Home - TOTAL COVER BAND DOMINATION

Become unstoppable.

NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND EBOOK!

Build a formidable presence on your live music scene with this exceptional new book. TOTAL COVER BAND DOMINATION is packed with practical advice, thousands of gigging tips and crowd-grabbing techniques, and a series of business and marketing strategies that you can put to work immediately.

Turn up the heat

This is the ultimate survival guide for conquering your local pub scene and beyond.

Chase down the opportunity

Solid, step-by-step, real-world advice that will propel your cover band into orbit.

Seize the advantage

260+ pages of band-boosting strategies, all tested, proven and perfected over hundreds of hours of cover band gigs.

Introducing…

It’s all here. 60,000+ words, 260+ pages, and years of work. This is brand new, launched in 2024, and it is the killer cover band handbook that every gigging musician needs.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll learn within the pages of Total Cover Band Domination:

The cover band landscape in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia
Competing for music genres, and winning
How much you can earn as a cover band
Finding your music niche or going wide
Cover band vs tribute act: which is the best route for you?
Building powerful connections with venues
Recruiting new band members, and doing it the right way
Creating, developing and refining your band image and identity
Supercharging your band’s profile with clear, consistent branding
Owning the crowd with the power of stagecraft
Building on-stage personas, without looking foolish
Becoming the master of your setlist
Strategies for the perfect sound check
Engaging with your audience and taking them on the journey
Turning your followers into fanatics
Disarming hecklers and destroying troublemakers
Harnessing continuous improvement to accelerate success
Choosing the right gigging gear
Creating an effective stage layout in a small space
Using every venue to full effect
Working with a sound engineer or doing it yourself
Mid-gig emergencies and backup kit
The role of on-stage branding
Maintaining professionalism and winning new gigs
Using portable lighting for maximum impact
The power of smoke and other visuals
Improving performances through reflection, evaluation and analysis
Identifying, avoiding and dealing with burnout
Getting paid on time and recognising payment red flags
Assessing your payment options
Making more money and successfully increasing your prices
Strategies for splitting the band money
Developing opportunities beyond pubs and bars
Climbing aboard the wedding train
Exploiting the festival circuit
Capturing more private party gigs
Winning corporate bookings
Increasing your band’s social media reach
Your insurance options and how to evaluate what you need
The value of the UK’s Musicians’ Union
The value of the American Federation of Musicians
Other organisations that could be valuable to you

This is not an academic textbook.

It’s a practical resource, packed with proven advice that you can actually use. Whether you’re a total newcomer to the pub and club scene or you’re a hardened gigging professional, this book is going to help you.

What is TOTAL COVER BAND DOMINATION?

ONE SINGLE BOOK, SEVEN HUGE SECTIONS. This comprehensive guide can change your life and transform your cover band. It contains everything you need to build, boost and go ballistic on your live music scene. 60,000+ words, 260+ pages, hundreds of gigs, and thousands of hours of work, all packed into one absolutely killer handbook.

OUTSMART THE MARKET

PART 1

Get the inside track on what's happening right now. Identify the key genres and your cover band competition in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Assess your local market, whether to focus on a niche or go wide, and the tribute act opportunity.

BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS

PART 2

Learn techniques that build deeper connections with venues and win more gigs. Explore band member recruitment, personality, attitude and commitment. Sharpen your live identity, develop personas and craft your ideal visual image.

SUPERCHARGE YOUR STAGE

PART 3

Create the perfect stage in small and unpredictable spaces. Explore gig equipment and the benefits of a sound engineer. Understand room acoustics, stage branding, logo design, lighting rigs, monitoring solutions, smartphone integration and much more.

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

PART 4

Head deep into the heart of your performance. Achieve the perfect sound check and master your setlist. Engage flawlessly with the audience and shoot down any troublemakers. Deal with on-stage emergencies and choose your backup kit.

CRACK THE MONEY CODE

PART 5

Get paid on time and increase your earnings. Evaluate the options for splitting the money with your bandmates. Exploit gig opportunities beyond the pub circuit. Weddings, corporate events, private parties, cruise ships, festivals and much more.

RISE, ADAPT AND DOMINATE

PART 6

Take your band higher, exploring new ways to adapt, grow and capture new audiences. Use social media to boost your fan base with organic and paid search strategies. Harness continuous improvement, avoid burnout, and scrutinise and learn from your closest cover band competitors.

INSURANCE AND BORING BITS

PART 7

Insurance and unions are things you can’t ignore. Explore public liability, equipment, personal accident and cancellation insurance, as well as the benefits of the UK’s Musicians’ Union, the American Federation of Musicians and many others. This stuff is dull, but you’ll thank me later.

Yes, I need this book! Send me my copy.

No hidden systems. No magic formula.

This book is not a gimmick or a get-rich-quick ploy. There are no slick tricks or empty promises. Just page upon page of valuable facts and effective information. Hard-earned over the years, and refined across hundreds of cover band gigs in pubs, clubs, private events and festivals.

The Definitive Guide to Cover Band Success

Packed With Facts

I’ll share the business, branding and audience-building strategies that helped me succeed. Whether you want to do this as a side hustle or as a full-time musician, you decide. Either way, this book is going to help.

The Only Handbook You'll Ever Need

A Comprehensive, In-depth Approach

Read it. Scribble on it. Underline sentences and highlight paragraphs. Fold down some of those corners. And put things into practice. Because nothing will hold you back more than thinking, but never doing.

Designed for Total Live Music Domination

Build Your Strategy

Are you a seasoned music professional with years of gigging under your belt, or are you just starting out on your cover band journey? Either way, this book will take you where you want to go. And fast.