The holidays can be a lucrative time of year for the working musician. You can literally be as busy as you want to be. Here are some tips to make the most of this special season.

1. Find out if your (entire) band is available. Make an assignment for every member: they're to check with their significant others to ensure their availability for the coming holiday season. If there are family events that take priority, then get the dates on the calendar now so they can be marked as unavailable.

   There's no sense hustling gigs if the band won't be available to play them. Not only will it make the others resentful, as they mentally count the money they could have had, but it also makes the band look bad as a whole to cancel a job after accepting it.

2. If the whole band can't perform, there are still other options, such as you and the keyboard player doing a private party; or a few of you getting together to perform an acoustic set at a local bar; or going it alone and trying out some of your material as opening act for another band.

3. Start promoting early. Halloween is a great time to be booking holiday parties. If a club has their Halloween party band booked already, perhaps they haven't booked the Christmas season, yet.

4. If you find out at the last minute that the band is available for a holiday date, ask your local music store, radio station, and the catering staff at local hotels if they will keep your business card in case a last-minute job opens up.

5. Sign on with a talent and booking agency. Why take a chance on missing out on all the holiday parties? The agent's fee is usually offset by your band doing more gigs than if you booked the shows yourself. If your band is any good, you'll likely have more gigs than you'll know what to do with.

6. Learn a holiday song or two. This will pay big dividends for you. Not only does it make the performance fun for the audience, but you can send out the song on CD as a musical greeting card to prospective clients. Don't forget to send a copy to your local radio stations. Put the song name, song length (in minutes and seconds), the band name, and a link to your band's web site, on the CD label. You're practically guaranteed to get lots of free publicity this way.

7. Take a photo with Santa (or one of his helpers). This is the time of year for the low-cost photo shoots at malls and department stores. Take advantage of it by having the band pose with St. Nick. Have the leader sit on Santa's lap, with the other bandmates standing close behind and to the side of Santa. If the photo doesn't turn out, there are lots of other holiday locations that make terrific photo opportunities.

8. Give of your time and talent. Lots of TV and radio stations organize toy drives during the Christmas season. Check with the organizers and see if they will allow your band to play a set or two. It'll be next to impossible for the announcer not to mention your band. This type of goodwill can pay off with handsome press, too, especially if you remember to send out a press release in advance of the event. Send it to the community relations director of every newspaper, and the media in surrounding communities. This is especially true if a local band travels to play in the "big city." The local papers will make a big deal of it. Of course you'll keep copies of the press clippings to add to your portfolio.

9. Happy New Year! Most everyone likes to attend a good party to bring in the New Year. Did you know that most bands ask for, and receive, 150% of their normal gig price for New Year's Eve? It's true. This is the last big party of the year, and one you should start planning for early on. Some bands also increase their nonrefundable booking deposit fee for this night. After all, if the client cancels two days before the gig, there's not much time left to find an alternate place to perform!

10. Auld Lang Syne. Learn the classic song "Auld Lang Syne" and perform it at the stroke of midnight. If you don't want to learn it, obtain a version on CD to play over the PA system. You can earn extra points by finding a MIDI karaoke version of the song, and invite the party host to sing it, along with the audience. If you don't have a TV or laptop monitor to display the lyrics, have your local printer or copy center run off a hundred lyric half sheets to pass along to the audience. Make sure that your band's name and contact information is at the bottom of each sheet and you'll have a great advertising piece.

11. Take care of your health. The holiday season is also the time when a lot of people suffer from colds and flu. Get as much sleep as you can, take vitamins, eat right, and try to stay healthy. It's no fun performning while you're sick, but it's even less fun having to cancel an entire show because one member didn't take care of themselves.

    Read your performance contracts. I've been in some bands where the band -- and its individual members -- were contractually bound to perform. It was an all-or-nothing arrangement. A member got sick, and while we arranged to have another musician come in for that night, the club's management invoked their right to cancel our performance.

12. Send a holiday greeting to your fans, your music store, your booking agent, the music critics at the local paper, the staff at radio stations that play a similar genre of music, and the owners and staff at the clubs you played during the last year (and the clubs you hope to play for in the coming year). Everyone likes to be remembered. Keep those cards and letters coming!

13. Don't forget your loved ones. Give a special gift this year to your significant other, your kids, your parents, your music teacher -- anyone who has supported you during your career. It's especially crucial to stay in the good graces of your family. All the more so if they are "sharing" you with your audiences during the holidays. A gift doesn't have to be expensive. It can be a handmade journal of shared memories, a train ride to a nearby town, or a family movie night featuring a memorable film. The bottom line is that it's from you, and it lets them know that you care about them.

The holidays can bring extra performance opportunities for most any band. But whether it's boon or bust depends on getting the expectations of the entire band in proper alignment. Talk it out and, if everyone's on the same page, you should be bringing in the new year with lots of cheer (and hopefully lots of green)!