Assuming you’re reaching out to a promoter who you are not yet connected to, the goal with a pitching email is to help them understand the music and the project as quickly as possible.
In fact, too much information is likely to have the opposite effect, and get skimmed or deleted.
With that in mind, each sentence of a pitching email should be considered: is this convincing the promoter about the musical style, musical quality and/or how they can sell tickets?
Unless the side-musicians are well-known and guaranteed to be on the gig* then it’s probably not a key piece of information.
That’s of course not to say that these musicians are unimportant for the delivery of the gig. At this stage, though, we’re not focusing on giving everyone the credit they deserve (that comes on stage…) but convincing a promoter to take a listen and get motivated about booking you.
So rather than use 4-lines of text to list musicians who they don’t know, instead make sure you’re using the mail to:
- Showcase that the musical style fits with their programming (ie reference similar bands they’ve booked)
- Make sure they know the project is established and professional (press quotes, accolades, past bookings)
- Give them a glimpse of how they could promote this to their audience (great video, upcoming album release, past sales in similar venue…)
*From painful past experience, I can guarantee that selling a gig with the name of a well-known side musician who then can’t do the tour will only lead to headaches and possible cancellations further down the line… Specific story about that here for PRO community members..!