Jazz Articles about B.D. Lenz
Part 12, Just be nice!
by B.D. Lenz
I've truly had a great time writing these “Mind Your Business" articles and want to thank you if you've been following along. I genuinely hope that people have gotten some useful information and inspiration from them. This will be my final installment in this series as I feel like I've covered everything I wanted to say on these topics. Throughout my columns I hope I've given you the tools to push your career even just a little further. I hope ...
read morePart 11, Be Prepared
by B.D. Lenz
When I was younger I was a Boy Scout. I really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from doing it. Probably one of the most important lessons I learned from scouting is one the simplest. The Boy Scout “motto" is be prepared and following that has helped in many situations I've faced as a bandleader. It's obviously expected that you'll bring your instrument and musical knowledge to a gig. But I'm going to suggest some other items to bring ...
read morePt. 10, Video and the Evolution of the Press Kit
by B.D. Lenz
I first started booking gigs for my band during the days of mailing tapes: manually copying cassettes and their inserts, then delivering an armload of clunky packages to the post office. If someone had the ability to burn CDs on their own computer and mail something digital, that was a big deal! Then came the rise of the online press kit and the ability to bypass cranky postal workers. The electronic press kit (EPK) is still relevant and saves a ...
read morePart 9, The Boring (Must Do) Stuff
by B.D. Lenz
When most people think of leading their own band, they imagine the freedom of playing their own music, the adulation of fans, and the exhilaration of touring the world. What they don't often imagine is sitting in an office writing up contracts, requesting deposits, and filling out insurance applications. These dull tasks aren't why musicians started playing in the first place. Yet this columns is about the logistics of running a music business, and sometimes boring paperwork is just as ...
read morePt. 8, PR for Dummies
by B.D. Lenz
I've often thought to myself: “Miles Davis never had to deal with things like mailing lists, and websites, and posters... and press releases!" While this is no doubt true, we live in a different world than Miles Davis did and we're not Miles Davis. Throughout this column I've tried to stress how, in this modern age, you can manage the entirety of your career all by yourself. An important aspect of any artist's career is Public Relations. PR ...
read morePt. 7, Touring Logistics
by B.D. Lenz
In my last column, I covered the first step of booking a tour: getting the gigs. And while it's easily the most important part, it's really just the beginning of the road. There are matters including transportation, lodging, gear and PR, amongst others, to still contend with. Logistics isn't the most exciting of topics, especially to an artist. These details might make your eyes glaze over like playing “Giant Steps" in all twelve keys, but if you're managing everything yourself ...
read morePt. 6, Touring: Booking the Gigs
by B.D. Lenz
Booking a tour for your band might be about the most ambitious (and insane) endeavor you will attempt as a musician. To do it requires that you apply many of the skills that I've covered throughout my columns, including booking, networking, PR and use of social media, as well as some I haven't, such as tour management, driving...and psychotherapy. I've booked many tours for my band throughout the US, UK, and Europe, and if you're doing it all ...
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