Info for Artists

INFORMATION FOR MUSICIANS ABOUT THE RAM CLUB

This general note is intended to help musicians and/or agents – and covers the following main items:

    1. gig approaches to the Ram Club – paras 1-3

    2. pre-contractual matters – paras 4-6

    3. artist fees – para 7

    4. advance publicity for gigs at the Ram Club – paras 8-12

    5. directions to venue and parking – paras 13-15

    6. access to venue and sound-checking – paras 16-17

    7. PA spec and availability – paras 18-24

    8. other facilities at venue – paras 25-31

    9. gig format and merchandising – paras 32-34

    10. curfew – para 35

    11. overnight accommodation, where requested – paras 36-37

      GIG APPROACHES  

      1. These should be made to:  Bob & Maggie Wood, 8 Aldwick Road, Beddington, Surrey CR0 4PL

             ☎ 0208 686 9421        ✉ ramclub@btinternet.com

  1. The Ram Club tends to book well ahead and receives a great many inquiries. But we are always happy to consider approaches for future dates. We do our best to give a fair-minded consideration and response.

  2. We do not stipulate any format for gig approaches. We consider demos, CDs, YouTube clips and the like – provided these are honest and sufficiently representative of the gig being sought.

           PRE-CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION

  1. The Ram Club is always more interested in promoting great music than the language of dull contracts and has never drafted its own club contract. We are, however, occasionally invited to sign agency or musicians’ contracts which are sometimes over-prescriptive or too exacting for the facilities we can offer.

  2. Therefore, ahead of any contractual agreement, this note is intended to be helpful to musicians offered gigs at The Ram Club and/or their agents. We are always happy to discuss particular requests or look for solutions to potential problems and the first point of contact should be Bob & Maggie Wood – contact details as at para 1.

  3. Where, however, we receive contracts which are inconsistent with this note, we reserve the right (without going time-consumingly through individual contracts clause-by-clause), to regard this note as taking precedence.

           ARTIST FEES

  1. Our normal practice is either to:

    • agree a fee as being a straight 80% of the door take – or

    • settle a guaranteed minimum fee -v- 80% of the door take

In either event, the 80% calculation is made after deducting our weekly rent (currently £100 per week). We pride ourselves on playing straight with money and doing our best by guest musicians.

        ADVANCE PUBLICITY

  1. Publicity matters are overseen by Peter Whitehead

       ☎ 07904372794       ✉ ramfolkclub@gmail.com

  1. We work hard to publicise gigs at the Ram. To help us, we ask musicians to provide well ahead of the gig:

    • a high quality photograph (ideally 500KB, or greater) – preferably in JPEG form and without shadow. If it is of a live performance, so much the better

    • a biography and short press release

    • where available, two posters (A3 or A2 sizes are equally acceptable)

  1. We recognise that many musicians seek to assist venues by having posters available for download from their own websites. The Ram Club, however, does not have the capacity or budget to print high quality posters and flyers. We therefore look to musicians and/or agents to provide any available hard copy materials either to Peter Whitehead (address provided on request, see para 8 for contact details) or to Bob & Maggie Wood (address as at para 1).

  2. We also appreciate and look to guest musicians appearing at The Ram Club to self-publicise and to post the date on their own social media and websites.

  3. Where there are changes to band line-ups, we recognise that these things happen. But we do expect to be notified of such events at the earliest possible moment and, in extremis, reserve the right to decide whether to proceed with the gig.

         DIRECTIONS TO VENUE AND PARKING

  1. The Ram Club is a Friday night venue at the Old Cranleighan (OC) Club, Portsmouth Road, Thames Ditton KT7 0HB. Full directions are available on the Location page of this website. 

  2. The OC has its own large car park.

  3. NB: In planning journey times to the Ram Club, please allow extra time for busy roads and motorways in the south-east, especially on Fridays.

          ACCESS TO VENUE AND SOUND-CHECKING

  1. The OC is a sports club and we are lucky to have sole use of the premises on Friday evenings. During the day, however, the premises are used by others; our own access is, typically, from around 6pm. Our team then needs time to set up the stage and seating. We therefore ask musicians not to set up their gear until team members have checked everything and say they are ready.

  2. We can usually begin sound-checking at 7.15pm, or shortly after. (Doors open to the audience at 8.15pm for an 8.30 start.)

            PA SPEC AND AVAILABILITY

  1. PA matters are overseen by Tony Renfrey

      ☎ 07768 970325            ✉ tony.renfrey@outlook.com

  1. The club room at the OC offers an intimate setting and a very good stage sound, but a PA system is required for best results.

  2. Guest musicians are welcome to use either their own PA system and sound engineer or the Ram Club’s, as they prefer.

  3. Para 23 lists the equipment we are able to provide. The club’s own PA works very successfully for most acts.

  4. Where the club PA is used, we are also happy to operate the sound-desk. Our crew members are experienced at achieving a very good, natural acoustic sound. We ask all musicians who wish to use our facilities to:

    • set out their tech-spec when the gig date is agreed, consistent with what we are able to provide at para 23 below

    • bear in mind that, as in most folk clubs, our crew are not professional sound engineers

    • be aware that The Ram Club reserves the right to determine the overall volume of the performance to suit the venue and the preferences of our audience.

  1. The Ram Club is able to provide the following:

    • 12-channel SoundCraft EFX mixer with built-in effects and phantom power

    •  12-channel “snake” (multicore) and stage box

    • Two Electro-Voice ZLX 12P 1000 Watt powered stage speakers and stands.

    • Two powered Behringer monitors. NB: we can only provide a single mix to send to the monitors. As stated, the room is intimate and the stage sound good.

    • DI boxes: 5 x Behringer DI 100.

    • microphones and stands: 8 x tall and 2 x short microphone boom stands; 2 x instrument mic stands; 2 x monitor stands; 6 x Shure SM58 mics; 4 x instrument mics (2 x Shure SM57 mics; 1 x AKG C1000S Condenser mic; Yoga FX-510L mini mic)

  1. Important note at the time of writing to musicians who use Orchid Electronics mutable pre-amp boxes. For reasons outside our control (interference caused by a nearby phone mast), these boxes may not work at the Ram Club. Orchid is aware of the issue and is working on a solution. In the meantime, please either use the Ram’s equipment (as above) or carry your own preferred alternative to the Orchid.

UPDATE JAN 20 2019: THIS PROBLEM DOES NOT SEEM TO OCCUR WITH THE LATEST MODELS FROM ORCHID. WE ARE THEREFORE ASSUMING THE MANUFACTURER HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM IN ITS NEWER MODELS.

           OTHER FACILITIES AND CONDITIONS AT THE VENUE

  1. We are the sole users on Friday evenings of the OC premises. The bar area opens at around 7.30pm.

  2. Meals, we regret, are not available on site. There are available options very nearby – such as The Marquis of Granby or Cafe Rouge. As at para 7, we always aim to do our best on the matter of fees but we do not accede to buy-out clauses for meals bought. And see also Overnight Accommodation at para 36 below.

  3. The OC is a hockey and rugby club. There are no plush “green room” type facilities. But there are ample spaces in which musicians may wish, undisturbed, to change clothes and the like.

  4. The maximum seating capacity of the club room is around 120 with limited additional standing room.

  5. Save on rare and isolated occasions, we do not ticket events in advance.

  6. Admission prices vary, according to the guaranteed minimum fee to be covered. A modest discount is always afforded to club members. We believe we are best placed to gauge admission prices. As a guide, these currently range from £9 to £12.

  7. We are happy to entertain (preferably in advance) reasonable requests for guest tickets and ask in return that guest musicians are sensitive to the fee (and £85 weekly rent) which we have to cover.

            TYPICAL GIG FORMAT AND MERCHANDISING

  1. First half: floor spots (usually two) from 8.30-9pm. First guest spot from 9-9.45. Interval from 9.45-10.05pm.

  2. Second half: floor spot (usually one), plus raffle. Second guest spot from around 10.25-11.10pm. This allows time for an encore.

  3. Guest musicians are welcome to sell CDs and other merchandise. We are also happy to assist. No commission is charged by the club.

            CURFEW

  1. We need to leave the room as we found it and allow OC staff to lock up by midnight. We therefore ask guest musicians, once the gig and any post-gig merchandising is over, to help us by quickly gathering up their gear and clearing the stage area. We are happy to help with lifting the gear.

        OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATION

  1. For guests seeking to stay over after the gig, we are always very happy by prior arrangement to provide private accommodation and hospitality with club organisers. Where accommodation has been arranged but, as things turn out, will not be needed on the night, we greatly appreciate advance notice – plus a telephone number on which we may liaise with musicians directly. We regret we do not have a budget stretching to hotel or B&B accommodation – or not without the costs being defrayed from the fee.

  2. We are, however, always happy to help seek solutions in advance where these arrangements may pose difficulty.