7 Unusual But Useful Christmas Gifts For Musicians

Like it or not, most working musicians have a lot of grunt work to do when gigging. Setting up and tearing down is a thankless part of the job, so let's make it as easy as possible. Here are a number of tools that are staples of stagehands all over the world, but can really come in handy in those moments when all you want to do is get everything gig ready.

1. Gerber Flik Multitool - It's a pliers, it's a knife, it's a scissors, it's a screwdriver. Why carry a tool box when you can have it all in one tool? About $40, but it's the best there is.

2. Ultimate Focus Tool - This one tool will replace a whole kit of crescent wrenches. If you only use it once, it will be worth it. Around $30.

3. Streamlight Scorpion Flashlight or Olight M20-X Tactical Flashlight - LED flashlights are now the norm, but what you want is a really bright one for looking behind a rack or on a dark floor for that little screw or connector that you dropped. The intensity of the light stream sets these two flashlights apart from everything else. Around $40.

4. Hothands Fleece Gloves - How often have you had to play in a venue that was really cold, or even outdoors during the fall or winter? If you've done it, you know what kind of torture that can be. Now you can make it easier with these heated gloves, which warm up for up to 10 hours when you put their chemical Warmers in place. Around $25.

5. Setwear Hothands Insulated Gloves - And speaking of gloves, musicians, roadies, and engineers have to carry large heavy things constantly, so why not protect your hands while doing so? These gloves are the best, and they're insulated in case you have to handle hot lights as well. Around $40.

6. Burt's Bees Lip Balm - Everybody hates chapped lips, and they're so easy to get in bad weather riding to a gig. Burt's Bees Lip Balm beats anything from a drug store by a long shot. Around $8.

7. Sharpie 24 Pack - Sharpies are the most convenient writing tool available for a band, artist or engineer. Need to write a set list that's large enough to see on stage? You need a Sharpie. Need to mark a cable or console input strip? You need a Sharpie. Here's a multicolored 24 piece pack for around $10.

Need a more traditional gift? Check out my books.
     Social Media Promotion for Musicians
     The Mixing Engineer's Handbook
     The Recording Engineer's Handbook
     Music 4.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age
     The Touring Musician's Handbook
     The Studio Builder's Handbook
     How To Make Your Band Sound Great
     and many more.

You can read excepts from all my books at bobbyowsinski.com.

Need more ideas for last minute music or studio gifts? Check out this post for 10 more.

Music Career Killers

The ever entertaining DIY Musician blog has a post called "Music Career Killers! Sure Ways To Ruin Your Chances For Success" that's worth a read, but I thought I'd zero in one particular item.

"Music Career Killer #13: Playing every crap gig you get offered.

When you first start out you might as well play every show that comes along because this is valuable experience, and can even save you some money on the practice room. This becomes a career killer, though, when you continue to play every bad show that comes along in the hopes that it might just convert one new fan. 

Playing to empty rooms with no pay not only sucks, but it’s also like a cancer to your career because it will destroy your enthusiasm. Next time you get offered a bad show, turn it down and spend the evening connecting working toward getting a killer show. One really good gig is worth a hundred empty venues."

Anyone that's ever gigged a lot knows that there's nothing more disheartening than playing to empty rooms gig after gig. It might not be your fault at first, since maybe the only slot you can get is midnight on a Tuesday, but sooner or later this turns into a downward spiral that's tough to break out of.

The problem is that playing to empty houses allows you to slip into to bad habits both as a band and as a player that can be hard to snap out of later. You can easily start to run through the motions and slip out of a professional show just to keep things interesting, and then it's usually down-hill from there.

What's true is that even if there's only one person in the audience, you should play it as if there are 10,000, but that gets harder and harder the more empty gigs you play.

A story that I like to tell is about going to a club to listen to a band and there were only 7 people in the audience. Unbeknownst to the band, one was a major manager, another was a big agent, and the third was a major PR person; the other 3 people were friends of the band. The band sleepwalked through the set, leaving absolutely no impression on some people that might have been able to change their career had they played up to their capabilities.

So take Music Career Killer #13 to heart and resist playing any crappy gig just to play (unless your starting out). One gig truly can be worth a hundred empty venues.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

5 Tips For Performing In Cold Weather

Anyone who's have had to play a gig outside during the winter knows just what kind of hell that can be. Forget about just being cold, what really makes it bad is when your fingers are freezing and they won't move, or every time you open your mouth to sing you get this huge gulp of icy cold air that dries your vocal chords out.

That's why this article for CD Baby's DIY Musician blog is so apropos to the season (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere). Here are their 5 tips for performing in cold weather:

"1) Get to the gig early and let your instruments acclimate to the temperature. Radical shifts in temperature (both up and down) can damage your equipment. So I recommend bringing the instruments in their cases, leaving them on stage IN their cases for a while, and then taking them out.

Once they’re out of the cases, don’t play them yet. Give them more time to settle. That direct contact with the air might make them tense up again. Finally, allow yourself enough warm-up time before the performance begins and the crowds arrive so you can play the instrument, tune it, play it, tune it, play it, and tune it.

Oh, and if your instrument is your voice, go easy. Warm up slowly, first in the car, then outdoors.
Be sure to cool down and load out in the same way.

2) Warm up your amps. The same advice above could be applied to the amplifiers. Let them adjust to the cold. THEN put them on stand-by for a while. Once your guitar is tuned, fire up the amp and let it sing.

3) Wear fingerless gloves (or drummers, where gloves with grip). This may not be possible for every musician, depending on the instrument and style of music you play, but I’ve gotten away with wearing fingerless gloves on a few cold occasions, especially at gigs with limited lead playing, complicated chord comping, or right-hand palm-muting. So if its your typical rock, folk, or pop show,… try fingerless gloves. But try it at practice first!

4) Limit your set time. Don’t get stuck entertaining Jack Frost for 3 hours while the hungover bassist catches hypothermia. I’d say that 30-45 minutes in the cold is more than enough. If the event planner or promoter wants more music, they can hire an additional band and you can work out the backline details together ahead of time.

5) Construct your sets so each player gets some relief. Space out the songs where Sarah’s gotta belt out those high notes. Let a different player carry the lead on the next song. That way, when the spotlight and pressure are on someone else, you can take a minute to tune-up again, warm your hands, whatever else you need to do to keep rockin’."

I hope you don't ever have to do a gig where it's freezing, but in the event that you do, remember to use these tips wisely.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.