3 Booking Tips/3 Cooking Tips

Today I'm gonna keep it short & sweet with 3 Booking Tips & 3 Cooking Tips.

Since a large portion of my life involves my adventures in being an indie musician and booking agent, I'd love to share these tips with folks who maybe are musicians themselves, or who aren't musicians at all but are interested in knowing what goes into putting all that music out into the world.

So... we'll start w/ booking before we move on to cooking!

1. When you're pitching a show to a booker, give them a reason to want to host the show. The reason can be because you have a great following, or that you work diligently and creatively to promote your shows, or that your fans are a bunch of heavy drinkers who love to spend money on booze (or perhaps all of the above!). Could the reason be that you put on a great show? Well, that's a good reason, but not so good if there is no one there to see you put on the show.

2. Keep your messages, whether by voicemail or email, BRIEF! Remember, you're probably just one of many fine musicians looking to book a show. Be the cream and rise to the top by keeping your inquiry succinct, while still being interesting. I know that's sometimes easier said than done, but it's worth practicing!

3. When sending a booker an email, identify the name of the band and the date in consideration in the subject line! As a booker, there's nothing like having a hundred emails in my inbox, with half them showing the sender as "booking" or "info" and the subject line saying "booking" or "show". Now if the email looks something like.... "Sender: Iggy Pop -- Subject: I want to be on your cooking show on September 30th...." then I'm definitely going to pay it more attention, long before I sort through those 50 emails from "booking".

That's it for tonight on booking, and now onto cooking:

1. When you have leftover fresh herbs, make herb butter. Take one stick of butter at room temperature & using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, blend the following into it: finely minced fresh herbs, a small amount of finely minced shallot, a little bit of grated lemon zest and a little bit of salt. Delicious on bread, in rice or in soup.

2. When you have leftover pita bread, you can make these tasty chips in your toaster oven: Slice the pita into little triangles. Toss them in a bowl with some extra virgin olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the pita!), a couple dashes of cayenne, some cumin (freshly ground is always best) and a pinch of salt. Crisp them in your toaster over for a couple minutes, then flip them and toast the other side. They're the bomb!

3. For perfect hard boiled eggs that peel easily and maintain a nice bright yellow yolk: Bring the eggs to room temperature & cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn the pan off & cover, let sit for 12 minutes. Gently drop into an ice water bath - the colder the better. Peel, and enjoy!


On second thought... I guess this wasn't exactly short, but I sure hope it's useful!