Just about every dive bar, honky tonk, and club offers opportunities for gigging musicians to perform. Are you ready to get in the gigging game? Start by following some of the basic rules that every gigging musician should live by.

Show Up Early

You don’t want to be stuck in traffic or

driving in circles because you can’t find your venue. Its a great way to ruin your night. So leave early, and invest in a decent GPS, or even purchase a good old-fashioned road map, so you make it to your gig with plenty of time to spare.

Know Your Gear

Its great that you have a full pedalboard with loop, delay, and distortion pedals. Its even great that you run backing tracks off Fruity Loops on your old crappy laptop. Whatever the situation, you need to be responsible for knowing your gear. If something goes wrong, don’t look to the sound guy. Its not his laptop. FURTHERMORE: Make sure all your gear is in good working order! This means having all the necessary cables, batteries, adapters, and drumsticks (yes, I’ve seen this before). An experienced gigging musician always has backups.

Provide an Input List

Unless you’re performing solo, plan on drawing up a quick input list for your sound guy. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just a simple list of everything you want mic’d. Example: Kick, Snare, Hi Hat, Overhead, Electric Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar and Two Vocal Mics. This list should cover everything you need for your ENTIRE set. If an accordion player is joining you on stage for the last two numbers, make sure your sound guy is prepared.

Be Grateful

In this industry, being polite and respectful goes a long, long way. Thank the venue, promoters, other bands, the sound guy, and any other people or parties who make it possible for you to do what you love. Perhaps most importantly, be sure to thank the audience that you have for your show. Take time to show your appreciation, even off stage, and people will almost certainly ask you back.

Don’t Make Excuses

Things will happen. Problems will arise, and regardless of fault, its best to never point a finger at someone else. Everyone involved wants your gig to go smoothly, so placing blame on others or making excuses will only make enemies. And in this industry, you really really don’t want enemies (especially sound and lights guys).

Lastly, have fun! Nothing beats the rush of performing for a live audience. Take in the moment!

Am I missing anything? Feel free to add your own rules in the comments!