Below is the reply that our Concert Committee sends to all inquiries. It may be a little bland and may not address all of your questions, but since Mad Folk is an all-volunteer group that receives many, many, many requests of this nature, we simply can't respond to every request individually.
For our main concerts, we choose nationally touring artists who for the most part have been doing this for awhile and are fairly well known. We need a musician who normally has a draw of 100 ticket sales or more.
We mostly book solo artists but occasionally have duos or trios etc.
You can get an idea of the level of musicians we have booked by checking our website archives of past concerts.
If are such an artist, you can send your press kit via email to the head of the concert committee Darlene Buhler (see CONTACT page). The committee will then review your information when they are looking to set their agenda for the year.
If you are selected, then you will be contacted. The committee does not contact those who are not chosen for that season -- there are just too many.
If you are just starting out or not yet at the level described above, you can also send your press kit via email to Darlene and request to be considered as an opener for a show. When the committee finds a good fit between you and the main act they will contact you to see if you are available and interested. Please note there are many things we consider when choosing an opener, i.e. style of music; we don't put a 3-piece band as the opener if the main show is an individual; permission of the main act to even want an opener, etc. These opening slots are for 15 minutes only (strict!), which is typically only 3 or 4 songs, so many people need to know this before they commit to a drive for such a short spot.
Also if you are starting out we suggest a smaller venue. There are many in Madison, but the two that seem to work best for acoustic style listening rooms are Wild Hog in the Woods and Mother Fool's Coffee Shop.
So, we thank you for inquiring, and we wish you luck in your musical endeavors. If you do a show in the Madison area, even if it is not a Mad Folk show, please contact us by the middle of the month prior to the show (Eg., by July 15 for any show date in August) and we can add your show to the events calendar in our newsletter where we list folk music happenings in the area. Use the feedback form on this site or see the CONTACT page for newsletter contacts.