Performer’s Almanac is a working reference for singer-songwriters, supporting craft, songwriting, and community-rooted live gigging in breweries and other local venues. It brings together short-form field notes on practical issues, city-based directories you’ll want to bookmark, and tools to keep you organized and on track.
- Consult the Field Guide to learn how to get more out of live performance
- Use the City Directory to learn where other musicians play in your area
- Browse Setlists to see what works in different rooms and set formats
- Download forms and templates from the Toolbox
Before You Start
For most of us, music exists in the margins of a busy life.
What draws us back are the moments that matter - writing a new song or walking off stage after a peak performance. Those experiences are the fuel. At the same time, the rest of life competes for our attention, our time, our energy. Progress, when it happens, comes in fragments. Inconsistent windows. Uneven stretches.
That’s normal.
The Field Guide, the Performer’s Almanac City Directory, and the various tools are designed to work for you inside that reality. They help you chart a course, see the steps ahead, and provide resources that reduce friction and guesswork making it easier to stay committed to the craft.
This isn’t about doing more. It’s about developing a tactical plan using straightforward approaches that fit the time you actually have - right-sizing expectations and recognizing progress at each step, so you keep going.
Use what helps. Skip what doesn’t. Keep going.