I’m often asked why we state this on our website and I invite questions about this because we are a set band, which is a bit rare in the NYC market. The naked truth about the local wedding entertainment industry is there are different models by which bands are put together.
SET BAND is the model The Storytellers Band follows and that I strongly believe in because we’re truly a set team, a lineup of regular members who play together 99.9% of the time. Having us play is like having your own private (& insanely lit) concert. After all, you get to choose the music we play. Your guests can feel the energy we put out and they kinda go crazy. The exchange of energy between the band and guests is palpable and this is what most couples are looking for on their big night.
What about the other .01% of the time? Well if one player or singer is sick, has an emergency, is on vacation, is having a baby (or you name it), we have 1-2 back up players for each position in the band. You see, you can’t have a fully functional team without backups/alternates, but ours are not always warming the bench. We pull in our alternates for weddings and club shows to keep everyone fresh because we can’t let the ship sink if one person is out for any reason. So yes, with The Storytellers, the band you see is the band you get and we can provide video for any backup players we may have to pull in.
The other common models are ‘collectives’ and ‘agency bands’ from huge agencies with hundreds of players on their call lists…
A COLLECTIVE literally ‘collects’ talent on their roster and as they book up any given date with anywhere from 5 to 25+ bands, they pull from their massive list of players by way of random selection. For example, they send an email blast to all the singers on their list and the first to reply or ‘accept’ the gig is hired. This is done for all positions (sax, bass, drums, guitar, keys, etc). The selection process is random and often these musicians show up never having met or played music with each other before – they are strangers. This is a recipe for chaos, plain and simple. Most of the musicians are great as individuals, but as a group there is zero common ground, no history and certainly no chemistry. Are they cheap?? You bet they are, and you get what you pay for.
BIG AGENCIES also have hundreds of players on their rosters, and some have set bands too. But you can rarely see them live, you’re often shown only a video at an in office appointment, and you truly are not guaranteed that anyone in those videos is still in the band or will show up at your event. And agencies are NOT cheap, in fact their rates can be double that of a set band like The Storytellers…after all they have corporate office sized rent, executives, pension plans, expense accounts to fund and on and on. Big business comes with big expenses and those costs are passed on to you. The money goes into the pockets of agents, owners, brick & mortar, office staff…not the musicians who are performing at your event.
Both of those models pump out as many bands as they can to maximize their profits. If you’re not concerned about the quality of your band, or personalized services, then they might be for you.
If you love music and want a killer night of songs that you’ve chosen from our massive playlist, along with the most personalized service imaginable, choose The Storytellers – we are a set band whose bandleader is running the business and the band at your event.
Come see a Storytellers show, meet us, get to know us and we’ll see you on your big day. Our Co-Founder/bandleader Candace will be working with you from the first phone call to the last dance.
Contact us today to get started!