Troubadour

From: The Troubadour <mike.agranoff@folkproject.org>

Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 3:00 PM

To: 'Folk Project' <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Subject: Troubadour Booking Report, November 2019

Performance

Only one Troubadour show in October, the other Fridays being taken up with a Special Concert, Getaway, and the Halloween Show. It was, nonetheless an interesting month. The Alasdair Fraser/Natalie Haas show was a world class act, more often appearing in major theaters and Festivals than mid-level concert series such as ours. Consequently, he was at the top of our possible guarantees at $2,000. But our attendance was not commensurate with his performance or reputation in Celtic music circles at 108 paid (135 total). I was hoping for 150 paid. So the Folk Project had to kick in an extra $601 to make his guarantee. That would have resulted in a $661 loss for the show, except for my program of personally covering guarantee makeups. So as a result, the Project only lost $65 for the show and the month.

Although this was the largest such donation I’ve made this year, there have been about half a dozen others, totaling $2,792 in all. And the interesting thing is that even without those donations, the Troubadour would be $1,475 in the black year to date. The whole point of my program of covering guarantee makeups is to present high profile shows like Alasdair & Natalie in order to attract more attendees, some of whom will likely become regulars. And in point of fact, we got 28 new signups on the Troubadour mailing list that night. So in 2020, when my financial support ends, so long as I can still book some acts who will fill the place, I can continue to book others who, while of similar quality, will lose money in the cause of increasing our habitual attendance. Of course, it’s always a blow to the gut when a show loses money, and I’d prefer that not to happen. But if it helps to build our audience, it may be worth it in the end.

Webcasting

John Lamb found a better prospect for webcasting shows than Zoom called Helnix. Still waiting on John Mahon to set up a trial webcast where we can evaluate the quality of the webcast and the ease of operation.

Parking Lot

The MUF parking lot is back in service. The total cost to the Project of renting the use of the Morris Museum lot over the summer was $1,100.

New bookings since last month

• January 17: Adam Agee & Jon Sousa First class Celtic fiddle/guitar duo from the West Coast. Not well known in this area booked at a bargain guarantee

Highlights for November

• Nov. 1: Zoe Mulford in her audience-voted return as a headliner after opening for Susan Werner in January.

• Nov. 15: Powerhouse multi-instrumentalist JP Cormier. An Agranoff Imperative Also check out opening act The Vox Hunters to vote them into a headliner of their own.

Respectfully submitted:

Mike Agranoff

Program Chair

The Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series

(Formerly the Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series)

Morristown, NJ. USA

www.Troubadour.FolkProject.org