"Rocking" for some good cause or something...

[Charlie Daniels]

...Well, as some of you may or may not remember the last two summer's (southern hemisphere summers, so that's Dec. to Feb.) I've put together and band and each year it's been successful, particularly last year we were doing 3 gigs a week and taking a rather good cut. But this was just playing around town.

This year, I've got a rough line-up and repotoire worked out, but my big plan is like have a hardcore 10 shows in 7 days tour-type thing to earn a lot of money for an "empty stocking appeal" or something. Not only will this be great as far as publicity goes (the press and tv media really get behind empty stocking appeals) to spread the word we're back in action, but the money goes to a good cause. Win-win? :-S

But now, this being Tasmania, I'm very limited in places we can play. There's 2 main cities, to large towns, but all the other towns have like ~2000 people in them most.

So the question is, do any of you have any experience, tips or ideas for getting a good crowd/interest from a small community?

There's the big advantage that there's barely any events that happen in these places, but I'm a bit worried that Trying to attract 5% to 10% of a towns population could be a big ask... even with extensive press promotion and the 'for a good cause' and everything...

[an_original_name]

I think the best plan would be to spread the word that it is for charity as much as possible. Get as many posters/flyers etc up as possible at least 1 month in advance. Most businesses will let you put up posters in their windows if its for charity.

Are there any local radio stations? Get in contact with them, tell them what your doing and that all profit will go to charity and they might give you some cheap/free advertising. The same with local magazines and newspapers.

If any of the gigs are in places that don't supply a bar or anything then you could try and persuade a local cafe or something to do all the drinks/food. Tell them you would prefer that they do it in exchange for publicity at the event, but if they want to they can take the profit from the food/drinks. either way it's good to try and get local businesses involved because they will help spread the word too.

Also, contact all the local music stores and ask if they can supply some or all of the equipment in exchange for publicity at the events. i did this a few years back and it really helped to spread the word about our gig and about their business too. Apparently their profits increased by about 10% in the months after the gig.

[Charlie Daniels]

Those are pretty sound ideas. Especially the music store one, that could be a real winner.

I'm pretty sure I could get free television and print advertising on the major network, as previously these deals have been done with street theatre and comedy groups that have embarked on a similiar tour.

But I know that though they may have raised a sizeable amount, the smaller centres they performed at came close to running at a loss so :-/

But just performing in your home city isn't as epic and if you do it too often then people get sick of you >_<

[billdrum]

Are there music stores in towns of 2,000 people? Not in the states anyway. The idea of working with food & drink vendors is a good one. It gives the whole event more of a festival/event feel.

[Charlie Daniels]

Well, it's hard to perhaps explain but the way Tasmania is laid out means that you can't drive more than about 7 miles before you pass through some kind of settlement (be it a small town etc.) so while the town doesn't have a music shop, their will be one within 45 minutes drive or so that services the area.

[billdrum]

How many music dealers are there on the island? It sounds like there are probably just a few (or a couple) that service large areas. If so, maybe you can get one to sponsor the tour in some way...handling PR & advertising, providing sound?

[Charlie Daniels]

There's about 8 or 9, but only 2 that I would think of approaching. MAybe!