Booking Shows

with Abbey Arts Presents, Seattle

Bob Scoverski

Bob Scoverski

First, check out our Venues Page for more info on our spaces
in Fremont, Ballard, South Park, UDistrict, Capitol Hill, and Greenlake.  

Next, be sure you’re cool with our Respect & Equity policies.

Returning Artists and Agents

E-mail booking(at)fremontabbey.org to contact us.
206-414-8325 for timely matters only please.  

Please include band name and intended date in the subject line as well as the email body.  

Including recent show history, realistic draw estimate, lineup suggestions, etc. helps us respond faster as well. 

New Bookings

We love to hear from new musicians & artists, especially if you are local to the PNW.   That’s what we do.  

Over the years we’ve developed some guidelines to help you and our staff save time and energy, allowing us all to maximize the time we spend creating awesome shows.  As an arts nonprofit, we do things a little differently.  🙂

For all new bookings, please read the section below before you send a booking request.
We also recommend checking out our About Events page to get an understanding of our style and capabilities.
(ie. We can’t really host super loud shows in our main venues)

Coming to see a show in real life in person is even better if you’re able!
Feel free to email tickets(at)fremontabbey.org or check out Arts Connect if the show ticket price is an obstacle for you. 

Don’t forget – we have a monthly Open Arts Mic and that’s a great way to get to know the community. We do occasionally book top performers from the Open Mic to play at our concerts and The Round.

Ok, here we go…

Step 1: Start with a clear idea

• What kind of show are you trying to make happen? Take a look at the VENUES where we host shows, and note their capacities.  Smaller, more intimate shows tend to work well downstairs at the Fremont Abbey or at the Ballard Homestead. If you don’t feel like you have the ability to draw a large enough audience to fill one of these spaces, feel free to seek out other bands or artists who you’d mesh well with, and who might be able to provide that draw.  
• Pitching yourself as part of a well rounded bill is a great way to catch our attention and increase the likelihood of a positive response.
• If you don’t feel comfortable pitching a full event, we are always seeking out new, up-and-coming artists for The Round (see below) and other concerts and events that we curate and produce.  If you’d like to be on the support list please indicate that in your subject line with “SUPPORTBAND” all one word.
• Keep in mind that we’re not a loud rock venue. The 10pm noise ordinance and our room acoustics restrict full bands from playing loud drums/guitar/bass/etc. Generally speaking, acoustic or mellow-ish bands fit well here at the Fremont Abbey anyway due to the live acoustics of each room.
• Abbey Arts is constantly striving to further its mission of empowering up-and-coming artists, providing opportunities to members of underserved communities, and supporting the arts economy.  If you have an idea for a unique or out-of-the-box event that might not have as reliable a draw but that furthers the Abbey Arts mission, feel free to pitch it to us and we may be able to work with you to make it a reality!
• Check out this  BLANK ADVANCE DOC  which is used for most events and includes all the venue info for the Fremont Abbey.

Step 2: Prepare a booking request

• Music venues are generally inundated with e-mails of various degrees of seriousness, professionalism and readability.  If you don’t have tons of experience booking shows, please check out our  BOOKING REQUEST page for all the info you’ll need to draft a great booking e-mail. 
• The chance of booking a show with us increases drastically if you ensure that the first e-mail you send has all the information we need to know about your show. This will help all of us save time & energy for what we love most – music, arts and community.

Step 3: E-mail Abbey Arts

• Only after you’ve completed steps 1 and 2 should you send us an e-mail.
• We are generally not able to keep up with email inquiries regarding booking with the same rapidity that other for-profit venues might be able to afford (we do try to read all emails though).
• If you are an established act and can help put together a strong lineup (100+ people with $7-10 ticket on Tuesday or Thursday usually), feel free to present your ideas! Bands share in the promotions, too, so be prepared to work hard. To book a weekend here, it would likely have to be off-peak season (Jan-March/July) or an established lineup with a proven draw of 150+ people with an $8-15 unless we have a night still open within 2 months.

Here’s an example of a great booking e-mail, that will likely lead to a prompt response and a great show:

and here’s… a not so great booking e-mail:

Step 4: Perform Great Music for a Packed Crowd

• If you’ve followed all the above steps and booked a show with us, congratulations! However, there’s still plenty of work to do.
• Booking the show is only the first step –  FOLLOW THIS LINK for tons of great information on how to promote your show.  
• Very few venues these days have a built-in draw, and the Abbey Arts venues are no exception.  We rely on artists to promote their shows heavily.  No one is better able to reach your fans than you are!

 – Curate a Show

We love hearing from members of the community who’ve got their ears to the ground.  Check out our Community Curator Information if you’re interested in becoming a community curator and putting together shows with Abbey Arts.  Past curators include Sharlese Metcalf (KEXP), John Richards (KEXP), Sassyblack, Steven Graham (107.7 The End / Fisherman’s Festival), Terry Morgan & Whitney Monge (for CATHEDRALS), Naomi Wachira, and more.

Community curation is not just for members of the media.  If you are a member of the community who has read the Community Curator Information doc and want to reach out to suggest an event, we encourage you to do so!  

As always, we may not have the capacity to respond to every e-mail, but we do our best to make sure they’re all read and considered.

– The Round

If you are a young, up & coming artist (13-24), you can apply to open up with a couple songs before The Round – a monthly event held at Fremont Abbey.  You would play 1-2 original songs as the show is starting up.

Please send an email to booking(at)fremontabbey.org. MAKE SURE to put “THEROUND” (all caps) as one word in your subject line and include a link to your best song (video of live performance preferred).  If looking to perform in the main Round event, follow the normal booking protocol above.

Regardless of age, if you’re applying to perform music, spoken word or live painting at The Round, please also indicate that in your email with the same subject line ‘THEROUND” all one word.   www.theround.org for more info

Best,

The Abbey Arts Booking Team