The chicken suggests, “Ham and Eggs!” To which the pig replies, “No thanks, I’d be committed. You’d only be involved.”
It’s a goofy story but can relate if you’ve been in bands where some are just involved and not committed to the success of the band.
Commitment to the band means you personally hold yourself responsible for the success and failures of the band. It means you’re serious about taking time to learn your parts, be active in promotion, and also respect others time in their efforts to never be the weak link. It really means you have personal accountability and the band is a reflection of yourself.
Then there is the involved folks. Not bad people. Matter of fact, they are contributing to the sound and the band with their talent. However, maybe they just aren’t as serious or don’t have the same goals, work ethic, or even time. To those who are just involved, become committed!
Here’s why: if you’re unable to consistently put the same commitment as others in the band, you’re unfortunately doing the band a disservice. Even worse, you are most likely putting your very friends in a bad position and your actions can ultimately be seen as disrespect for those who have committed their time and energy into the band.
However, there is good news! The difference in being involved and committed can be solved with managing expectations and communicating what level of commitment you actually can offer. This requires the courage to actually look at your schedule and abilities and telling the band what you can accomplish (and acting upon it). By simply communicating what level you can commit will help others with their expectations and will help set the bands velocity (how much can actually be accomplished). By being real, transparent, and honest, it should lead to a better band and relationship among members.
BTW, commitment doesn’t mean you drop everything and focus only on a band… that’s silly. Being in a band is about having fun at the heart of it. It doesn’t have to be all that serious, but you do owe it to your friends and band members to give the best you have to offer and have integrity (do what you say you are going to do) in what you commit to. Doing so will always keep things fun and productive! Rock on.
Thanks for inquiring. We get a lot of requests to play our venue so this is to help explain how to go about booking with us, who we are, why we are doing this, and what to expect. First and foremost, welcome to Live at Harlow’s, a venue built by musicians for musicians for the betterment of our music community and to promote upcoming artists and bands.
Who are we? We’re musicians, just like you. We’re folks who are passionate about building a thriving music community and to support our fellow musicians. We’ve accumulating quite a bit of experience in the music business and we’ve developed a venue to help others on their musical journey. We believe #musicmatters and the idea of “creating the scene” #CTS. We value creating a long lasting impact and experience over creating income for ourselves.
Who can play? We are open for all people and genres of music. We look for bands and artists hungry to perform and interact with our crowds.
What is Live at Harlow’s? It’s a venue tailor made for the performance of artists and bands. In other words, we’ve created exactly what we would have wanted as musicians to include stage, great PA (JBL SRX), light show (Static and Moving), Backline (yes, we provide the backline for drums (DW collectors kit), bass (AMPEG) – guitar amps (KEMPER, JCM 800, 5150..etc), sound guy, light guy, promotional material, and most importantly the best crowds in the surrounding area.
How much do I get paid? We partner with bands to try and generate as much revenue for the bands. We provide 100% of the door to the bands and artists, unless there are other fees required for additional production costs. This model is transparent (as we always are) and puts everyone with the same goals, commitment, values, and work ethic to ensure an amazing night of live music, and, the best time you could possibly imagine.
What we are not: We are not a bar. Yes, we offer alcoholic drinks but the model is quite different that a bar where we hire bands to perform in hopes they will return profit. We simply don’t hire like that as profit is not our driver, we partner to develop a showcase to create an amazing and memorable experience to grow our community. Bottom line: We are a performance venue that invests in bands and artists.
Can I setup my own show? Absolutely, should you wish to do this, you can rent the venue and pay for our staffing services.
When do we rock faces? We have events every couple of weeks which feature 2 to 3 artists / bands each month. We like to theme our events and find others who are similar in your music genre.
Where do we rock faces? It’s in the small town of Ozark, Alabama. Near Dothan, Enterprise, and Troy Alabama. Address is 190 West Reynolds Street, Ozark, Al.
Why do we do this? We do this for several reasons but most importantly because its become our passion and our purpose to serve our music community. We believe that a rising tide floats all ships. If we can assist you in your musical journey and you have the right attitude, commitment, and values, we want to be on your team.
Can I sell merch? Absolutely, we will help you setup an area and we don’t want a dime!
Sounds great but I just want to know how to get booked! To be considered for a spot, please provide the following information via email at venue@liveatharlows.com or fill out the form below.
Video of your performances. We don’t just look for a great sound, that’s only part of the equation. We look for the performance and connecting with people. We are showcasing your talent and we want everything you got.
Previous or Upcoming Events. We would like to come see you and support you. We also are strategic when we book events based on your scheduling.
Number of members in your band
Social media pages (facebook, instagram..etc)
Your music genre (rock, country, blues..etc)
Average number of fans that attend your shows
Your goal with playing at Harlow’s
Some open dates on Fridays and Saturdays
We look forward to serving and seeing you at an event soon!
