Thirteen rooms and nine acts, and what to say to each

01Where you sit today

• 1
  Open mics and showcase nightsBehind you. Two years of them.
• 2
  Support slotsFour so far, all at The Tin Lantern, all arranged informally.
• 3
  Weeknight headlineWhere you are. The residency is a Thursday and it fills. This is the rung the list below is built to work from.
• 4
  Weekend headlineNot yet, and pitching for it now would cost you the tier-two rooms.

Your honest draw is 55 to 90 in a room you have played before, and unknown outside Austin. That number goes in the pitches exactly as written. It is a good number for a Thursday and a modest one for a Friday, and being straight about which is what gets a second reply.

02The target list

Twenty-two targets: thirteen rooms, and nine local acts one rung up whose support slots are the way into rooms that will not book you direct yet. Each carries a reason it fits. Four more were cut during research for having no fit reason, which is the correct outcome rather than padding the list to a round number.

03The pitches

One per tier, all under 120 words, all with the live link above the fold. Highlighted parts get changed per venue; everything else stays as written.

Hi Rosa,

Thursdays have been good to me and I would like to try a Friday. I draw 55 to 90 on a Thursday here, and I think a decent share of that follows.

New single out 9 October, so I would be coming in with something to play.

Live from last month: [link]

Any Friday in February or March that is still open?

Wren

Hi [name],

I play quiet alt-country in Austin, two EPs out, monthly residency at The Tin Lantern. My honest draw is 55 to 90 in a room I have played before, and I have not played The Caliche Room yet, so treat that number carefully.

Your Tuesday-to-Thursday listening nights look like the right fit; nobody talks over the songs and that is the whole thing for me.

Live, one song, no edits: [link]

Would a Thursday in February or March work? Happy to open for whoever you already have.

Thanks for reading,
Wren

Hi Cass,

You opened for me at the Lantern in April and it worked better than either of us expected. I would like to do it the other way round, or better, split a bill properly.

The Caliche Room suits both of us and I can pitch them the whole bill so nobody has to solve it.

I draw 55 to 90 here. Two of us on one night should clear a hundred.

Live clip: [link]

Interested? Any month works.

Wren

Hi [name],

I know I am under the draw you need to headline, so this is purely for support consideration.

Two EPs, monthly residency at The Tin Lantern, 55 to 90 draw, new single out 9 October.

Live: [link]

If anything comes up where a quiet opener fits, I would be glad to be on the list. No reply needed.

Thanks,
Wren

04Cadence

1. Send in tier order, tier one firstThree warm pitches this week. Do not send tier two until the warm ones have had five days, because a yes from tier one changes what you can say to tier two.
2. One follow-up, seven to ten days laterSame thread, never a new email, and it must add something new: a confirmed date, a new clip, a bill that has come together. A follow-up that only says "just checking" trains people to ignore you.
3. Then stopNo second follow-up. Move the row to "no answer" and pitch them again next cycle with something that has changed.
4. Same-week thank-you after every showSend the door number, unprompted, and ask about the next hold. This is the step almost everyone skips, and it is where repeat bookings actually come from.

05The tracker

Arrives with all twenty-two targets already filled in, so the first session is sending rather than typing.