Guide to Gigging - Part 1

By Tony Artimisi

Many of my friends from EIU are somewhere near the threshold of graduation. The several times I have had the blessing to speak to them, the common question has been what to expect in the first year as a gigging musician. Following is the first of what I hope will be a series of articles dealing with this topic.

What to Expect In Your First Year as a Gigging Musician
Article #1: “Introduction and Initial Contacts”

I GRADUATED… now what?

Walking across the stage on May 7, 1999 to receive my Bachelor of Arts degree was an exciting day. There in my hand was tangible evidence that I attended an institution of higher education. I had fought the good fight and finished the race (to quote the Apostle Paul) to finish four years of school, but now I had to deal with starting the next 40- 60 years of my life.

The decision to move to Nashville, Tennessee was an easy one for me. I knew I couldn’t stay in Collinsville, Illinois and expect to live out my fantasy of being full-time studio drummer for obvious reasons. Nashville is the closest of the three “musical meccas” (New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville) to my hometown, has the lowest cost-of-living which appealed to my lack of experience in financial matters, and has the lowest crime rate.

I moved into my first apartment on August 7, 1999. In the last 2-˝ years I have landed two “artist gigs” and performed in 17 states and two countries. I appear weekly in front of 11 million viewers, have performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the Houston Astrodome, RFK stadium and many other arenas and theatres across the country. I realize that everybody is different and some information won’t apply universally. This is just what I’ve seen, and I hope that this information proves useful.

Initial Contacts

On the surface, it would appear that I moved to Nashville as a hopeless case. I am living proof that it is possible to move to a musical hub with no personal contacts and make a living as a free-lance drummer. The only “connection” I had was in the first week of a six-week tour when I arrived. After my parents left I remember sitting down on my couch with my head in my hands wondering what I had gotten myself into. For the first two days, I didn’t even have a phone! I had my first gig within a week. This was accomplished with a little bit of preparation (and the grace of God!).

The music industry’s unspoken motto is “Know and Be Known.” Knowing the musicians in your city is the way to get work. Before you make the big move, compile a list of people to call the instant you arrive in town. I’ll call these people “initial contacts.” It does not matter what an initial contact does for a living, anybody can help even if all they can offer is advice on driving in rush hour traffic. Although if you move to one of the music meccas, chances are that at least one of your initial contacts will know somebody in the music industry. I met some of my best friends and working partners through relationships with initial contacts that work in totally unrelated fields.

How do you start a list of initial contacts? First you are going to have to get a little help from your friends. Everybody you know should be aware that you are moving and why, especially your musician friends. This may sound condescending, but your friends will want to help you. Some friends even enjoy it and wait for opportunities to do so! In the weeks leading up to my move I received phone calls, cards, emails, etc. from friends who knew SOMEBODY in Nashville or the surrounding areas. You will probably receive the bulk of your initial contacts in this fashion.

Second, hopefully while you were working on your music degree you had some contact with professional musicians. In my case I had the blessing of attending the United States Percussion Camp held at Eastern Illinois University. All of the teachers were professional percussionists ¯ either as performers or as teachers. I kept in contact with many of the teachers over the years. This proved to be an invaluable resource in finding musicians in Nashville. How? I’ll give you a specific example.

Two of the teachers at the camp were Ruben Alvarez and Joe Bonadio. Both are extremely talented percussionists, and for helping me they will receive as a token of my gratitude ¯ the Hope Diamond. I contacted both of them while compiling my list of initial contacts, and both recommended that I call Lalo Davila. Lalo is a professor of percussion at Middle Tennessee State University and a free-lance percussionist in the Nashville area. He is responsible for getting me my first teaching position at Good Pasture High School.

As elementary as this sounds, be honest with an initial contact. I called Lalo and said, “My name is Tony Artimisi and I just moved to town. I’m a friend of Ruben Alvarez and Joe Bonadio, and they told me to call you when I got into town. I just graduated from college and was wondering if you had any advice on how to find work?” His answer, “Well, welcome to town. I know GoodPasture is looking for a drumline instructor. Tell [band director] I sent you.” I called the band director and she hired me on his recommendation.

Over and over that scene played itself out. People were inviting me out to lunch, giving me phone numbers of other people to call, showing me the best places to meet other musicians, introducing me to other musicians, etc. Contacts lead to contacts that lead to contacts. Granted, a lot of the gigs I was doing at first were for no money in the worst clubs in town. You have to start somewhere. Are all of the initial contacts going to bear fruit and lead to work? No. Is it worth a phone call to find out? Yes.

Initial contacts are crucial to getting a start in the music business. If you are nervous about “cold-calling” people, call the people on your list that aren’t musicians first. That should ease some of your tension. Most people are flattered that somebody considers them a “big time” musician, and will be happy to offer any advice and help that they can. Try to find a time for a face-to-face meeting if you aren’t a “phone person.” Most importantly, relax and have fun. We have the coolest job in the world.

The next article will discuss “Base and Reliability”