I’m part of a local music meet up called Balanced Breakfast. Although the group originated in San Francisco and Oakland, it’s since expanded all over the country, and even internationally in Toronto. The goal of this group is to strengthen and create community in the local music scene. That’s why I began attending a year ago. This year, they were able to take another step towards building the community, by booking an unofficial SXSW showcase.
As a Balanced Breakfast board member, I was part of the planning process for not only my own performance at the festival, but every other detail from the beginning. It’s been a huge undertaking, but it’s also provided a lot of opportunities and insight for me on playing my first SXSW showcase, and what to look out/plan for.
Planning Ahead
Being a touring musician for the past 11 years, I’m very familiar with what it takes to be on the road, as the musician. Show up on time, and be ready when it’s time to play. It really can be that simple at its core. As a road manager, I’m still learning. The band that I’ve toured with the most is ConFunkShun, a band that had hit records in the 70s and 80s and played the big old school R&B/Funk circuit. 5,000 – 20,000 seat venues much of the time. They are on a whole different level than me, but all the principles are the same.
I’d say the best advice I can give when planning for an event like SXSW is to be flexible, prepared, and stay calm. I’ve had to wear many different hats: bandleader, road manager, production manager, accountant, driver, travel agent. Many of these I wear regularly. Scheduling the flights and working around each band member’s schedule can be one of the most challenging things. I’m thankful in this case that I’m only flying in 3 band members and not 7!
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I know from experience that if you’re getting paid to be on the road, the scheduling is always about what’s convenient for the artist and getting everyone at the venue when needed. It’s part of being a touring musician. Some musician friends are driving with their instruments and booking gigs along the way to Austin. I think this is great if you have the time and freedom to do it. Tours like that, although exhausting, make life as a musician exciting!
For me, even with the backline provided by Balanced Breakfast, taking my full 8-piece band was not possible, and believe it or not this happens a lot with larger bands. Sometimes scaling down is necessary. So instead, I’m instead bringing my drummer, bassist, and guitarist along, and adding on another guitarist who is already going to be at SXSW. So my band will be without keyboards, my back up singer, and horns. To make sure I’m still representing my best self, I’ve been experimenting with different permutations of the band instrumentation. I’ve recently been doing some unplugged singer-songwriter shows too. However, I felt having a full band would make the greatest impression for me, and there is nothing like the camaraderie of musical friends!
Booking Travel & Accommodations
Booking the flights and the hotel are generally most cost effective when done in advance. I would advise only booking far in advanced if 1) You are paying for the flights and the hotel yourself and 2) The show is guaranteed. For most, if not all, big headliner groups require a 50% deposit upfront when the contract is signed, and the remaining 50% in cash generally before the band takes the stage. That doesn’t always happen on the smaller scale. For me and this showcase, I knew it was going to happen and booked the flights about two months in advance. My band is flying in the night before the showcase and flying out right after the show and they are staying the night with me in my hotel room. That was pretty straightforward, and with the exception of the hotel room situation, it’s exactly like being on the road with many bigger acts.
Shared housing is the most cost effective way to stay. If you know other bands and can all coordinate the housing, it can be fairly inexpensive. The fact that that it’s in Austin during this huge music conference can make it very challenging to find convenient, available and/or inexpensive housing otherwise.
Being part of planning the showcase, as well as coordinating my band’s involvement has been both scary and comforting. Scary in that everything is new, and while we try to plan for everything, there are always unexpected shifts and turns, and yet comforting knowing that we are all part of a community that is working together to make this enormous event happen almost 2,000 miles away.
One important thing I’ve learned in this whole process is to let people know you are coming to town and you are looking to play showcases. Research and networking are always important. There are lots of resources available on social media and by doing simple Internet searches. There’s the official SXSW feeds as well as unofficial feeds. My understanding is that there will be huge crowds in downtown Austin, and making connections beforehand is really important to making the most of your time at SXSW. Next year, I may look for showcases to play just as a singer songwriter, maybe even try and score an official showcase. It’s also very important to have a plan or an idea of why you are at SXSW.
This year it’s all a huge learning experience and I hope to be able to report back with some hindsight insights as to how it all went.
D. Edward is an Oakland-based Singer/Songwriter and Multi-Instrumentalist. He has been an active member of the music industry for over a decade now and has worked on numerous albums, including many of his own. His latest, Love Is, recently arrived in stores. We love his work, and we think you will too if you give him a chance. Visit Edward’s official website for more information on his current activities.
