Middle Earth Booking Policy We receive many booking inquirys daily via e-mail, phone, cold mailings, friend of a friend and of course, Aunt Tillie. It's getting harder to sort it all out. The pile of yet-to-be reviewed press kits nears the ceiling. While we love to receive new music and are always on the look-out for new and exciting acts, there are some that are simply not appropriate for our venue. Press kits and phone calls are expensive so we offer a little information here to allow you to make an informed decision about a Middle Earth booking inquiry before sending out your valuable publicity material. Our focus at Middle Earth is on live, original music. While it's true that we do on occasion present the "classic rock" cover band, our true aim is to provide a space for acts with something new to say for folks who want to hear it. There are plenty of other spots to rock out to the old favorites. There are far too few offering something new. Please keep that in mind when inquiring about a gig at Middle Earth. Middle Earth is a bit of a musical oddity in these parts. To my knowledge, we are the only full time listening room within a 75 mile radius. The standard in the north country is the bar or restaurant who presents live music to augment their liquor and food sales. Here we do it the other way around. We sell music and use food and drink sales to support it. The important difference is that the people who frequent our shows come to listen. When you are on the Middle Earth stage, you are the center of attention. There is no big screen or noisy bar to compete with. You'll find those in a separate room. You are expected to deliver a professional performance. Electronic submissions are handy for an initial inquiry but we do prefer the old fashioned CD that we can slip into the van player. Very often the only time we get uninterrupted listening time is when we're running down the road after supplies. A good clean live recording is best. I love to listen to a well produced studio recording but that doesn't enlighten as to what your live sound is. We do accept unsolicited packets but please don't expect an immediate response. There are just too many coming in. A follow-up call or e-mail a week or two after submission to introduce yourself would be in order but expect that your kit may not have been reviewed yet. The call may serve as a goose to get the booker to dig out the packet. If you e-mail you may or may not receive a response. It all depends on what is happening that day. Please understand that Middle Earth is a Mom and Pop operation and Mom works a full time job. Pop is doing the best he can but he's spread pretty thin. The most important factor to consider when inquiring about a Middle Earth date is that due to the very nature of our presentation, Listening room vs Roadhouse, we don't have a built-in audience. It's the act that draws the crowd. People come to see specific acts or genre's. They don't just come to see what's happening at Middle Earth. If you are unknown in this area you're going to need a strong recording to convince the booker to take a chance and an engaging publicity packet / web presence with impressive clips, quotes, posters and other enticements to help the MEMH publicity team market you. If we love the music and believe we have the tools to market you then we will be more inclined to give it a shot. Genre's that generally draw well at Middle Earth include, in no particular order, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, World, both traditional and contemporary Folk, African Percussion... pretty much anything out of the mainstream. As I said before, our audience wants to hear something new, different and original. They can be a tough, discriminating and knowledgeable crowd but can also be very appreciative and generous when well fed. Our most popular acts tend to be those who have mastered the fine art of genre hopping and mix elements of many musical tastes into their program. If all this leads you to believe that your act might be a good fit for Middle Earth we'd love to hear from you. You may send your best stuff directly to the address listed below or send an introductory e-mail with a link to your site that should include sound clips. If you have questions and wish to talk to someone personally you may call the number listed. It's best to call during the daytime. If you call after 5PM chances are we'll be preparing for a show and won't have time to hear you out. Generally we book 3 to 6 months out. Middle Earth Booking PO Box 86 Bradford, Vt. 05033 Phone (802)-222-4748