We've touched on this in past Q:TIP blog posts, but one of the best ways to get college students out for shows is to have local talent play. The Mecca of local talent showcases is the infamous "Open Mic Night" where students can show up and share a song or two on an acoustic guitar or piano. We've got a few tips for your next open mic to ensure high attendance and a quality show.

1. Choose the nights' roster by having students submit a youtube video or mp3 recording weeks prior. This will ensure you are getting quality singer song writers. No one likes listening to off-key "talent" unless Simon is there to  giving them feedback after the performance.
2. Give promotional material to the students performing to help with marketing– after all, they want an audience to show up and listen to them even more than you do.
3. Make a facebook event page and encourage the performers to invite their circle of friends.
4. Only allow each performer 5-10 minutes to perform and keep the concert between 90-120 minutes long. Quality is better than quantity when it comes to concerts.
5. Invite a charismatic, professional musician to emcee the show. This will keep the transition between artists smooth and entertaining. Here are our RECOMMENDATIONS.
6. Have your emcee perform a periodic song between local performers, to hook people in to stay for the whole show, versus leaving right after they hear their friend play. 
7. Utilize a good sound system and have a professional sound engineer running it. Even Adelle can sound terrible if the music not properly mixed to fit the acoustics of the room.
8. Promote your next concert at the end of the show via flyer handout.

 If you have other ideas on how to successfully pull-off an Open Mic night, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a reply below.

Rock Hop & Roll returns this winter with Attaboy and NF (Nate Feuerstein). To stay posted on when the tour will be coming to your area, definitely check out the ROCK HOP & ROLL website.

Congratulations to NICOLLE GALYON, for reaching #2 on iTunes this past month. If you've never heard her music, here's a great introduction:

Nicolle Galyon Media Songs and Videos

SOUTHBOUND FEARING has some exciting tour dates coming up! They will be on the road from September 29 to November all over the country and sharing the stage with some incredible bands such as The Newsboys, Building 429, and Embers in Ashes.

Check their WEBSITE for the dates, and make sure you don't miss them in your area!

We're thrilled to be at NACA once again with several artist's being showcased at the different conferences, including the wildly popular and charismatic James David. Check out the schedule below:

Central (Oct 4-7): JAMES DAVID - Kick off concert
Mid-Atlantic (Oct 18-21): LANDON AUSTIN - Kick off concert
Mid-America (Nov 1-4): JETTY RAE Spotlight Showcase
West (Nov 15-18): Erik DiNardo Roving Artist | JETTY RAE Roving Artist (Alt.) | THE HEAVEN SWITCH Spotlight High (Alt.)

We thought we'd also post their hilarious Kickstarter video, which really shows the two Michaelis brothers at their best.

If you'd like to support them, definitely check out their KICKSTARTER PAGE.

Quick Artist Agency wants to help you make your event as successful as possible. A large part of the success of the concerts you put on are based on the promotional implementation of your team. To make sure that our efforts and yours are as effective as possible, we have put together a checklist of things for you to think about as you are putting your concert together.

Check it out below:

Let us know if you have come up with any of your own promotional tricks!

Learn more about Southbound Fearing!

Be on the lookout for their new album: Bad Dreams and Melodies, in stores October 9, 2012!

HEATH MCNEASE is hard to nail down and categorize. His music style varies from Christian hip hop to acoustic love-song ballads, and his content ranges from nostalgic Nintendo reminisces to deep spiritual truth about Jesus. Today, Heath McNease releases a brand-new full-length paying homage to C.S. LEWIS, who is known for both his nonfiction essays on the Christian walk and also for his science-fiction literature, (CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and THE SPACE TRILOGY). Seems like a perfect mash-up since Heath McNease is a brilliant emcee who has the depth of heart and soul to keep up with C.S. Lewis' mind and imagination.

The release is free via BANDCAMP and you can stream the songs or download each Heath McNease MP3. Above is a VIDEO INTRO to THE WEIGHT OF GLORY. As always, we recommend that if you are inspired by the music, that you leave a donation to keep indie artists like Heath McNease writing songs and performing live.

There were some wonderful articles and interviews written about this new release. Go ahead and take your pick:

• SPHERE OF HIP HOP
• RUNNING FOR HOME BLOG
• CHRON (Christian Hip Hop Blog)