We did it!

We set ourselves a challenge to do 60 gigs in our 60th year. Jo’s birthday is in September, Jim’s in October so we allowed a start date of Jo’s 59th and an end date of Jim’s 60th, giving us a total of just over 13 months. We completed the challenge in 11 months!

In 2022 we did 53 gigs, in 2023 it looked like we were going to beat that so we decided ‘let’s aim for 60 but do them in our 60th year’. We still have a day job so to give ourselves a fighting chance we allowed the 13 months between our 2 birthdays and included any gig that we were invited to play 3 songs or more, paid or not. We did not count open mics and to start with weren’t going to count our own Bluebell Roots events but then had a change of mind as we always play at least three songs there and it’s a regular proper gig!  And to compound the challenge we would do frank write ups of every single one of the 60 gigs, always with respect to the organisers – how we got the gig, what the fee arrangement was, what the venue was like for access, how many in the audience and how we felt about the gig afterwards. It’s all too easy to take a smiley photo and post it on social media at every gig, giving the impression that you had a large audience when sometimes the reality is you only have a handful of people – but that doesn’t make it a bad gig! Some of our most rewarding gigs have been to smaller audiences.

We are so grateful to those that do book us to play at their events or venues. Hosting a monthly event ourselves and having organised and helped with several festivals we know that booking acts without a proven following is a leap of faith. It is a bit chicken and egg – without the followers you don’t get the gigs and without the gigs you don’t get the followers. We have done some business training for our music and a lot of it concentrates on the number of followers you have on social media and interactions on live streaming platforms. That means playing the game of regular posting and engagement and fighting the algorithms which can be soul destroying. But with something to say, such as an album launch, a competition entry or a 60 by 60 gig challenge (for example) you can get significant engagement.  So we owe a massive thank you to those that give us the gigs.

Getting the gigs is a steady flow of sending out and replying to emails and messages to and from event and club organisers, chasing up or following up on replies, trying to dove-tail diary dates in the same area and fitting travel around day job and family commitments. And that’s after you’ve researched the best way to get in contact with the various venues and organisers and how they like to operate – we’ve started using an impressive CRM programme to log all of the communications. The admin side of an independent music career is exhausting but working as a duo really helps. We’ve now set aside one day a week for ‘band stuff’ which includes booking gigs, doing blog posts and write ups, updating email list and social media, bookkeeping, merchandise stock taking, preparing and posting, practising, song writing, recording, artwork for advertising posters and digital files, budgeting, ticketing, website updates and forward planning. Yes, a little ambitious for one day a week!

We have met amazing people and visited beautiful parts of the country over the past year. Relying on serendipity to guide us, we’ve discovered places we hadn’t intended to visit but now intend to revisit. Music is a great leveller so you have something in common with everyone at a gig and can have brilliant conversations before and after playing, with those organising, those visiting and with other musicians – we’ve made some good friends and contacts. Being friendly and adaptable goes a long way.  Alex Thomas is a friend we met through music a few years back and he has followed our journey with his journalism photography almost from the start of Milton Hide. He produced a series of great shots to commemorate our 60th gig. 

Do we stop at 60? No way! We’re on a roll and, by the time we hit our 60th celebration gig on 13th October, we should be on gig number 76. We then just have another 6 gigs in the diary before the end of the year when we quieten down and concentrate on song writing and practising and finishing our latest album. Late summer is our busy admin time for getting bookings for the following year so we will be ready for a little break by late Autumn, possibly taking a week away to get away from all distractions and concentrate on some new songs. And what does the future hold for Milton Hide? We’ve got a few dates in the diary already for 2025 and hope to be moving house at some point which will be a bit of a change, then hopefully we can gradually step back from the day job and start working full time on the music, making a living from something that we both absolutely love doing.