Hey gang! I was just curious what is the current gigging gear that you are using. Are you using pedals? Do you have your own portable PA? What guitar(s)? etc. Here is my gear: I am trying to keep things real simple... Guitar: Taylor 214ce Deluxe in Sunburst Pedal: TC Helicon Harmony Singer 2 PA: Harbinger MLS1000 Mic: Shure SM58 (Back-up Shure Beta 58) I have toying with the idea of adding a Beat Buddy or maybe a simple kick drum pedal. Your turn...

If you're reading this, you're either already gigging and wondering why nobody warned you about half of it, or you're thinking about starting and haven't yet discovered the joys of hauling a PA up three flights of stairs for a wedding that pays in "exposure." Either way, you're in the right place. I've been doing this for 28 years. Somewhere north of 4,000 paid gigs, more bad PA systems than I can count, and enough stories about drunk Garys requesting Wonderwall at 11pm to fill several lifetimes. Most of what I know didn't come from a textbook. It came from standing in front of a room and figuring out, often the hard way, what actually works. This community is where I put that down in a form you can use. Expect real talk about the money side of gigging, the stagecraft side, the confidence side, and the stuff nobody puts in a YouTube title because it doesn't sound exciting enough to click on. A big part of what I want to cover here is the psychology of a room, reading the energy, knowing when to push it and when to pull back, and how to navigate a crowd that's decided collectively it would rather talk about someone's renovation than listen to you. That skill matters more than any scale you'll ever learn. I can also help directly with vocals and guitar, rhythm and soloing both, if that's the part that's holding you back. Grab the 20 songs PDF if you haven't already, it's a solid place to start building a set that works. A few ways to get more out of this than just scrolling. Post your questions, the specific ones tend to get the best answers. Introduce yourself below and tell me where you're at, whether that's your first open mic or your five hundredth wedding gig. And if you want more direct time with me, there's a paid group coaching option and 1-on-1 slots available, details are pinned. No pressure on any of that. Free content here is genuinely useful on its own, not a teaser for the real stuff. Stick around, ask questions, and let's get you gigging smarter.

Firstly, a big thank you to the OG members who've joined while this place is still brand new. It's great to have you here, and I'm hoping we can build this into a genuinely useful community for working and aspiring gigging musicians. There are already decades of experience between the people in here, so hopefully this becomes a place where we can share what we've learned, help each other out, have a laugh at the ridiculous side of gigging, and maybe save each other from learning EVERYTHING the hard way. So, to get things rolling... What's ONE thing you know about gigging now that you wish someone had told you when you started?

Great that you have created this community. I am sure that we can all benefit from each others experience and knowledge, and share the ups and downs of solo gigging. Well done Tod.

Twenty-eight years and about 4,000 gigs boiled down into one list. These are the beginner-to-intermediate songs I still reach for, the ones that reliably win a room without needing years of stagecraft behind you yet. Grab it below. If you build even half your set around these, you'll cut out most of the trial and error I had to do the hard way.