I'm hired to perform over 300 gigs every year, from solo shows to hosting open mic nights, and I gig from Wednesday through to Sunday every single week, pretty much without fail. You might be expecting me to hand you a clever email, but I don't think emails are a big part of it at all. I'll tell you what I've done, and what I do these days.
It started on a high street, not in an inbox
When I first started, all I knew was to just go out and sing, so I started busking. Off the back of busking I had pub managers who were walking past while I played on the high street stop and say, "You sing pubs? What do you charge? Can we get you in?" I got booked for weddings the same way. Your advertising is getting out there and doing it and showing people what you're made of.
When I realised I could start getting pub gigs, I actually got the Yellow Pages out, circled every pub within a certain radius and cold-called all of them. It scared the hell out of me, having conversations with all these grown-up people doing real jobs while there I was trying to sell myself. But that's the way.
Walk in, with the guitar out of its case
If you take one thing from this page, make it this. I would definitely swing by the pub and see if I could speak to somebody, because the personal touch is actually really effective. When I went into a pub, if I took my guitar in with me but without a case, and asked if I could sing them a song, nine times out of ten they would agree and say "yeah, that would be great, we'd love to hear what you do." It's like an audition on the spot. If they've got punters in the pub and they like what you do, then you're in an even better position for getting a gig further down the line.
Pick your moment, though. Going in on a Saturday night at 7pm is probably not advisable unless you're genuinely there for a drink. The middle of the week, when things are more chilled, after the lunchtime rush and before people finish work and head in, is probably a good time to do it. And buy a drink while you're there. If you can be one of the regulars, I don't think that would hurt.
Where email fits
Email still has a place, it just isn't the main event. When you do send one, send over a few dates you actually have available, based on some research you've done on the venue. If you see Valentine's Day coming up, let them know you've got that date free, or a Sunday on a bank holiday weekend. A specific date gives a busy manager something to say yes to.
Then expect silence, because silence is normal. You send an email and you don't get a response. You put through another email and maybe mention you're going to swing by at some point. You still don't get a response, so you pop into the pub. People that run pubs are busy, and it's not a reflection on you. They're running a business, and hiring you isn't top of their agenda.
The one email I would never send is the one that closes the loop, the "this is my last message" kind. You're assuming they've read your message and ignored it, and I don't think that's usually what's happened. You don't want to close off any potential.
The hard part is in your head
At first I did have to reach out to a lot of different people, and honestly it could be soul-destroying, contacting so many people and hearing nothing back. The mental frame I had to approach every connection with was that I didn't need work from anyone in particular. It was a bit of a numbers game, and once I got my foot in the door somewhere, I would make sure everyone had such a great time I was bound to get hired again.
Open mic nights are a way in that doesn't feel like selling. If you're performing at someone else's open mic there's no fee, that's for exposure, but if you've got a good voice and good song choices and the landlord sees it, there's nothing wrong with dropping your card behind the bar afterwards.
What the landlord actually wants from you
Your job as a musician is to make it so easy they don't even have to think about it. They hire you. You put the date in the diary. It's not your job to make that pub busy, but you still advertise it and you let people know that you're playing there. All you have to do is make sure anyone you perform to on that night has a great time. If you can do all of these things and make the landlord's life easy, then I think you'll find you're on a winner.
When they ask what you charge, have your number ready. £150 to £250 is what pubs look to hire someone for. I personally charge more than this, but I've been able to do that because I've become very well established with what I do, so I'm charging a premium for my experience. I've written about how much to charge for a pub gig separately.
You don't need hundreds of pubs
Most venues I play at, I play at on a monthly basis. For a full diary, if I deliver and the people who hire me are happy and book me monthly to fill my Friday and Saturday nights, I need eight venues. If we add Sunday nights to that, we need twelve. Develop and nurture two relationships, and you can live.
I'm not against agencies, but the model I've followed has been different. I do one gig that goes through an agency, and when the venue decided it only wanted two hours instead of three, the pay dropped by a third and there was nothing I could do about it. I want full control, and the relationships are what give me that.
Let them see you're out there working
Having gig dates automatically updating highlights the fact that you're busy with work. Of course, if you're not, then you just let people know that you're starting out. I currently work with someone who booked me for one to two weeks right in the middle of the week. I got it by chance, when someone stumbled across my page based on other gigs I did.
This is where fave.rocks, the site I've been building, comes in. It gives you a free artist page that fills itself from the calendar you already keep. Put a gig in your diary and it's on your page and on the venue's page, and if the date moves, it moves there too. Acts are placed on the site by where they actually play, so someone looking for a musician in their town can find you and hit a Book button that writes the enquiry for them. And when the landlord looks you up after you've sung your song, there's a page that shows you're busy.
None of this happens overnight, and getting gigs is probably more about it taking time than it is about the financial cost. Early on, my dad booked me three gigs in one weekend and the third one, in Hastings, absolutely wiped me out. That was the moment I realised I could do it, and these days I do eight gigs a week sometimes. It's amazing that when you just get out and do it, you'll be surprised at how long you can keep going for.
If you want the rest of it, from the follow-up emails to turning one good night into a regular slot, it's all in How to Get Pub Gig Bookings.