It worked for Robert Zimmerman at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Before he was Bob Dylan, the musician performed folk songs in campus coffeehouses for free-to-win fans and hone his craft. Fifty years later, local musicians employ the tactic to reach new audiences.
For one thing
it's really hard to get shows at some of the bars around town said Brian Ostrander, promotions director for ACRN. When we do shows people come out to see them because of our reputation.
ACRN, a SAC-funded organization, promotes and sponsors free festivals like LobsterFest and the No Dough Show. A show featuring Murder by Death, held last year in Baker University Center Ballroom, attracted about 400 people, Ostrander said.
Ostrander counts the last-minute Metal Hearts show among ACRN's best. Originally slotted to play at a bar Uptown for a cover charge, Ostrander said the band's locale was changed to the basement of Baker a week before the show and the cover charge dropped.
They had enough status within the independent music scene that people had heard of them ... and because it was free
you could go and check it out and leave if you didn't like it
Ostrander said.
At Casa Cantina, 4 W. State St., cover charges are negotiated based on demand, number of people playing, distance the band traveled and day of the week, said booking coordinator John Cliff. After $40 is subtracted for sound fees, cover charge proceeds go to the band, Cliff said.
People always give me grief about covers
Cliff said. Really
it's a tiny
tiny price to pay for live entertainment for a whole evening.
Free performances do not guarantee an audience. Cliff has seen bands with a $15 cover sell out a venue and free concerts fail to fill a seat. Who is booked is more important than the cover price, he said.
Free open-stage nights offer musicians another way to reach listeners.
The Front Room at Baker offers open stage Fridays at 8 p.m., while the Paranormals play host to an open stage at the Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St., every Tuesday at 9 p.m. Both events are free.
Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St., hosts Three Hours on Thursdays from 9 p.m. to midnight. About 12 artists play 15-minute slots a piece. Musicians sign up throughout the week to play at the acoustic-based setting, owner Chris Pyle said.
If there's a new band in town and they don't think they can get people to pay money to see them
it's a way to self-advertise
Pyle said.
Some artists simply prefer to play free concerts.
Mike Perkins, who started playing free concerts two years ago, performs free weekly shows in Columbus and Mansfield and about once a quarter at the Blue Gator. He works with the bar to eliminate cover charges. This allows his fans to have a free, fun night and the bars make profit from the audience's drink purchases, he said.
I've just never thought that was fair that the bands bring their people
but they get their money from the door
