James Cavanaugh's Page

Why do I ask this question? I've noticed that more and more people do not take friend requests from bands. This is a disturbing trend for us musicians and players. Honestly it doesn't do me a whole lot of good to only have other bands and musicians as friends. The life blood of any musical act is a fan base made up of mostly non musicians. When I first got on Myspace a few years back it was exciting and I made contacts all over the place. But as time has dragged on I've noticed less and less… Continue

It's about the music, or is it? It should be about the music but lets face it,
it's also about the money! I'm sure we've all heard the phrase "Follow the Money"
many times before. Well I decided to do a little mental money stalking to break
down where the money goes at live gigs. So here goes nothing, or rather something,
or the money.

Last night I attended a gig at a local club in Williamsburg Brooklyn. It was a
theme night of music and the club was doing quiet well. The catch for the bands
wa… Continue

Maybe if it were a room full of record company executives But that's rarely the case these days let alone someone from an A+R department. So that brings me back to my posting question, is playing a short 30 minute set worth it. Well if you suck I'm sure an audience will like it. If you're a good, great or excellent band it's like one of those strange dreams where no matter how fast you run, you get nowhere.

I can see where it works for a promoter, it's simply numbers again, bean counting, th… Continue

This is the flip side to my other blog about what NYC clubs don't seem to get. I'm posting this blog in an act of reaching out to the other side, similar to President Obama and his desire to reach across the isle. So with that in mind, what exactly is it that some NYC bands don't seem to get about the club scene in NYC? No#1 How about simple professionalism? I've heard a few promoters complain about bands showing up late, or not showing up at all without as much as a phone call. This I can corro… Continue

One of my big negatives about NYC music venues (And there's a bit of a list, but I
do digress) is how they often fail to note that a band or bands playing at their club are
there for the entertainment benefit of the entire standing audience, not just the people
the band brings in. We've had a few Agents of Karma gigs where we had a low turnout yet
won over a room full of strangers. (In other words we provided entertainment for
everyone, not just our friends and family) But the sad fact was this… Continue