Learn How to Create and Book Shows at KEXP's Mastering the Hustle Workshop This Saturday

Your band has been practicing in your basement non-stop. You know your songs inside and out. Now you're ready to finally load up your gear and play a show. But where do you start? When you're first starting to play live music around town, it can be hard to get your bearings and know who to talk to, what to say, and -- most importantly -- how to actually land a gig. Or what if you want to create your own show? What do you do then? Thankfully, all your questions are about to be answered.

Mastering The Hustle: Creating and Booking ShowsSaturday, September 9th 2-4 pm in the KEXP Gathering Space[RSVP HERE]

Upstream Music Festival + Summit, KEXP, and MoPOP are partnering up for the fourth installment of the Mastering The Hustle workshop series this Saturday, September 9th in the KEXP Gathering Space. This weekend's session is themed "Creating and Booking Shows", giving expert advice to artists of all levels the information they need to start making gigs happen. You'll hear from professional bookers like Sean Majors from the Q Nightclub and Upper Left Events, KEXP Audioasis host and Events Producer Sharlese Metcalf, The Vera Project's Andrea Friedman, and Neumos' Evan Johnson; all moderated by KEXP's own John Richards.

Andrea Friedman lives in Seattle, Washington where she is the Special Events Coordinator at Town Hall and founding member of TUF, a locally based collective. Andrea’s interest in booking and event production started in the DIY scene in Davis, California. She hosted a radio show on freeform station KDVS 90.3FM and explored eclectic sounds in the city’s thriving house show scene. She moved to Seattle in the winter of 2012 and quickly got involved at The Vera Project, where she worked as the Talent Buyer & Special Events Producer from 2014 to 2017. Andrea is also an amateur DJ under the name Harlan Pepper and curates a mixtape series called Music To Cry To, which is released on cassette.

Sharlese Metcalf began her radio career at Green River Community College in 2001, hosting their Northwest music focused show Local Motion on KGRG. She attained her Broadcasting Certificate from Green River and was offered a job at Jones Radio Networks. There, she worked on Classic Country and Top 40 shows as a production assistant. While at Jones Radio, she was given a KEXP internship to work on the show Audioasis as an assistant to the host and booker, and in 2009 she became an Audioasis producer. Sharlese works as an Events Producer for KEXP and additionally DJs and promotes events at clubs around town as False Prophet, and is a member of the collective TUF.

Evan Johnson first moved out to Seattle to attend Seattle University and instantly fell in love with the local music community. After interning at KEXP, Bumbershoot/One Reel, and Neumos, he began booking shows at The Rendezvous in Belltown. After a few months, the Neumos/Barboza team brought him on to handle Barboza bookings as well. He's been one of the main buyers at Neumos and Barboza for nearly three years and recently joined the Capitol Hill Block Party programming team.

Sean Majors has been a long-time DJ in Seattle's dance and electronic scene prior to landing his current role as the Creative Director at Q Nightclub. He also co-founded Upper Left -- an event production company "committed to changing the dynamic of living art in the Northwest." In all of his roles as an artist, director, and event producer, he's pushed boundaries on what a show can be and dedicated his work to creating inclusive events that go beyond the expected.

John Richards is the host of The Morning Show, playing music that you want to hear at the time you need to hear it. Everything from the Pixies to the Postal Service, from Massive Attack to Blackalicious. The Morning Show breaks new music, it embraces old music, and it tries to tie it all together.

This is your chance to learn how to book your band from the people who book bands for a living. Make sure you RSVP and we'll see you Saturday!