Okay, time to vent.
I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to book shows out of town. What happens (frankly, as expected) is that I can’t get people on the phone, and when I do I’m reminded (as if I needed to be reminded) that they have never heard of me.
Somehow I still am falling in between every niche I come across, at least speaking in general terms. I manage to connect with some people, but generally speaking:
Acoustic fans had trouble with me because I was too pop.
Clubs had trouble with me because I was acoustic.
Power pop fans have trouble with me because I’m too cerebral and depressing.
Indie pop fans have trouble with me because I’m too poppy.
The radio promotion company isn’t sure how to push me to radio, because the record is too slick for college radio, but commercial radio has never heard of me.
I knew booking would bring all of this down to earth, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with constantly being reminded that they really don’t give a fuck who I am. If radio happens to catch for some reason, and I manage to get shows booked because of that, it’ll be two months before the shows actually occur, by which time radio will be dead.
If I can get shows booked now, it’s clear they’ll be weekday shows, and there’s no way to bring a band along for those, which limits where I can play to begin with. Also, I tend to win over people a lot slower when I play solo shows.
God, I don’t want all of this to just fall flat like last time.
Edited to add: The thing is… it’s not like I’m doing anything particularly earth-shattering. If I were breaking new musical ground it would be one thing, but I mean, I’m just playing pop music, and hopefully adding a little wit and intelligence along the way. It doesn’t seem like it should be that difficult to make a way.