# Blakkstone Hexx



## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Hi it's been a while since I've updated on Blakkstone Hexx.
We have been gigging in and around the Calgary area for two yeas as of this month.
We do business with 15 different venues and have been playing about 45 nights a year.
Gear I'm using currently is...
EVH 5150 III 50 watt heads ( have two black and white... one for backup )
EVH 2x12 and 1x12 for smaller venues.
EVH USA Natural Blonde Wolfgang
Peavey USA Vault Wolfgang Purple Flames
PRS SC245 TT Royal Blue
PRS SC245 Burnt Cherry
BBE, DOD, MXR Boss pedals
Line 6 wireless

Upcoming gigs are 
June 6 The Krave Airdrie
June 7 Private 
June 12, 13, 14 Rose and Crown Banff
June 27 Lazy Ace Beiseker
June 28 Unicorn Pub Calgary

If you make it out to a show make sure to come say hello 
Should also mention that we are currently auditioning drummers. We have fill ins for all our dates.

Here is a video we just captured from May 30 at Big Al's Calgary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRRg7gc51Y

[video=youtube;IQRRg7gc51Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRRg7gc51Y[/video]


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Just Played three nights at the Rose and Crown Banff... June 12, 13, 14... wow just WOW!


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Friday Night we are at the Lazy Ace in Beiseker which will mark out 20th venuew!
Saturday night the Unicorn 
then on Canada day we are at the Krave !


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

From The Lazy Ace a Double Hexxer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4WqEQLyZqY&feature=youtu.be

[video=youtube;V4WqEQLyZqY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4WqEQLyZqY[/video]

From The Unicorn... Jessie's Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr9p5LMj5iA

[video=youtube;Rr9p5LMj5iA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr9p5LMj5iA[/video]


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Here is a link for Reverbnation and our local music scene. Check it out and get to know some Artists in our local area.
http://www.reverbnation.com/main/local_scene


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Well after givn'r for two years we are going to take a little break from gigging to focus on new cover material, and new original material. Also to be fair our new drummer Todd Litke aka Les Talent was just thrown into the ring with us and did a fantastic job. We will be dialing in our material with him as well we have a few surprises/improvements with our light show and the overall entertainment aspect of what we do. 
See you in August on the 22 at McCools Crossfiels and on the 23 at the Horny Horse... Lol the Unicorn Pub !!!


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## erikm5150 (Mar 3, 2006)

Hey good stuff there man! Seems like the crowd is always happy at your gigs, which is one of the most important things...
Seems like you have good connections with the venues...
Just curious, do you use a booking agent/manager, or do you book the gigs yourself?

I'm asking coz I've been in a original band the past 7 years, but now in a cover band...
There are venues that would not touch any local original band, so I have never dealt with them before... Some places are ok with it, so I do know some of the guys who book bands for some venues but not others... and it never hurts making new connections.

Thanks in advance.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Hi erikm5150... I do all our bookings we don't use a booking agent however I was recently contacted by two agents wanting to book us. One has not come through on anything and the other offered us a weekend in September... he actually just emailed me as I'm typing this to inform me that the venue no longer does live music for two nights. So we lost Saturday but still have the Friday. It's not that we/I don't believe in booking agents or that we don't need one... I enjoy doing bookings and always have so when I started BSH as I found the guys I play with now I expressed that to them. There was some skepticism at first but it all worked out and everyone is very appreciative of what I do for the band that way. 

Some numbers for you... We play 45-50 nights a year and have done business with 22 venues and the venues list is growing all the time... two new ones in September. Some venues don't exist anymore ie; Studio 82 and some venues can be wishy washy with live music and sometimes a band outgrows a venue. 

I take absolutely no money for booking BSH and I don't book other bands. I have recommended other bands and hey if they want to pay me $50 I usually say by me a beer sometime. It's more about supporting local music for me. That said I don't recommend a band unless I've seen them play. I also need to see that they play friendly in the local community and support other bands... in other words pass it on. 

The advice I would offer is this...

Be prepared to spend countless hours working on bookings if you want to succeed at it. It's not the 70's or 80's anymore and live music as a draw can be finicky at best. There are some venues that do very well and those are the venues that are well managed and consistent. On average when I have a bookings day its an 8 hour work day and I lost count of the days long ago. I would however guess it to be somewhere in around the 20-25 day mark for the last 2 years. Be prepared to use your phone, email, social media of all sorts... there are many of them  and drive to meet/talk to people.

You must be a people person and have good communication skills.

You must know your market. Its like any other business really, where you are bidding on work. Last thing you want to do is undercut other bands just to get a gig. IMHO that's the kiss of death. The other last thing you want to do is be unprofessional in any way. The other kiss of death for any band is putting forth anything less than a great product. To work well in any market there must be a balance of quality for cost and of course there must be demand for your product. Being a numbers guy helps... statistics don't lie 

Some other things I can add. I never promise a venue we can bring a crowd. The venue must be willing to build that with you. If it's not working at that venue you will know and so will the venue so if you get dropped for that reason realize it's the right thing to do for both parties and move on knowing that someday they may get you back if requests start coming in as your reputation builds. Don't rely on family and friends to support you. Its a good thing that they do but ultimately they wont be out to every show in every town and city you gig in. What really needs to happen is a great end product that people will enjoy and want to return to enjoy. Therefore set list, delivery, crowd interaction, and entertainment value all come into play.

Hope this helps and if you want find me on facebook... 78% of musicians polled say that Facebook is their #1 resource and web presance!

You can find me on facebook by searching Lemmy Hangslong Akacraigsquires... Lemmy Hangslong being my stage name. Did I mention keeping it fun? Thats important too!

Cheers
Craig


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