Kimmy Terrell is the owner of Southern California’s Sensation Music & Productions, which represents several renowned Show Bands that performs at corporate events, charity galas, holiday parties, weddings, and other private celebrations. She’s also the lead vocalist and Bandleader in the Sensation Show Band.

Of her work, she says, “They call it the music business for a reason. It’s treated no differently than other businesses. As the owner of a Show Band, my responsibilities are booking a show and creating a [client] database. I service my customers; I call, email, and visit their offices.

“These are my clients in my database. It typically consists of agencies that work with corporations so I network in meetings, I advertise, and have preferred vendors in magazines. I do social networking. Then, on top of that, I have to be sure my collateral material (meaning photos and promotional videos) is relevant, up-to-date and what my buyers want to see.”

“One of the things we provide is costuming; we create a look for a client’s event. For instance, if I’m doing a party for a formal event and they want us in formal clothing I would provide that look for the client. We create a centerpiece for the evening. We learn about their demographic and we would perform the most suitable music for that particular event.”

“In addition, as part of being an owner, we run rehearsals, we do all the charting for the musicians, and we expect when they show up to the stage or even to rehearsal, they’re ready to go. If they want to just be a part of it as musicians, it’s a very different role than being a [Band]leader.”

“I provide their clothing (for the most part). I tell them when and where to be and what to play. Then they get to go home. It’s a very different experience than being on the leadership side, which is finding the clients and providing customer service.”

Show Bands earn an average yearly salary of approximately $100,300. The average annual salary for Show Bands ranges from $85,000 to $119,000.

Show Bands can earn a very good living off their performances. What they take home varies, based on the price charged by the event producer. “It’s a percentage based on what we charge so every event is different,” Terrell explains. “Sometimes we have a seven-piece band or a twenty-one piece band. It’s all percentage and scale.”

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Show Bands work nights, sometimes traveling to reach gigs. “From the Leader’s perspective, I keep like a 10am-3pm schedule then have performances on the weekends,” Terrell says.

“Oftentimes, with a Show Band, you’re working a lot of corporate events and those happen during the week. So, with a typical event taking place, we have to get there at approximately 4:30pm for soundcheck. Events can go from 6-10pm or 7-11pm. We really don’t rehearse. We might create a little longer soundcheck if there’s something custom we’re learning or if we’re playing a wedding and playing something we don’t know.”

“Thankfully you don’t find too many Show Bands in bars because they have much later schedules. Being involved in a Show Band is a little more high end; we get a better clientele and the hours are earlier.”

For a Show Band member, advancement can mean taking a position with a band that regularly performs for big-name clients, as it will mean more money and exposure. Creating and becoming a Bandleader for one’s own Show Band could also be considered a step up if a band member wants to take on more responsibilities.

Starting a production company that books Show Bands for corporate gigs can also lead to an increase in income, a greater hand in creative direction, and of course, more responsibility.

Although aspiring Show Band members may be able to find band openings in Craigslist’s musicians’ section, when Bandleaders look for new members, Terrell tells us, “most of it is word-of-mouth [and] a lot of it is referrals. I’ll call another band or someone I know and say, ‘Do you have a tuba player in mind?’ Then I’ll get the number and have the person out for an audition.

“I do have musicians that call and say, ‘Hey, I’m a Drummer. Whenever you’re looking for someone, can you think about me?’”

For those just starting out, who have never performed with a Show Band before, Terrell recommends the following basic steps:

• “Have a picture and a recording of you playing. It doesn’t need to be a video; it can be just a simple MP3. Then just find out who the leaders are in Show Bands and start shooting it out. Follow up and follow up.
• As soon as you get that break and that ‘in’, you get out on that stage and you keep smiling. They’ll remember you.”

The good news for an aspiring Show Band member is that no previous band experience or special skills are required to join a band. Of course, band members must be skilled performers, so they probably already have some experience onstage. “They just need to have the people skills and know how to play their instrument,” Terrell tells us.

“I don’t have time for ego,” Terrell says. “There are some bands who that works for. For some bands, it has to be all about the sunglasses and the leather — or whatever it is — but in my bands, it’s all about the connection. Because it’s all about the audience.”

The type of person who would make an excellent Show Band member is, she adds, “outgoing, energetic, warm. All Show Bands are treated differently. Mine are pretty special, in that I really value a family atmosphere. We have people in our bands who have been there for years — and you really can feel that.”

“We’ve been through everything together: marriages, divorces, celebrations. It’s a lot of integrity and [there’s] a lot of family in it. When we travel, our cheeks hurt cause we laugh so hard. We know each other and take care of each other and that translates when we go on stage.”

Although a Performance degree could be helpful in learning the necessary skills and attaining a high level of musicianship, Show Band members do not need to have academic or conservatory music training.

As long as they can play well, Terrell says, “We don’t require anything like that. What we do require is just talent and some kind of connection the music. For instance, we have three bands and if I’m trying to hire a saxophone player for my disco band and they hate disco, they’re not going to have any connection to it and it’s going to show on the stage.

“I can’t have anybody get on the stage who isn’t ready to show up and be on the stage. We’re a Show Band. It’s about having fun, dancing, connecting to the audience, and smiling. My horn section is a dancing horn section. If they’re just standing there with their noses buried in the books, that doesn’t work.”

“I’d rather have them not play the [right] note and just have a connection. Connection is everything; they’re up there having fun and dancing. If they’re just standing up there, looking bored, and not digging it, they’re not going to be on stage.”