We are glad you are considering booking Dennis or one of his bands for your event.  Here’s an overview of the booking process.

You can expect Dennis and the other musicians to provide:

• exceptionally high-quality music
• appropriate song selections based on the type of event
• volume level that is appropriate
• willingness to learn up to 3 requests not already on the repertoire list
• flexibility with set-up and logistics
• reasonable break schedule, with music provided via streaming during breaks, if requested
• excellent communication before, during and after the event

In turn, Dennis will expect you to:

• provide a detailed description of the nature of your event & what type of music you are looking for. You can scroll through his repertoire list and choose songs from there if you wish.
• sign a performance agreement that Dennis will send by email
• make $100 deposit via Paypal, Venmo, or by check at the time of booking
• pay the remaining balance on or before the day of the event (see “Advantages of Pre-Paying” below)
• (optional but greatly appreciated) submit an online review (via links Dennis will provide) of the artist or band after the event has taken place
• acknowledge that you’ve seen this list (by phone, text or email)

Advantages of Pre-Paying

• On the day of the event, you have so many other preparations to make, and when the guests arrive, you want to relax and enjoy yourself.  The further into the event you get, the less work you want to do and the more fun you want to have.  By prepaying the musician/ band, you don’t have to worry about having to find your checkbook or logging in to Paypal or Venmo at the end of the event.  Instead, you can get on with soaking up what will become great memories for you and your loved ones.

• You want the musician / band to provide top-notch music and friendly service.  In order for them to do this, they put in a ton of preparation before they ever play a note at your event, from lining up the musicians to learning requests & rehearsing the repertoire to making travel arrangements to packing gear/ food/ clothes, to driving and setting up.   It can be a major distraction for a bandleader to have to follow up on getting paid for previous events, especially since he / she will likely have already paid other musicians if there were others who performed for that event as well.   By prepaying, you allow the bandleader to focus exclusively on your event and give it the attention it deserves.

Tips are Appreciated

• Tips are never obligatory and they are always appreciated
• Tip amounts vary of course but if you are unsure how much to tip, they typically range from 15 to 20%
• Below is a quick “anatomy of a gig” to highlight the work that a typical wedding would necessitate both before, during, and after the event

Anatomy of a Gig

For this example, we will use a wedding ceremony at 330 p.m. and a reception that is 4 to 8 p.m. in a town 1 hour away

8:00 a.m.  – although usually not done on the same day as the event, we allocate 3 hours here to prepare special requests, send contracts, discuss details with client, hire musicians, plan logistics

11:00 – pack gear, food, suit

11:30 –  load car

12:00 p.m. – drive to venue

1:00 – arrive at venue, find out setup location, load in

1:30 – set up for reception

2:30 – set up for ceremony

2:50 – change into suit

3:10 – play ceremony prelude music

3:30 – play ceremony

4:00 – play reception

8:00 – break down, load car, get paid, say goodbyes, leave

9:00 – drive home

10:00 – arrive home, put away all gear, food, suit

10:45 – wipe down instruments

11:00 – finish

15 hours total time