Music goals & ambitions for 2026?

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

Very nice!

 

Your point about getting a promo video done - can't recommend doing this strongly enough! In my experience it can be one of the best investments to getting more work, certainly for covers bands which is my particular niche.

 

 

Interesting point. Not sure i've seen a typical covers band do a promo vid. Seen wedding or some tribute bands do it.

Dave 

[Al Krow]

27 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Interesting point. Not sure i've seen a typical covers band do a promo vid. Seen wedding or some tribute bands do it.

Dave 

 

Cheers Dave - it depends what you mean by "typical"? Any covers band looking to do function work (e.g. birthday parties, weddings and corporate events) needs very good quality promo material to have a decent shot at getting work through agencies, given that the competition will all have it, and it's all the punters have to go on when deciding which band to book. If you check out agencies like Alive or Encore it will give you a good feel for what bands are doing.

 

If you're purely focussed on pub work then you don't need something quite so formal/high quality to get yourself into new pubs venues, in my experience, but having some video footage (even decent phone clips) can be helpful in getting your foot in the door.

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Cheers Dave - it depends what you mean by "typical"? Any covers band looking to do function work (e.g. birthday parties, weddings and corporate events) needs very good quality promo material to have a decent shot at getting work through agencies, given that the competition will all have it, and it's all the punters have to go on when deciding which band to book. If you check out agencies like Alive or Encore it will give you a good feel for what bands are doing.

 

If you're purely focussed on pub work then you don't need something quite so formal/high quality to get yourself into new pubs venues, in my experience, but having some video footage (even decent phone clips) can be helpful in getting your foot in the door.

Think maybe I'll mention it to the Glam band but we don't use agencies as we haven't found an honest one in our area we could trust.

Dave

[Al Krow]

On 06/01/2026 at 17:04, dmccombe7 said:

Think maybe I'll mention it to the Glam band but we don't use agencies as we haven't found an honest one in our area we could trust.

Dave

 

Speaking of showreels, I seem to have had a productive start to the year and managed to get the video editing done on an "interim" reel, which should hopefully be a step up from the promo clips we currently have, and assist with my second goal of getting a few more function bookings for us this year.

 

Any other similar little encouraging tales that others have to share on their goals at the start of a snow-swept January?

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Al Krow

[dmccombe7]

Confirmed booking for weekend before Xmas 2026. Think that'll be 5yrs in a row at this venue the Sat before Xmas.

Also another confirmed Xmas gig in Dec.

At the moment them's the highlights of the yearly bookings so far. Few others through the year as well.

Dave

[bass_dinger]

1. Join a band, hopefully in a local church. 

2. Play in a band with my family (my cousin is decent on acoustic, another younger cousin plays guitar in a tribute band). I just need to cobble together some chord charts for us all.

3. Continue with piano lessons. 

4. Learn the mandolin. 

5. Get better at reading rhythms in notation. 

 

And, not music, but life-skills. 

 

6. Learn German (I already speak a little)

7. Learn Italian (my mum was Italian and when I hear the language, it feels familiar to me).

8.  Become more organised in my day - I need to treat my hobbies like a job.  "10am - 20 minutes of scales".