When I realised I could start getting pub gigs, I actually got the Yellow Pages out and circled every pub within a certain radius (the rest of that story is in how I actually get pub gigs). Back then half the job was just finding out which pubs even had live music. The circle on the map is still where I'd start.
Draw the circle small
Expenses for pub gigs don't really happen, so generally try and aim for gigs as locally as possible to avoid having those discussions. Focus on a local area where you don't have to be concerned about that kind of thing. If a pub further afield gets in touch with you, it's fine to add a bit to cover your time and petrol, but that's a different conversation from the one you start yourself.
Find the ones that already have music on
A simple Google search, or a prompt to an AI, will hand you a list of the venues in your area that host live music. That gives you the circle. What you want next is the pubs inside it that are actually booking acts, and there are a few honest signs.
- Gig posters. Look at the photos people have posted of the pub on Google Maps, and look at the walls when you're in there.
- Their Facebook page and events. A pub that posts its acts week after week is a pub that books them, and the dates they're already advertising tell you when they like to have music on.
- An open mic night. Pubs that run one usually host other live music too, and the host and the landlord are both people worth meeting.
That second one is worth more than it looks. When you do get in touch, send over a few dates you have available based on the research you've done on the venue. If they always have music on the last Friday of the month, offer them a last Friday.
See who's playing where on fave.rocks
This is where the site I've been building helps. On fave.rocks, the Near me page takes a town or a postcode, or your location if you tap the button, and shows every venue with live music on in the next few weeks within 15 miles. Each one has how far away it is, how many gigs it has coming up and when the next one is. Underneath are the artists playing those venues, so you can see who's already working the pubs you want to play.
There are filters for things like Books live music and Stage & PA, which are useful when you're looking for somewhere to play rather than somewhere to drink. Some of the venues are marked unclaimed, which just means the pub hasn't taken over its own page yet.
Towns get a page of their own too. If anything's on in your town, there's a page like fave.rocks/live/dorking listing everything coming up within 10 miles over the next six weeks, a list of the venues hosting it, and a straight answer to whether there's live music on tonight. Gigs that come from a connected calendar move when the diary does, so nobody has to remember to update them.
When a pub has claimed its page and says it books live music, its page has a Play here section for musicians: which nights they put music on, how it works in their room, and a button to ask to play there. Not every pub has filled that in yet, but when one has, it's the clearest answer you'll get without walking in.
Then ask them how they book
Reverse the whole process. Visit a bunch of venues that have live music and ask how they go about booking their gigs. They might even tell you that they go through an agency, and then you know they'd be wasting your time if you sent them an email directly. These days a lot of pub companies book and pay their live music through apps like GigPig, Gig Realm and JustPay, so some of the answers will be one of those, and that's useful to know too.
I've written up when to go in and what happens once you're through the door, the guitar without the case and the song on the spot, in how I actually get pub gigs.
Don't stop at pubs
During the week, during the day, the opportunity for gigs is limited. If you'd like to be singing throughout the week, getting more experience and earning from it, I think you have two options: busking and care homes.
Care home gigs aren't something many people talk about. If you've got some old-school tunes and you're a personable character, and you can turn your hand to songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s, all care homes have an activity budget to entertain their residents, and they're really rewarding gigs. You have people who are unable to go out, who live within the same four walls, and music is huge therapy for people with dementia. My advice is to research and contact all of the care homes within your area. Gigs are normally an hour long, and between £75 and £100 would be more than reasonable. They have to be local, though, because you can't be driving 40 minutes there and back and make it worth your while.
Busking is the other one, and it's how I started. If you've never done it, the busking guide covers where you can and can't play.
Keep the list somewhere
Once you've got your circle, write the pubs down along with what you found out. I don't keep a spreadsheet myself. The live ones are in my head and my diary. But a spreadsheet can be helpful, and if it helps you, use one. What matters more is going back to the list, because a pub that didn't need anyone in March might be looking in June. The opportunities to perform exist. It's just a case of going out there and grabbing them.