Troubadour

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

Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2019 11:30 AM

To: 'Board FP' <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Subject: Troubadour Booking Report: September 2019

Performance:

Well, September was a particularly bad month both for the Troubadour and for me personally. Attendance was way below my expectations for all three shows this month We averaged only 61.0 paid (78.7 total), and I had been anticipating much higher based on the reputation and past performance of those acts I booked. And since I had given guarantees commensurate with my expectations, we had to kick in an extra $414 to make Garnet Rogers’ $1,200 guarantee and $432 to make Patrick Ball’s $1,00 guarantee. (Those two guarantee makeups were covered by me personally in my one year program of underwriting guarantee makeups in order to increase attendance at the Troubadour. What irks me more than the money was that those two bookings also failed in achieving that goal of increasing attendance.) And furthermore, the other booking (David Stoddard) was one of those whom I had booked as an opener for a high-drawing act (Cheryl Wheeler) in hopes of boosting his attendance for his subsequent headliner. And he only wound up drawing 51 paid for his show. That might have been affected by the Labor Day weekend, but still disappointing. Financially, the Troubadour made a grand profit of $50 for the month, including my donations covering the guarantee makeups.

It was a learning experience for me. I now know I not only have to book acts worthy of those high guarantees, they also have to be acts that will draw enough folks to cover them. That’s a harder thing to do. We have another such financially risky act coming up on October 18 with JP Cormier at a $2,000 guarantee. He’s worth every penny. I’ve tagged him as an Agranoff Imperative in hopes of drawing some doubting Thomases.

Concert Window:

The David Stoddard show on September 6 was the last show to be webcast. John Lamb has lined up another potential webcaster called Zoom. They have offered to engage us in a screenshare appointment so they can present their program. And I’m waiting for John Mahon to settle on a date when he can participate in such a conference.

Parking Lot:

We were back in the MUF parking lot on September 20 for the Garnet Rogers show, although it was still unfinished. All the curbing and lights are in place, but it’s still hard-pack gravel surfaced. According to MUF it will be paved by Friday, Oct. 4th, although the markings will not yet be painted. We had a scare that it might not be ready for use on the 4th, because the Morris Museum lot would not have been available on that night due to an event in the Museum. And that is the night of the Tom Paxton Special Concert. But MUF now assures us that it will be ready. In toto, the rental of the Museum lot cost $1,100 for the 11 shows it was available for us over the course of the summer. That cost was picked up by FP general funds rather than by the individual events.

New bookings since last month:

November 22: The Best of the OpenStage, featuring The Green Planet Band, The Inspire Project, Sol HᴧVN, and Full Circle
January 17: Adam & Jon: A brilliant Irish duo from the West Coast that I got at a bargain $500 guarantee due to their lack of local recognition. They’re easily worth twice that. (I’m learning)
January 24: Jesse Ruben: Whimsical singer songwriter out of NYC opening for the Loose Canons
January 31: Katherine Rondeau opening for Joe Jencks
March 6: Beppe Gambetta: Italian flatpicking guitarist and mandolinist

Highlights in October

November 1: Zoe Mulford in her headliner after being voted in at her opening set for Susan Werner
November 15: The aforementioned JP Cormier, Agranoff-Imperative multi-instrumentalist.

Respectfully submitted:

Mike Agranoff

Program Chair

The Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series

(Formerly the Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series)

Morristown, NJ. USA