Here are the top reasons we redesigned, retooled and remastered: 

1. Ease of navigation: with 800+ categories, the new design makes it much easier for event planners to find and contact Gig Salad members, with the big search bar and simplified navigational approach.

2. Open spaces: the old Gig Salad’s text was getting smaller and smaller as we were forced to jam info into small spaces. The new one is open, cleaner and better. Breathe.

3. Integration capabilities with future features: The new Gig Salad allows for integration with new features and elements we’re currently working on. Stay tuned for that.

4. A bigger, better PromoKit: Gig Salad member PromoKits are no longer stuffed into a space, but take up the full width of our website. Photo galleries have been retooled, and audio/video files are more visible now. Since most of our members utilize YouTube and other services for videos, we made those more visible too, right on the front page of the PromoKit.

5. More useful “national ads”: Since we don’t allow members to purchase top placement either through a contrived ratings system or through buying top position, we have offered “also travels to” ads in those right columns for a good while now, but with the redesign they are more useful and visible.

6. Good design makes people happy. (which doesn’t explain why our blog still looks like this, but that’s coming soon too)

Peace, love and gigs!

Our first Price is Right sponsorship aired yesterday and featured a Mariachi Band.

Gig Salad member Rachel Philips has a cause on her heart, and it’s to bring the gift of music to orphans in Kenya. Here’s what she’s up to, and how you can help her achieve her dream:

Music Crossing Borders is a New York City based world music ensemble dedicated to the education of students of all ages. Through performance and interaction, we introduce our audience to musical genres from all across the globe. Music blurs the boundaries between race, ethnicity and culture. It unites us as a human race, based not on what we look like or where we live, but by its indescribable ability to move us beyond words. For these reasons, it is more important now than ever to bring music to the community at large!

Music Crossing Borders provides 45 minutes of high energy, interactive assemblies designed to keep students engaged and excited, while exposing them to musical genres across the globe. Clinics are available for all grade levels–kindergarten to university–as well as synagogues, churches, other religious organizations and community organizations all over the world.

Flying Kites Global: Bringing Music to Kenyan Children

Music Crossing Borders has been invited to perform for children living in an orphanage in South Kinangop, Kenya as part of Flying Kites Global. The amount of money we need to raise to bring our six-member band over for this wonderful opportunity is a large number but big plans are in the works toward raising it! Please join us on our endeavor to bring music to the children of this Kenyan orphanage by learning more here.

By giving what you can and passing on this link, you’ll be helping us tremendously in this wonderful cause! Thank you for your support!

Best,
Rachel and Charlie
Music Crossing Borders
www.MusicCrossingBorders.com (coming soon!)

Also visit the Rachel Phillips Quintet on Gig Salad

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner, but alas Christmas is a mere ten weeks away. Ten weeks… and you haven’t even made the trip to Sam’s Club for Halloween-size Tootsie Roll bags yet! Don’t panic, there’s still plenty of time to buy your Christmas presents and plan your company party. However, now is a great time to think through the service providers you’ll need and to start booking entertainment for your holiday party. Whatever you have in mind, Gig Salad can help you find killer entertainment and party services that will leave guests with holiday cheer this season.

Let us leave you with a little song to get your party-planning juices flowing. Yeah, it’s ok to go ahead and sing it to the tune of the last verse of 12 Days of Christmas.

On the twelfth day of Christmas Gig Salad gave to me. . .
12 Elvis Tributes
11 Planners planning
10 Hypnotists mesmerizing
9 Choirs singing
8 Bartenders tending
7 Servers a serving
6 Jazz Bands
5 Face Painters
4 Party Bands
3 Classical Pianists
2 Santa’s Elves
A Santa Claus sliding down a chimney

Search Gig Salad for the perfect Christmas Entertainment and top-notch event service providers!

Fraudulent contracts are not only issued by those with poor grammar. This email was forwarded to us by Pat Hurley. He writes: “Thank you for warning other speakers. These guys were good. The best I had seen. They even called me and praised the Lord on the phone. They had an Asian accent which was strange with the name Williams Smith.”

Warning: Speak Scam on the loose!

July 13th, 2009
Wanted to pass out a warning to all speakers, sales trainers and coaches. Seems as if this scam is being proposed to women only right now but who knows guys…you maybe next. Trouble with this one is it really does seem legit. The websites are pretty good and the organization and Pastor will take your calls. To be fair, I don’t really think he is a Pastor, just pretending to be one. The email, you will receive is as follows:

*****************************

Dear Colleen Francis,
My Name is Pastor William Smith from the London Youth Community Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this Year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE which will take place here in UK. We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE.

The Venue as follows:
VENUE: Holy Apostles Church Hall,
47 Cumberland Street,
Pimlico London, SW1V 4LY
Website.www.londonyc.org
Website.www.londonyouthconference(Under Construction)
Email: info@londonyc.org or w.smith@londonyc.org Expected audience: 2500 people Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour Name of Church/Organization: LONDON YOUTH COMMUNITY Tel Phone: + 44 7077-087-949
Topic: LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP
Date:19th of August 2009-23rd of August 2009 Website:www.londonyc.org

We came across your profile on http:canadianspeakers.org and we say it’s up to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented speech more lives will come close to GOD, Sorry about our late invitation it is due to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her sudden illness.

Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please do not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be sent to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker fees.

Stay Blessed
Williams Smith
w.smith@londonyc.org
LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE

**************************************

Just delete it. If you do call they will ask for your credit card number to secure a UK visa (which if you are Canadian you don’t need for this type of work) and travel arrangements. They will send you a contract if you ask for one. It is signed, but its not on any letter head. At least 10 speakers I know in Canada have all received this and we have done a bunch of research and work sussing it out…so you don’t have to. Best to trust me, delete it an move on.

Time to put my energy to good use now….(but sad I don’t get to go to the UK)

Colleen

(thanks to Pat for forwarding and Colleen for exposing these criminals)

Nick Russo

Gig Salad member Nick Russo is an accomplished guitarist, appearing in the new Sam Mendes film “Away We Go” and playing on the King George soundtrack. He has been a sideman with Jimmy McGriff, Teddy Charles, Sonny Dallas, Victor Jones, Vince Giordano & The Night Hawks, Miles Griffith, David Pleasant, and others.

His new self-produced album “Ro” is an all original eclectic mix of straight-ahead, Indian Raga and modern jazz featuring “Nick Russo + 11″ with Mark Turner, Miles Griffith, Ari Hoenig, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Art Hirahara, Willard Dyson, David Pleasant & the rest of Nick Russo +11. The album is receiving great reviews in All About Jazz, Jazz Improv magazine, Hot House, ejazz news, Boston Gazette, Jazz Times, Vintage Guitar, Cadence, Jazz-iz and other publications, and is achieving international radio play in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Chicago, Japan and New York.

Nick Russo has conducted lectures on banjo at Manhattanville College, has taught jazz performance classes at Aaron Copland School, college classes on guitar at Essex College and has been a jazz clinician at Queens College for 9 years conducting jazz workshops via the Jazz Project. Professor Russo is also on staff at Queens College, Great Neck Music Conservatory and an adjunct music professor at Essex College.

Nick is also the author of 2 books: “Metallica, Legendary Licks” Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 as well as the editor of the GRP arpeggio book and exercise book (published by Cherry Lane/Hal Leonard). His Off Broadway shows include A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, Take Me Along (Irish Rep) and The Big Apple Circus.

Nick’s Gig Salad PromoKit
Nick on MySpace

The world is full of excellent people who care more about their fellow man than about their own welfare. Unfortunately wherever there is good, there is also evil standing close-by devising ways to poison the good.

Now that we’ve covered Good vs. Evil 101, let’s discuss how it relates to the entertainment industry. If you have a website, or are listed on a directory like GigSalad.com, then you have undoubtedly received leads for gigs. A certain percentage of those leads will be non-serious, inquisitive people just poking around, some will be low-budget quickie gigs, and some might be high-end, high-dollar engagements that open the doors to greater things in your career. And at the bottom of the pile, straight from the seventh level of Hades, are outright fraudulent requests from slimy individuals who try to rob you of funds, identity or both.

Many posing as “event planners” will appear to solicit your services and will send you excessive “up front” payment in the form of money orders, cashiers’ checks or bank drafts, have you send them the difference, then cancel the payment they had originally sent you.

They will also try to collect sensitive information from you by telling you they will book your hotel or flight, then use it to do terrible things with your identity.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF ALL SUSPICIOUS REQUESTS, from requests originating from ANY SITE or email address. Never give sensitive information and do not send money back for any reason.

Here’s are a few examples of outright fraudulent requests made to members in the past. We were able to intercept it an alert our members, but here’s what they said:

From bob.max101@yahoo.com
(no phone number listed)
Goodday,
My name is Bob, i am preparing for my wedding which will come up on the 15th of august 2009.. by 10;00am here in 124th Avenue Miami, Florida 33183 , As i was searching for the best comedian to make the day a memorable day for me and my wife. I saw your advert and i am really impressed about your performance. and you are going to start by 12:00pm and end 2:00pm, How much will you collect if you are to entertain my guess with the travel expenses….i am having 50 guest for the day.
Hope to read back from you.

Greetings to you,I am Mr.Robbin Mart from Louisville, KY.I will like to have your service for my son’s Philip Wedding ceremony with her wife, named as Jessy.I found you at webpage saladgig.I am making an enquiry in regards to your services on my son’s Wedding,We are having the party at his wife residence,in which i will like to get your price for 4 hours of service and we are having 120-140 guests in which the party will start at 11:00am by recption which is about 5 mins drive to the party venue and ends the party till 7:00pm and i will like the best of your performance on that date.Also let me know if there will be any little charges for your flight fee.What time will you show up for my event? What type of equipment do you use? Are you licensed, registered and insured? Do you want me to book a near by hotel we have here for you?And are you coming alone to perform at the party?Also i will like to know if you are available for the date 5th or 6th of July 2006. I await the best of your message soonest.The party venue is @ 4410 Shepherdsville Rd Louisville, KY 40218 Get back to me asap. NOTICE: Email me Reply me to robbinmart3@yahoo.com Engr.Robbin S. Mart.

Here’s a response one of our members received when he followed up with a fraudulent lead:

Thanks for the mail,am very happy that you will perform on my wedding,the date of my wedding is on (9/20/2009).,i will give you the location as soon as the location is ready,i told you in my last mail that am not in state for now. Since your fee is $250 and i will add $150 as a compensation from me making $400, i want you to reserve the date for me.I have a client that will send you a cashier check or Money Order of $2500. I believe true transaction should be based on trust that is why i said he should send you the payment,as soon as you get the money you will deduct your fees and send the balance to my Wedding Cake Baker vendor via western union money transfer. So i will like you to get back to me with your Full Name and Full Address with your Cell And Home And office phone #,.Looking forward to read from you Soon
Thanks God Bless

Here are a few telltale signs of fraud:

1. Requests that you contact client by email only;
2. Requests made that do not apply to the services you offer;
3. Messages from event planners outside North America;
4. Emails with exceptionally poor grammar;
5. Event planner who requests to pay you up front and asks for a check from you for the difference;
6. Inquiries with invalid phone numer;
7. Leads you receive through your website or ours with missing data such as EVENT LOCATION. A simple test is to call the phone number they provide. If it’s a generic answering system, a disconnected number, a wrong number, or if there’s no number at all, be very cautious.

Nigeria has been notorious for sending stuff like this out, but it really comes from everywhere.

We have security measures in place on Gig Salad to screen fraud, but since even the slimiest of folks can be clever, we cannot cannot guarantee the validity of requests made through contacting you through the website. Please use caution when responding to inquiries through this site (or other websites) that appear to be suspicious.

PLEASE CONTACT US AT 1-417-889-9909 IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF A REQUEST that has been made to you.

We’re here to help!

-Steve & Mark

The Gig Salad team rocks, there’s no question about it. I had a ton of fun coaching this season. Thanks to coaches Danny, Jason and John for being awesome, and to our fantastic parents and of course the kids who worked hard to be their best. What a fun season.

-Steve

Mark

New Membership Levels: We’re adding 2 new membership levels to Gig Salad: Free and Premium. The members who sign up for free will only get their name and city posted, and a button to contact them. Premium members will get the Agent-Friendly website features, more category selections, more space for audio/video, 2 extra Gig Soup leads to follow up with daily, as well as a featured spot on the main category pages. If you currently have purchased the agent-friendly feature, you will be automatically moved up to the premium level when it launches. If you do not, you will continue to enjoy all of the same features you currently have.

Brand Spankin’ New Control Panel: We’ve overhauled the control panel to make things much easier for you to navigate. Please contact us at help@gigsalad.com if things are confusing– we’re confident the new control panel will make things a lot easier for everyone.

Let us know what you think of everything!

Steve and Mark

Most brides and potential clients will include the question “How much?” in their initial email inquiries. They will include your name in the email greeting and may include some additional info about the time, date, and location of the gig. These are all good signs that the bride is genuinely interested in learning about your availability and talents.

However, on rare occasions, you will receive questionable inquiries. Actually, they are not inquiries at all—they are from scammers. As Steve Tetrault of GigSalad.com explains, “Their ultimate goal is to get you to receive a deposit check for an amount that is greater than what it should be, then ask you for the difference. Their check turns out to be fraudulent and they walk away with a few thousand bucks from you.”

Pretty scary stuff, but true.

Here are seven warning signs that you’ve received a fake email inquiry:

1. The email message is not addressed to anyone in particular. It will start off with “Hello”, or “Greetings”, instead of “Dear Anne”. This means that it was probably a mass mailing. Another test: Look at the “To:” field and the “Reply To:” field or the “From:” field in the header of the email. If these are all the same email addresses, the email was a mass mailing, not intended just for your eyes only.

2. The inquiry is riddled with exceptionally poor spellings, grammar, and punctuation. Yes, some brides can’t spell worth beans, but if you try to read the sentences out loud and find the urge to change the order of nouns and verbs, you don’t have an inquiry. You have s*pam.

3. The email makes requests that do not apply to the services you offer. If you are a string quartet, and the email is asking for a wedding DJ, it is too big a mistake to take seriously.

4. The email is giving you bogus information. I once received an email that said the ceremony and reception would last from 11 am until 7 pm and that my services would be needed for that length of time. Really????

5. The scammer gives you a lot of extraneous info, such as a mailing address and phone number, only to say to contact them by email. They’re trying to convince you that they’re for real. Don’t fall for it. If an address is provided, go to MapQuest.com or YahooMaps or another map site and see if the address is a fake. You can also try calling a given phone number to see if it actually works.

6. Any email messages from overseas, claiming that they are willing to pay for your travel expenses and accommodations to perform in a foreign country. Weddings are local events, and brides, event coordinators, and booking agents are most interested in booking local talent. It’s pretty unlikely that a client who is not an established fan of yours (already on your email list) will pay you thousands of dollars, put you up in a hotel, provide your meals, and take care of your expenses to travel any distance to perform.

7. Any email from a client or event planner who is itching to pay you upfront, without any previous correspondence or conversations with you. People aren’t that eager to part with their money for any musician, and they like to do a bit of shopping around, asking questions, before they commit to spending money.

If you receive one of these wedding scam emails:

1. Don’t reply. Once you reply, the scammer thinks he has you hooked, and now that he knows he has a legit email address, he may pass your address along to all his scammer friends, too.

2. Report it as s*pam. If you received the email through an online wedding or music directory, alert them. They’ll want to put a halt to it and report it to the correct authorities. Don’t blame these online directories, because they are victims as much as you are.

3. Depending upon what is contained in the body of the email, take things a step further. You can report it to the online FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov), SpamCop.net, your own Internet Service Provider, and a host of other online agencies that exist to eradicate s*pam.

The above tips, and many more, are found in my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with savvy information about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

How have you dealt with con artists? Please share your comments and insights below to help others avoid these pitfalls, too.

Cheers,
Anne
—
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
http://www.celticharpmusic.com

Gig Salad proudly supports local organizations around Wilmington, NC (home of our web development and marketing headquarters) such as The Thalian Association for the Performing Arts and Winter Park Optimist Baseball. This spring we are sponsoring a tee ball team. Our kids are outstanding players and great sportsmen, and are doing the Gig Salad name proud!

Monica’s new store, the Wedding Emporium, is located in the Carson Mall in Carson City, Nevada. I was looking forward to performing inside her new one-stop shop for tuxedos, bridal gowns, and photography. But when I arrived, Monica said, “There’s a stage set up in the middle of the shopping mall. I think it would be much better for you to perform there, where everyone will see you, instead of inside my shop.”

It wasn’t what I expected–A lone harpist on a big stage inside of a mall? That was okay for the jazz band, which was packing up when I approached the stage, but wouldn’t I get lost up there? Would anyone see or hear the harp? Would anyone be paying attention?

As it turned out, the shopping mall was fairly quiet, even with complimentary chocolate-covered strawberries handed out to patrons who roamed about on this Valentine’s Day. For a harpist, quiet is a good thing. The harp music reverberated throughout the mall, and people gathered to take seats in front of the stage as I played a mix of Celtic music and modern popular love songs.

Shoppers approached the edge of the stage and asked for requests, and I sold CDs that they wanted autographed. Even Monica could hear me performing as the harp music wafted into her store. When I finished playing, she bought CDs to sell to her own customers and took a large stack of brochures to pass on to brides-to-be.

Originally, I had an odd picture in my head of being ignored on a big stage in the middle of a mall, for I am a solo musician, not a band. Happily, I was wrong.

Tips for Retail Store Owners:

These are hard economic times, and that means you may need to be a bit creative about getting shoppers into your store. Many shop owners attract customers by discounting prices on selected items by 50% or more. Instead, what if you invested in a musician to draw a crowd?

In the above story, Monica didn’t slash prices at all, but even on a quiet shopping day, brides were parading into her store. Of course, she sent a press release to the local paper. She also handed out fliers to other colleagues in her wedding networking group, Weddings of the West. She cooperated with other stores in the mall, too, and they all got the word out.

You could host your own musical events. I have seen a Hawaiian luau band playing in Trader Joe’s grocery stores, pianists performing in music stores, string quartets in hotel lobbies, and jazz trios playing inside mall food courts. Take a cue from the folks at Disneyland—they have live music at all their eateries and even outside of shops where people are milling about. Music serves to make patrons linger, and if they linger, they are more apt to buy.

Tips for Musicians:

Don’t be afraid to take on a different gig than you’re used to playing. If you have never played in a department store, in a shopping mall, in a music store, in a bridal shop, or even inside a grocery store, maybe it’s time to give it a try.

Sure, you may need to offer a discount off of your regular performance fees to land these gigs, but if you have CDs to sell, you will make it up in sales. Plus, you just never know who may pick up your business card and give you a call later for a much more lucrative gig. At the very least, you’ll get some free promotion.

Go where you are apt to meet future clients. If you primarily play at weddings, approach bridal salons, jewelry stores, cake shops, etc., and see about performing in these retail outlets to gain exposure to brides who may want to hire you. If you primarily teach music lessons, approach full-service music stores to demonstrate how wonderful their sale instruments can sound with proper practice (you might even win yourself a spot teaching in that store, too). If you have your CDs commercially available, you can also perform in bookstores that are willing to stock your CDs. Actually, performing anywhere that people can sit down and take a listen to you can attract new fans, customers, and clients.

Many more tips are available from my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with advice about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and of course, at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

I’m looking forward to reading your feedback about performing in retail stores.

Cheers,
Anne

Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos

Anne’s Gig Salad PromoKit
(And contact me at anne@celticharpmusic.com for personal consultation and mentoring—Make a living while gigging)

I visited Minden Elementary School in Minden, Nevada to give a presentation to 4th-6th grade students. But before attending, I supplied Ms. B, the teacher who invited me, with a complete lesson plan. It included what I was planning to teach: an introduction to the Celtic harp in Renaissance England and Ireland, along with a full discussion of the culture and music from that period.

I dressed in full Renaissance period costume (appropriate for a middle-class musician from that time), and I brought plenty of sheet music with me, just in case I ran out of what I planned to play.

When I arrived, three boys helped me bring my equipment into the multi-purpose room where the assembly would be held. Ms. B even assigned a young lady by the name of Kai, to make an introduction to the students before I began my presentation.

There were some 200 students gathered. After explaining about the culture and dress of the 1500s, I performed the following tunes, with plenty of explanation in between:

1. Early Music—3 French Dances
2. Written by King Henry VIII—“Pastyme With Good Company”
3. Can they name this tune?–“Greensleeves”
4. O’Carolan’s music:
“Shebeg & Shemore”
“Planxty George”
“Carolan’s Draught”
5. Renaissance Dances:
“My Lady Carey’s Dompe”
“Galliard”
“Epping Forest”–waltz
“Abbots Bromley Horn Dance” and “The Green Man”—Double jigs
“Considine’s Grove”—Hornpipe
“Princess Royal”–Hornpipe
6. Can they tell the difference between which is an air and which is a march?
“Carrickfergus” and “Brian Boru’s March”
Encore:
“The Water Kelpie”

I instructed the children to hold their questions to the end of the assembly, and there was a question/answer period the last ten or fifteen minutes before my hour was up.

Next, I was lead into the library, where I did an additional presentation for Ms. B’s and Ms. Moyer’s 6th grade classes. The students had prepared questions for me to answer as part of their “Music and Arts Lecture Series”. They wanted to know what it was like to be a working musician, and they asked questions like “Why did you want to play the harp?”, “Where are harps made?”, “Where do you perform?”, and “Do you feel unique because you play the harp?”. I finished off the round of thoughtful questions with a few more tunes.

Next, cookies, chips, and lemonade were served in the library and they had “Meet and Greet”. The kids thanked me and excused themselves to get snacks. They mixed and mingled like adults at a cocktail party! The students were all so well-behaved, and it was a joy to perform for them.

View some great photos in the photo gallery on my website.

Tips for School Teachers and Principals:

Bringing in musical talent for performances and educational presentations does not have to be a budget-breaker. By utilizing the local talent in your community, you won’t need to provide them with accommodations or food. Furthermore, musicians are usually booked up on evenings and weekends, so their schedules are more open on weekdays and may pass along a discount to you.

Zero in on exactly what they will be teaching and how that information or performance will fit into your present curriculum. It is common to ask for a lesson plan and references. However, if you require musicians to jump through too many hoops to be considered (submitting lengthy applications, panel interviews, extensive press kits, etc.), some musicians my simply decide against applying in the first place.

Once you have invited a musician for an assembly, prepare the students for the visit. A great idea is to have the students prepare questions to ask the musician ahead of the visit, as in the above example. And afterward, the children can write essays about what they learned from the visit. Of course, children who have behavior issues should be warned or simply weeded out of the classes who attend the assembly.

Take photos and movies of the presentation to share on school websites and with parents. Make it a big event. Show that you support the arts in your community. And keep in touch with the musicians afterward–They love to hear how their presentations were received.

Tips for Musicians:

If you are great with kids and have something to teach and share about your instrument and your music, consider offering school presentations as a wonderful way to supplement your income and do something special for your local community. In fact, there are many musicians who travel to perform for schools far and wide—performing for kids is their specialty.

The first step to performing in schools is to contact your local school districts and find out what their requirements are. Some will simply instruct you to contact individual school principals to see about their interest, needs and budget. Larger school districts may have an arts program in place. In these cases, there will be an application/interview process before you are even considered.

Hone in on what you can offer to kids. Do a Google search on “lesson plans” and use those outlines and examples to create some lessons that tie in with your musical performance. Schools will want to know what you’ll be teaching, and sample lesson plans provide the format for conveying this information to them.

Finally, include a discount for local schools. We need the arts in our communities, and children need to see people up-close-and-personal performing for them.

Many more tips are available from my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with advice about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and of course, at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

I’m looking forward to reading your feedback about performing at school events.

Cheers,
Anne
—
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
www.celticharpmusic.com
GigSalad.com/anne

We’ve been busy here adding features that create value for our members. A recent addition: You can now receive your lead notifications by text message. The great news is that it costs nothing extra for you to receive these notifications (other than what your cell phone carrier charges you for incoming text messages). Just go to “settings” and input your carrier and cell phone number and we’ll take care of the rest.

People Got A Lotta Nerve – Neko Case

Check out Neko Case’s new single “People Got a Lotta Nerve”- she’s supporting a worthwhile cause while her fans circulate it around. I’m a fan – she is brilliant – and am posting it here. Take a listen- the album comes out 3/3/09. Can’t wait!

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Best Friends Animal Society is one of America’s foremost animal rescue organizations. Best Friends advances nationwide animal welfare initiatives by working with shelter and rescue groups around the country. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org

Kansas City Power & Light District wanted the Times Square feel to ring in the New Year, so they contacted us to help them find the right talent to make their event extraordinary. The first-ever celebration at the Power & Light District’s KC Live had an estimated crowd of 10,000, and with freezing temperatures, bright-as-the-sun searchlights, live bands and huge “celebrity-studded” party, it was indeed a night to remember.

Most bars and clubs hosted private parties that surrounded the stage and outdoor venue where our event was located. Just before midnight, the celebrity impersonators, of which there were many, joined the band “KCDC”, a Kansas City favorite, on stage for the countdown.

The entire evening was a blast and every impersonator was great. I spent the evening with “Paris Hilton” at the area’s hottest club, Mosaic, and had a blast. Every person (as themselves) was so nice and so much fun. The highlight for me was probably being on stage in front of thousands to welcome in 2009… and that picture ended up on the front page of The Kansas City Star. Another great moment was sitting next to Bill Clinton impersonator Dale Leigh, George Bush impersonator Brent Mendenhall, and Barack Obama impersonator Randall West to talk “politics”.

Stacy Forbis is a Jennifer Aniston Impersonator who is part of the Gig Salad team in Springfield.

We’ve been using Twitter to give give quick updates about what we’re doing here at Gig Salad. Follow our daily Tweets!

Here’s a shot of his work, along with a video of the event. Enjoy!

To see Cartoon City’s Gig Salad PromoKit, click here.