Booking the LGB&D - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How far is the LGB&D willing to travel?
Depending on the event, the LGB&D will travel a very long way. We have performed in many US states and in many European countries. However, on most of those trips we were on a longer tour. if you're thinking of booking us for a specific event, you should take into account travel time and expense from Raleigh, NC for a group of 10-20 people. We often get requests to perform at a one-evening event in St. Louis, or Chicago, or New Jersey; these are just not practical for us due to travel time and cost.

If you would like to work with us to set up a stop on a longer tour, we'd be delighted to discuss it with you. We have exchanged home stays with several bands from Germany and a couple in the US, and are willing to consider more. We tend to do that kind of tour in our "off season" rather than during the months of September-October.

Q: Can I book just two or three performers, or maybe just an accordion player, for my event?
If you are looking for an accordion player to wander your party adding ambience, we're not the right group for you. The minimum band size we can supply is six performers. For anything more than an hour, we would need eight performers. And to give you our best performance, we need 12 or more performers. Some events demand an audio engineer or conductor, which would add to the totals.

Q: Can I book the dance group without the band, or vice-versa?
Certainly. Each group can be booked seperately. If you choose not to book a dance show, we recommend booking two dancers anyway to get the crowd involved in the performance. Note that adding more musicians or a dance performance does not increase the performance fee, just the head count of the group performing.

Q: Can I reduce my cost by booking fewer performers?
We do not increase our performance fee based on the number of performers, so it doesn't cost extra for a 10-piece band compared to a 6-piece band, or for a dance show compared to no dance show. However, if we have to travel to your site, transportation, food, and lodging costs will go up. Please contact the business manager for a detailed quote.

Q: I see you are already booked for a given date, can I get my event booked anyway?
We do sometimes book performances in multiple locations at the same time. Sometimes we can split the band and dance group; other times we have enough performers to do both. Please contact the business manager for more information.

Q: If you can't perform, can you recommend another group for me?
All the related groups we know of are listed on our links page. The LGB&D does not endorse any of these groups, and in most cases we have never even heard them perform.

Q: Do you offer discounts at certain times of the year or certain days of the week?
Sure. You can book the LGB&D for less in the spring/summer than in the fall. Fall is the busiest time of the year for the LGB&D, and we do charge premium rates then.

Q: Why should I book a dance group?
The dance group has two functions at a performance. First, they perform a 15-20 minute dance show every hour while the band is on break, guaranteeing near-continuous entertainment. Second, they get the crowd involved in the show and on the dance floor to march around, do the chicken dance, or learn the polka and waltz. Even if you choose not to book a dance performance, we recommend booking two dancers just to work the crowd.

Q: How much do you charge?
Our fee is split into two parts - the performance fee, and expenses. Expenses include transportation, lodging, and food. Performances local to the Research Triangle area of NC wouldn't have expenses, assuming you feed the performers yourself.

The performance fee varies based on the time of year, length of the performance, and how much fun we think the event is going to be for the performers (we are a volunteer organization, after all!) We do give discounts for charitable events, depending on the time of year and the event. For a detailed price quote, please contact the business manager. As noted above, the performance fee does not vary based on the number of performers or the presence/absence of a dance group.

If your venue requires an overnight stay on the part of our group, transportation and lodging costs will be the biggest component of the expense. For a full band and dance group, like you would want for a four-hour evening performance, figure the cost of motel rooms, food and drink, and transportation for 20 or so people; that is your overhead cost. We would add a reasonable performance fee to that number to come up with a quote based on your needs.

Q: How do I book the group?
Generally, you first contact the business manager and work out the date, time, price, band size, dance group size, and so forth. Then the business manager will write up a contract and mail two copies to you. You will need to sign both copies and return them along with a check for a deposit. (The deposit amount is typically about 1/3 of the final fee, although this may vary for out of town trips with lots of expenses.) The business manager will sign both copies of the contract and return one signed original to you for your records.

Q: When should I call to book the LGB&D?
Spring/summer performances can usually be arranged 8-10 weeks ahead of time.

If you would like to get on our fall schedule, it's a good idea to call and get on a waiting list in January. We typically only have room for one or two new customers per fall due to the tremendous amount of repeat business that we have with our existing customers, so please try to be flexible with your dates if possible. We give existing customers the first shot at our schedule, and that process starts in February. New customers will be contacted starting in March/April for the following fall season.