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Summer is pretty much behind us, and we’re just about to enter the fall festival season. There are a few exciting festivals that we’re working with this year – some that need no introduction (CMJ), some long-running events that you should definitely check out if you have the chance (MidPoint Music Festival) and even some newcomers (Utopia Fest). This is also the time of year that SXSW gears up for next year’s festivities (submissions are open now through November).

I think it’s safe to say that I come from a festival background. I worked for many years with festival organizers and talent buyers to help them secure independent artists for their stages. I’ve traveled to festivals around the world, including events here in the States, Spain, France, Canada, and beyond. I’ve learned a lot along the way and have been able to share some of that with artists I’ve met in my travels.

In fact, before coming on board as the editor for Performer, I contributed a piece to the magazine about making the most of your festival or conference gig. It was sort of a primer for bands who had showcase slots at some of these events.

In that piece I spoke at length with a good friend of mine, David Silbaugh, talent buyer for Summerfest. If you’re not familiar, Summerfest is the world’s largest music festival, and takes place around the 4th of July in Milwaukee every year. David had a lot to say about the booking process, and how bands should capitalize on their performan

ce slots. One of the best pieces of advice he gave was based upon his own experience as a musician.

Through some connections, David’s band was booked to play at The New Music Seminar in New York City. This was a big deal back in the day, and the band was certainly excited. As circumstances would have it, there was a less-than-ideal turnout for their gig. The band played anyway, and through a series of events too long to recap here, ended up being offered a chance to perform at the following year’s Winter Olympics.

The full story can be found in our November 2007 issue, but the take-away is this: if you have a performance slot at CMJ or any other event, play the hell out of your set. Even if it’s only for 10 people, just play and make as many connections as you can. You never know who is going to be lurking in the crowd, or what position they may hold in the future.

Look for a brand new interview with David Silbaugh in next month’s issue, as we catch up with him to chat about festival season, Summerfest and more.

In other news, you should notice some cool updates on the website, including a much more prominent space for our daily blog updates. We’re tweaking all the time to make it better, so let us know what you think.

Benjamin Ricci

Editor

P.S. – the official results for the “Best Tribute Band Name” contest are in. Congrats go out to Duran Duran Duran.