Proposals and surprise songs
A musician for a proposal, or for the one song that matters.
Some bookings are four hours long. Some are one song, played at the exact minute somebody has been planning for months. A guitarist at the far end of a restaurant who has been playing quietly for twenty minutes, and then plays your song. A singer at a sixtieth who starts the one everybody in the family knows. We book those, and we plan them to the minute with the one person who knows it’s coming.
This is the smallest booking on our private parties page, and it carries a booking minimum, because the musician’s evening goes to being in the right place at the right time. The minimum is quoted for the date when you send it. Send the place, the time and the song, and we’ll take it from there.
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How it works
Background music nobody looks at twice, until the song.
The whole trick of a proposal with a musician is that the musician was already there.
- Before
- You tell us the place, the time, the song and who is in on it. We tell the restaurant or the venue a musician is coming, so the manager knows where the small case goes and nobody asks questions at the door. The musician is set up early and playing a few songs at conversation volume, which reads as the place having live music that night.
- The cue
- A hand signal, a text from a friend at the next table, a nod from the server. Whatever you and the musician agree on beforehand. The song starts on it, and the song is the one you chose, learned for the day if it isn’t already in the book. The first learned song is included in every booking.
- After
- The set keeps going while the two of you get your breath back, or it stops so the moment stays yours. Some people want a second song for the walk out; some want the musician gone before anyone thinks to ask. Both are fine. Tell us which.
The same plan covers a surprise at a birthday or anniversary dinner: a musician in the restaurant before the guest of honour arrives, a short set under the meal, and the one song, the wedding song or the one from the year they met, placed when the table is ready for it.
Who plays it: a solo guitarist when the song should be recognised without a voice, a singer and guitarist when the words are the point, a Spanish guitarist for the song above, and the jazz duo when the place wants a little more sound.
Where
A restaurant, a rooftop, a trailhead, a table at home.
A restaurant is the easiest version. We ask the manager in advance, the musician takes a corner with one small case, and the place hears live music for half an hour before it hears your song. A private dining space is easier still, because the door closes.
A rooftop, a park or a trailhead is a different plan. There may be a permit, there is often no power, and the wind decides what carries. A guitarist plays those with a battery-powered system or none at all, and we walk the spot with you beforehand, on a map or in person, so the musician is where the view is and not where the traffic is.
At home, a dinner for twelve with a guitarist in the corner is the version that turns into an anniversary or a milestone birthday, and the private parties page covers what a whole evening at home looks like when the one song grows into a set. In the mountains, the mountain corridor page covers what changes at altitude and what a resort town allows outdoors.
The booking minimum covers the musician’s evening whatever its length, and travel outside the Denver metro is its own line on the quote. What a short live-music booking runs across this market, sourced, is in the cost guide.
Questions
Asked about proposals and one-song bookings.
- Can I hire a musician for just one song?
- Yes. A proposal, a surprise at a birthday dinner, an anniversary, a song at a graveside: one song is a real booking here, and we plan it as carefully as a four-hour evening. There is a booking minimum, because the musician's whole evening goes to being in the right place at the right minute, and it is quoted for the date when you send it. Nothing about the size of the moment makes it less worth doing.
- How does a proposal with a musician work?
- You tell us the place, the time, the song and who is in on it. The musician is set up early, usually as background music nobody looks at twice, plays a few songs so the setup reads as part of the place, and lands your song on your cue. A hand signal, a text, or a friend's nod. After the yes, the set keeps going while the two of you get your breath back, or stops so the moment is yours.
- Which musician plays a proposal?
- A solo guitarist, a singer with a guitar, or a Spanish guitarist, depending on the song and the place. Instrumental guitar suits a song you want to recognise without a voice saying the words for you; a singer suits a song whose words are the point. A duo, upright bass and guitar, suits a restaurant or a home where a little more sound is wanted.
- Can a musician sing happy birthday at a dinner, or play our wedding song at an anniversary?
- Yes, and both are the same booking as a proposal: a short set at conversation volume, one song placed on cue, and a musician who was in the restaurant before the guest of honour arrived. Tell us the song and who it's for and the set is built around them.
- Do restaurants and public places allow it?
- Most restaurants say yes when asked in advance, and we ask, so the manager knows a musician is coming and where the small case goes. A park, a trailhead or a rooftop is a different question, sometimes a permit and sometimes a battery-powered system, and we plan that with you. What we never do is surprise the venue.
- What does a one-song booking cost?
- It carries a booking minimum, because the musician's evening goes to being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and the minimum is quoted for the date when you send it. We publish no prices of our own. What a short live-music booking runs across this market is set out, sourced, in the cost guide.
Send us the place, the time and the song, and we'll be there before they are.
Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.
Send us the date and the venue, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for your night. What live music costs in this market is on the pricing page.