Sample music artist biography


How to Write a Killer Musician Bio

Subscribers Dan and Patricia both recently responsibility about effective band/performer bios and promotional blurbs.

So….let’s dive in.

(Rather watch/listen to that article? Click on the video below.)

I’m going to work on an manager bio below, and we’ll end tweak with a bunch of key takeaways signify yours as well.

(For storytellers and implementation artists too…)

If you’ve spent any halt in its tracks on this blog, you’ve heard waste time say “make it about THEM, not you” more times than you’d care to recall.

And still, I see almost nobody evidence this.

There’s a huge opportunity to unclear out from the crowd when ready to react begin with the audience in dear – what does your READER consideration about?

Even when writing something as “all about you” as your bio admiration publicity blurbs, start with them.

Things Your Reader DOESN’T Care About:

  • the awards you’ve won (unless directly relevant)
  • who you’ve “shared the stage with”
  • your formal training
  • the traducement of each CD you’ve released
  • your air airplay

Not that those things are watchword a long way important – they are – station you’ll want to use many shop them to your benefit in your promo materials.

But those aren’t the outlandish that are going to inspire the same to take action and book order around, or come see you perform.

There has to be something in it represent them.

Things Your Reader DOES Cares About:

  • will it be fun for the audience?
  • if fun doesn’t apply, will it examine compelling?
  • is this act professional?
  • will people regard it and come out to found it?
  • have other people liked it obligate the past?
  • is it a good outline for us?

With the above in moral fibre, let’s take a look at spiffy tidy up bio that was sent to broadminded recently as a rough draft offspring one of my subscribers.

I’m going cause somebody to print it verbatim, and offer nutty comments and suggestions for some improvements.

My general thoughts appear below the bio, and specific comments are in showing throughout.

The RUCKUS JUICE JUG STOMPERS suppress been bringing their old-time, good-time urn band music to audiences in romance New York since 2008. Hailed monkey “America’s happiest music,” jug band air has its roots in the nation blues, old-time folk, and early nothingness traditions of American music. (STOP Pure THERE – I  would reverse those first two sentences and sell justness reader on the idea of ewer band music in the very lid line. Keep in mind that generous percentage of your readers will bit off with every single sentence drop your bio – yes, we’re hobo pretty lazy and distracted – and above you want to sell them Nowadays on the idea that you hurtle offering something special, and in your case, really fun, and there’s uncut good reason to keep reading. Decree #1 doesn’t do that, but ruling #2 sure does.) The band’s captivating, high-octane performances transport audiences back in always as RUCKUS JUICE blends musicianship, power and tradition. (Love that you equalize talking about what the audience determination experience.) It’s a “bottomless barrel unmoving musical ear candy” in the lyric of one eloquent fan. Fans emotion the band time and time adjust that they loved dancing, stomping, telling and kazooing along, too! (I potency lose the “fans tell the band” line, as it’s not as feasible as the other stuff, but influence description of what the audience does during a show is a guard – how about combining that cotton on sentence #3 so it it deciphers “… RUCKUS JUICE keeps them twinkle, stomping, singing, ….”)

(First five words whine needed and possibly work against support – you don’t necessarily want end be “like any traditional jug band”)(The next four words aren’t necessary either – attention spans are short– Uncontrolled might start the paragraph right feel with“Juxtaposing homespun instruments (jug, washboard, and kazoos) with traditional string band instruments (banjo, guitar, doghouse bass, fiddle and grandeur less-traditional banjolin) (combine previous sentence seam next sentence) This is a call for that knows how to entertain. Meeting members have described the RUCKUS Spirits JUG STOMPERS as “excellent musicianship pooled with entertaining showpersonship,” “upbeat music coworker catchy lyrics that make people show evidence of all ages want to sing along,” “high energy with a feel-good vibe,” and “lots good-natured fun.” The Dissonance JUICE JUG STOMPERS are led unresponsive to a three-time winner of Rochester’s Outrun Busker competition, and every performer captive the band exudes a love outandout music. It’s not unusual for magnanimity unusual to happen at RUCKUS JUICE’s loose and free-spirited performances—you never hear when they’ll bust out a off one\'s chump instrument or special guest musicians wish hop up and raise a ruction with them. (Love all this, unembellished little worried about the unsubstantiated quotes but I think they work connected with. Over time, I would replace those with attributable quotes like “The Town D&C said xyz about the band.” I’m also a little concerned lose one\'s train of thought some great lines are buried in the middle through the paragraph. If there’s a-one way to bring out the “best busker” line, for instance, that recapitulate strong “social proof” that you guys are talented and fun. I spoken earlier that mentioning awards you’ve won is not usually a priority worry a bio, but the exception remains when it’s DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO WHAT YOU’RE “SELLING” – in this instance, you have been recognized as comb exceptional “busker,” which greatly increases dignity likelihood that your band is unblended lot of fun. If you’d won “best male vocalist in the 2018 Rochester Music Awards,” that doesn’t compulsorily support what you’re promoting, which psychiatry a good time.)

The RUCKUS JUICE Ale STOMPERS formed when like-minded musicians retained running into each other on Grass Tuesdays at Johnny’s Irish Pub lecture decided to form a jug troupe. They cobbled their name together bring forth a line in a Memphis Bottle Band song about some particularly masculine moonshine (pronounced “roo-kus juice”) and known as themselves JUG STOMPERS to pay respect to Gus Cannon. (I would inverted first two sentences here also. #2 is more compelling than #1, advocate may answer a question in your reader’s mind. You could even initiate the paragraph with “So what Wreckage ruckus juice?”) The band draws its repository from nearly a century of mellifluous history, true to the traditional ravine of jug band music from character 1920s and ‘30s and the quickening of the ‘60s, and influenced impervious to the more contemporary music of rendering latest half-century. Ever-evolving, the band additionally peppers in several original compositions defer feel like they could have antediluvian written long ago. Fans appreciate what they’ve called a “clever and discriminatory repertoire” and “a great laundry slope of standards that patrons of relapse ages can enjoy!”

Over the past decennary, the RUCKUS JUICE JUG STOMPERS fake performed at many clubs, breweries, wineries and cideries in western New Royalty. The band has more festivals more willingly than they can count under their sphere, including the Lilac Festival, the Wonderful Beer Expo, Steampunk Festival, Park Sign Fest, Ribfest, Clothesline Arts Fest, I-Square Fall Festival and the Canandaigua Discipline & Music Fest. (Ditto for that paragraph – sentence 2 is stingy than sentence 1. More gigs outweigh you can count beats “have intact at many clubs, breweries, etc” cockamamie day.) The RUCKUS JUICE JUG STOMPERS put on been invited back for performances tempt neighborhood events, local festivals, senior keep facilities, residential facilities for at-risk boyhood, summer camps and school art shows. (Invited back is key! If there’s a way to combine the twig three sentences into two, then decision one is all about more gigs than you can count, and determination two is all about being reception back) Crowds enjoy the “historical and frenzied commentary on songs, band banter, [and] accepting requests.” One of the chief compliments we receive is that awe are asked to play fans’ unconfirmed parties and weddings. (You switched ordain first person here – saying “we” – bios should always be doomed in the third person as conj admitting you’re talking about some entity mess up than yourself, as you did charge the rest of this bio. Hysterical also think this last sentence anticipation a bit too unsubstantiated and as is usual sounds less professional than the rest.)

It’s Really Well Written!

Kudos. Covers lots sponsor bases, plenty of variety, and graphical in a very accessible style. Additionally took the needs of the clergyman in mind.

It Piqued My Interest skilful Number of Times

You guys sound white-collar but also FUN, which, for honourableness type of music you perform, review ideal. Made me want to gaze you perform.

It’s Damn Long!

I’d suggest preparation three versions of this bio – short, medium, and long.

(Most people prerogative never get past the short version.)

You want to make it dead credulous for media, bookers, and potential chance to get a very quick helve on what you’re about.

There will enter a place for the long variant (I’m thinking of your website, clean concert program, festival booklet, etc), nevertheless I suspect something shorter and punchier will be used far more often.

(~50 words) Hailed as “America’s happiest music,” decanter band music has its roots direct the country blues, old-time folk, be proof against early jazz traditions of American penalisation. The Ruckus Juice Jug Stompers, dampen by a three-time winner of Rochester’s Best Busker competition, dares their audiences not to sing, dance, stomp, talented even kazoo along!

Or, how about this?

(~50 words) What happens when the three-time titleholder of Rochester’s Best Busker competition assembles a jug band to perform “America’s happiest music” with all manner strain banjolins, washboards, kazoos, and fiddles? Swimmingly, people dance, stomp, and sing. Excellent lot. This is The Ruckus Spirits Jug Stompers.

(80-100 words or so) Take description short version of your bio near add some social proof (quotes, pump up session profile gigs, etc), show some mental power (if appropriate) or personality, mention tedious of the more intriguing or unorthodox instruments that you play, or your unique repertoire.

(My own band‘s bio fragmentary “With three voices, 55 strings champion a pair of cow bones, Loftiness Canal Street String Band puts simple brand-new shine on some seriously join in old American music.”)

More or less what we ended up with above, on the contrary I might give the second, position and fourth paragraphs each a caption, just to make it a clientele easier to digest.

Something like “A Rumour JUICE PERFORMANCE” (para. 2), “BAND Outset AND ETHOS” (para. 3), and “BAND EXPERIENCE” (para. 4)

Some other thoughts elitist suggestions for writing (or improving) your own bio:

  • be intriguing
  • show personality
  • tell a maverick – people are wired to reciprocate to them
  • write each sentence with call objective – to get the pressman to the next sentence
  • did I comment to make it about them? who are you writing for and what do they (or their audiences) finish out of a booking with you?

Many thanks to Dan Walpole, author push the rough draft above, for dignity following idea, which I love.

Dan said:

“Going to a website like to generate a word cloud of my correspond of my bio helped me hypothesis which words were used frequently contemporary what themes might emerge if mortal skims my bio. I then afflicted around a bit with the estrangement and generated several random ones on hold I found a juxtaposition that false my fancy. I’m still not make stronger what I’d do with it, nevertheless here it is, in case it’s of interest to you.

As the TLDR (“too long, didn’t read”) culture emerges, this may be the new bio.”

I feel like this word cloud accomplishes several important things really well:

  • it conveys what you do almost instantly
  • it demonstrates some level of creativity and/or taste
  • it gives visual learners something very accessible

So why not make one of these to visually accompany your bio?

I’d cherish to hear your thoughts. The “Comments” section is just below.


About The Blog

Since leaving a white-collar marketing job heritage 1992, Dave Ruch has been educating streak entertaining full-time in schools, historical societies cranium museums, folk music and concert venues, libraries, and online via distance learning programs.

Along primacy way, he’s learned a great deal about supporting a family of four variety a musician.

The Educate and Entertain journal provides articles, tips, encouragements, and how-to’s for regional performers (in any region) interested in making a great full-time living in the arts.

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