Ron
Well-known member
Just had a great experience which I thought I'd share because it illustrates....something, I'm sure.
About 18 months ago my duo The Ukes of Hazard and a local group, The Uklectics played a gig at a local venue, The Playhouse.
Now, both groups had played a bit around town. Pretty much all our work is paid gigs or freebies for captive audeinces of one sort or another = events, weddings that sort of thing.
The Playhouse gig was the first we'd tried just advertising and trying to make a buck off the door. Well, on the night there were probably about 10 people actually paid and although we had a good night we sure didn't make much.
Well, last night we did the same gig (this time three groups including the Ukuholics). Over 150 people turned up, we all played well, they LOVED it and we all went home with a bit more than beer money.
What was different? Well, we've all played around town a bit more but I noticed that most of the crowd were new faces - people we hadn't met before (the other groups said the same) - so I don't think it was so much about our "popularity".
I think it was a combination of good use of social media, networking and the cache that "ukulele" now has.
All three of the groups have facebook pages. Not huge numbers of "likes" but a few. We are quite active making sure we add any other uke groups we come across and making sure we share info with them. I work quite hard to make sure our page has regular updates which means we turn up on our followers' pages more often.
We all also regularly attend Ukulele Sunday (well us and the Ukuholics organise Ukulele Sundays), an open mic once a month that has been slowly growing in popularity. One of the reasons for Uke Sundays popularity, i reckon, is that we really make an effort to make everyone welcome and support anyone who wants to get up and have a go. Again - a Facebook page with plenty of chat.
Finally I think there were a lot of people there because they'd seen "ukulele" in the promotion. I spoke to two teachers who simply came because they'd recently been to a uke workshop as part of their professional development. I also talked to two couples whose kids played and the had heard enough about the groups playing that night to know we could at least entertain. One or two had heard of one the groups and a couple had facebooked.
Anyway - we're going to test the water by having our little UkeFest at The Playhouse twice a year and see if the audience sustains.
Don't know if there are any lessons there but I sure loved playing for a bunch of people who had paid to come and see us knowing I could pay for the gas home.
About 18 months ago my duo The Ukes of Hazard and a local group, The Uklectics played a gig at a local venue, The Playhouse.
Now, both groups had played a bit around town. Pretty much all our work is paid gigs or freebies for captive audeinces of one sort or another = events, weddings that sort of thing.
The Playhouse gig was the first we'd tried just advertising and trying to make a buck off the door. Well, on the night there were probably about 10 people actually paid and although we had a good night we sure didn't make much.
Well, last night we did the same gig (this time three groups including the Ukuholics). Over 150 people turned up, we all played well, they LOVED it and we all went home with a bit more than beer money.
What was different? Well, we've all played around town a bit more but I noticed that most of the crowd were new faces - people we hadn't met before (the other groups said the same) - so I don't think it was so much about our "popularity".
I think it was a combination of good use of social media, networking and the cache that "ukulele" now has.
All three of the groups have facebook pages. Not huge numbers of "likes" but a few. We are quite active making sure we add any other uke groups we come across and making sure we share info with them. I work quite hard to make sure our page has regular updates which means we turn up on our followers' pages more often.
We all also regularly attend Ukulele Sunday (well us and the Ukuholics organise Ukulele Sundays), an open mic once a month that has been slowly growing in popularity. One of the reasons for Uke Sundays popularity, i reckon, is that we really make an effort to make everyone welcome and support anyone who wants to get up and have a go. Again - a Facebook page with plenty of chat.
Finally I think there were a lot of people there because they'd seen "ukulele" in the promotion. I spoke to two teachers who simply came because they'd recently been to a uke workshop as part of their professional development. I also talked to two couples whose kids played and the had heard enough about the groups playing that night to know we could at least entertain. One or two had heard of one the groups and a couple had facebooked.
Anyway - we're going to test the water by having our little UkeFest at The Playhouse twice a year and see if the audience sustains.
Don't know if there are any lessons there but I sure loved playing for a bunch of people who had paid to come and see us knowing I could pay for the gas home.
