How To Host Your Album Release!

The album release is a celebration. You've put many months, perhaps even years into crafting this sound-based piece of art, and you've finally decided that it is ready to share with the world.

((This is one of the better photos I caught during my friends' 

album release party for their Mockingbird Alarmclock EP.

 The band's called Life Size, go check 'em out!))

The album release is a big deal. A huge deal, really.

 For touring artists, the album release show marks the first performance of the tour...the tour that is intended to promote your new album and get your fans used to the new sound you've been crafting.

For non-touring artists, the album release may be the only large-scale promotion the album gets, so it is doubly important.

Hosting Your Album Release:

Start planning early! As early as possible, really.

The first step is to set a date. Most tours kick off in the late spring/early summer and run from there. For a smaller indie act, you're looking at a 3-5 month tour at most, and you want to pick warmer weather (that's when people show for concerts; also, well, if something happens and you're broken down, warm-ish weather's a lot easier to deal with.

Next, select a location. You're going to have a long-ish show that you will be headlining, so you need to choose a location that you are sure of at least reasonably filling. You also are most likely going to host in in your band's town of origin; for my friends in the band Life Size, that meant Salsibury, NC. Many bands try to pick a venue that has some sort of deeper meaning to the band or the fans, like an old record-shop in the area or a venue where the band was a opener long ago when it was still 'small-time'.

You're going to think carefully about your opener. First, your opener is helping to set your audience up for your arrival. Don't pick a band that will exhaust your audience energy before you've even made it onstage, but also take care not to pick a set of amateurs. Letting a band open at your album release is almost like referring a friend to a boss you really, really respect. They are directly reflecting you and your taste.

A good idea for promotion is to boost our audience's involvement. You'll be spamming their different social media feeds leading up to the day of the album drop, but you want a little participation. Two great ways to do this: host either a smaller acoustic set at a different location before the show or host a big party hang-out after the show. Often, bands will determine which fans are invited by posting contests to their social media page that fans can enter (to win party-time invites, of course!). However, these mean extra planning and budgeting for location and funding.

On the day of,  set everything up as early as you can. You really don't want anything to go wrong. Make sure you've had your rehearsal and the members have the show locked down tight. Plan what you will say and do beforehand. Your setlist should open with a song the fans all love, transition into another song most of them love, and then dive into some new material(about three songs)  from the album you're releasing. From there, you can pretty much do whatever you like. If you are basically guaranteed a call for an encore, a good idea is to build the audience up really well, end on a song they all know and love, and have a very involved encore rehearsed that is from the new album and requires playing/singing that makes for a good show(shredding guitar solos, ridiculously complex or times harmony that the singers have to hit, that sort of thing). This leaves the audience with a song from the new album in their heads and tags that 'show-high' emotional association with your new track that will be triggered the next time they hear it.

Play your best. I know in a previous blog I said to play your hardest every night, but really, play your best tonight.

Afterwards, thank the audience well for coming out. You should have recordings and videos taken, but wait for about three or fours days at least before putting them on your social media. The exception to this would perhaps be a short clip on Instagram or Vine, but for both of those, clip of the band members laughing together while they work (during loading, or during soundchecks) is better and will have more effect on your fans.

It's scary to plan such a momentous, important show, but don't be daunted. You're showing off your art to the people who actually are invested in it-your fans! Like I said, it's a celebration!