{"id":13346,"date":"2016-03-04T13:08:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T19:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gigsalad.com\/blog\/?p=13346"},"modified":"2018-08-10T14:26:24","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T19:26:24","slug":"so-you-got-the-gig-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gigsalad.com\/blog\/so-you-got-the-gig-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"So You Got the Gig \u2014 Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last updated on August 10, 2018<\/p>

Article author, Billy Kirsch, is a Grammy & Emmy nominated, CMA & ACM award-winning hit songwriter, keynote speaker, and music team building facilitator. Billy\u2019s unique abilities as a facilitator, leader and performer are the foundation of his highly successful corporate event programs, Team Building Through Song\u00ae and Harnessing Your Creative Power. The presentations help people rediscover their creativity to become more innovative and engaged in their work. Learn more at kidbillymusic.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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A long time ago, when I was a teenager, I used to think everything would fall into place if I could only book a gig. Every chance to play out was exciting. The good news is I still have that same enthusiasm every time I book a gig. But I\u2019ve learned that once the gig is booked, nothing falls into place magically. It takes careful planning and production to pull off a great performance. When I go to work, I need to know with 100% certainty that we’ll have everything in place at the gig to deliver what I promise: a great show. This takes thought, experience, and follow-through.<\/p>\n

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Failure is the best teacher.\u200b<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve learned the hard way to not take anything for granted. Here\u2019s an example of how something you never thought could go wrong, goes wrong.<\/p>\n

I was presenting my musical team building program at a resort in southern California. My client had the obligation to provide all of our Audio-Visual (AV) equipment and I\u2019d sent them a complete list of our AV needs. As a lifelong musician, I only knew about one kind of DI (direct box). That\u2019s the kind of DI that I can plug my keyboard or acoustic guitar into, using a 1\/4 inch instrument cable.<\/p>\n

So\u2026my team and I got to this fancy resort, miles from the nearest music store, and the DI\u2019s were not made to interface with instruments. They were totally different from anything I\u2019d ever seen and yet they were, technically, still DI\u2019s. Let me tell you, this wasn\u2019t fun and the people we were performing for didn\u2019t understand anything about technical difficulties. All they knew was that they could hardly hear the acoustic guitar and we couldn\u2019t even use the keyboard.<\/p>\n

My takeaway from this experience was to develop a very specific list of our production needs. I call it my idiot-proof list and it really comes in handy!<\/p>\n

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Make a list, check it twice. \u200b<\/h2>\n

I now send all of my clients a detailed production list before each gig. Here are some examples of things I\u2019d never thought I\u2019d need to spell out, like with the DI issue above.<\/p>\n