Magdalena’s Tea House

BOOKING POLICY
About Us:

Magdalena’s Tea House is a comfortable, cozy, relaxed venue that features a wide array of music from local, regional, and national talent. We welcome musicians and bands of all styles. We are an all-ages, non-smoking space. We have music on SOME Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and on MOST Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Usually our shows start at 8pm and end by 11:01pm.

We also feature a weekly Open Stage Night ( on wednesday evenings at 7:30pm), with poetry as well on the last Wednesday of the month, A regular Bluegrass Open Mic. on the 2nd Monday of the month, dinner theatres/shows, art showings, film debuts, lectures, and workshops. Our room seats 70 people comfortably but can hold up to 85+.

If you want to book a show at Magdalena’s- here’s what you should know:

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are for groups that can draw at least 25 people. Friday and Saturday nights are reserved for acts that can draw at least 40 or more people out to a show. We generally like to book shows 2 to 3 months in advance.

To book a show here’s what you do:

1.) Drop off, or send a demo to:
Magdalena’s Tea House
attn.: Miko or Kristina
2006 E. Michigan Ave.
Lansing, Mi. 48912
OR:
Provide a website/mp3 and email it to BOTH:
teahousebooking@gmail.com AND
mikofossum@gmail.com

2.) Let us know what kind of a draw you expect, dates you are looking for a show, and how you plan to promote your show. Please make sure your press kit/cd includes a bio and contact information including a PHONE NUMBER to reach you at.

3.) Miko or Kristina will call or email you after a week or two of reviewing your demo to book a show. The best way to reach either of them, AFTER 2 weeks, is via e-mail.. (they get alot…) (If you are from out of town, we understand you may not be able to draw that many people. It is suggested then that you network with a local act and add them to the bill. If you need help with this process please let us know in your first e-mail.)

4.) You must confirm your show with us 3 weeks before your show and provide all details, including cover charge, other bands on bill, etc. Don’t forget that bio right away, as we need it for our press release, website calendar and weekly newsletter. You are expected to provide us with several posters and/or flyers, for your show. If you send us ten, our street team will distrubute them for you. Again, we expect this within 3 weeks of the show.

Promotion/Publicity

We list all our shows in the music/entertainment section of The Lansing State Journal, The City Pulse, and The Noise. We also send out a calendar of events to our Magdalena’s Tea House e-mail list. We also network with several area radio stations that quite often promote certain shows of ours. We can provide you with a media list upon request. Also, if you have a website, we will make sure to put up a link if you’ll let us know the u.r.l.

We expect you to send a press release and promotional material (including a demo and press photo) to the above mentioned papers. We have found this greatly increases your chances that the press will give you a write-up.
So, promote, promote, promote! Now you’ve got the gig but if your fans don’t know about it, they won’t come. You are responsible for putting up flyers, calling and e-mailing your fans to get them out for the show. Keep in mind this is a place you can invite your grandma or nephew or little sister to come out to as we are smoke and alcohol free and with delicious healthy food to boot!

Compensation:

It is up to you to set the cover charge. We ask that you be confident you can draw people willing to pay a cover and that the cover is priced accordingly. Keep in mind for our end we need a percentage of the door-usually 30% for bigger ticketed shows ($11 or more) or 50% if you want to keep the door lower than this. So a door at $10 or less will be a 50/50 split.
We must make a minimum of $100 per event to keep this venue open and cover our operating expenses, sound technician, door person, etc. If this minimum amount is not met, Magdalena’s Tea House reserves the right to keep all the funds collected at the door. So, to clarify: the tea house needs to get the GREATER of the two-$100 OR 50% whichever is greater on the $10 and under shows or whichever is greater: $100 OR 30% on the $11 or more shows. We cannot afford to lose money on a show, and this community cannot afford to lose its music venues. This policy is to protect us and to encourage you to bring people out. We don’t sell alcohol as other venues do for revenue, and after two years of experimenting we have found we must have it this way to stay alive. We just can’t afford to be a free community space. This being said, we know you’re going to love playing at the tea house. It is a really rare and special corner of the world, with a sincere love of music and the community that can be felt immeditately as you step in the door.

Please also keep in mind that if you just like to play and and aren’t so concerned about making cash, you can always set a lower door cost and donate your proceeds to the tea house. This is ALWAYS so much appreciated!

Every band member gets one complimentary beverage and a 50% discount on a meal from our natural foods kitchen, provided the kitchen is open at the time. Also, one person per band member is allowed on a guest list if you’d like.

Sound Issues:

We have an apartment directly above us. We ask that you keep this in mind when setting your levels for a show. We encourage drummers with kits to use brushes (definitely no mic.’s!) and electric guitars to keep levels on the low side. We consider the tea house to be a lively listening room.

Equipment/Room Specs:

We are equipped with a PA system, including:
1200 Watt Amp powering two 12″ Sunn Speakers
120 Watt Amp powering two monitor speakers
12 channel Alesis Mixer
3 Microphones and Stands.
There is also a house clavinova electric piano available for use.
Our stage is roughly 7×15

Sound Check

Sound check is one hour before the show starts. If you would like to come earlier just let us know. Also, please let us know your sound needs before you come. This will help our sound engineer help you.

In Closing
Know that we are here because we love music. We work hard everyday to support our local culture. This unique space is essential to the diversity of our city. We care about what we are doing, and we care about you.

Yours,
Miko (owner/founder), Kristina (booking and promotions), and the Magdalena’s Tea House staff