Booking Basics
Interested in performing at Songwriter Sanctuary San Diego? Here's the deal:
Thanks for reading this novel. We thrive on a overly-informed reader. If you read or partially skimmed the above and you're interested in performing, here's a button to press:
- Do you book out of town/touring artists? We are mostly here to showcase our local, homegrown talent from San Diego and surrounding areas. On very rare occasions we will book out-of-towners, but they typically also have some connection to the San Diego scene.
- What does "in the round" mean? It's a songwriter-focused show where artists take turns performing one song at a time. We usually do three rounds, a short break, then three more rounds, with each artist playing six songs total.
- What configurations do you book? Since our sound tech is accommodating three acts at once, we *usually* limit bookings to solo or duo performers.
- What genres do you book? Any genre is welcome, but intimate, stripped-down sets with small live instrument setups work best.
- What are other booking considerations? We reserve the right to invite established and up-and-coming acts, even if they don’t submit. Buuuut we also want to make room for folks who aren't on our radar. If that's you, know this:
It's Not About Numbers: We don’t care about your follower count, streams, or how polished your videos are. We care about your songwriting, performance style, and how you engage with your audiences (a must for an intimate, in-the-round format).
Other Considerations: Location, performance experience, online presence, and easy access to your music/bio/promo materials are all secondary factors. They’re not singular deal-breakers but help with curating the lineup. Recommendations from trusted pals, pros, and alumni artists also go a long way. It's a big ol' jigsaw puzzle with only so many pieces and there's truly nothing personal if we don't reach out.
Community Impact: We prioritize artists contributing to the safety and wellness of their communities. If you're out there strengthening your scene, speaking truth to power, and investing your energy toward building a better world, then we're going to invest more time in exploring your work.
Representation: We aim to showcase a range of artists and styles that reflect our diverse and vibrant songwriting community. This includes consideration for queer artists with religious trauma—as a progressive and affirming venue, NHUnited provides an opportunity to heal and reclaim space. If artist availability aligns, we also tend to curate around various calendar observances like Black History Month, Women's History Month, Disability Pride, etc. This is not to tokenize groups of people, but to celebrate and highlight their important contributions and achievements, to educate our communities about the issues impacting our artists, and to emphasize all the important intersections between art and identity. (If any part of this paragraph makes you feel uncomfortable or annoyed, this series is probably not a good fit for you.) - What's your payment policy? For 2026: Three acts split presale and door donations, $100 guarantee per act, but usually ends up being much more as long as everyone is working together to promote.
- Are artists required to promote? We work very hard to build a regular audience and we encourage our featured acts to help promote the series. The venue is beautiful but not situated to attract street traffic, so we need support in spreading the word to your fans about this series. You don’t need a huge following, but please have a small, reliable friend/fanbase before requesting a booking. Since we don’t take a door cut, your promo efforts directly benefit you and your fellow performers. As an artist myself, please know I loathe when venues don't take any accountability for promoting. Our little team is doing everything we can in our limited capacity to spread the word through traditional PR channels and we can't wait for the day we can revise this section with a hefty guarantee amount and no promo expectation whatsoever. But for the time being, please bear with us while we're in our "if you build it they will come" era.
- How far in advance do I need to submit? We book a whole season (year) at once, starting around late fall. Get your submissions in any time to be considered for the following season.
- I submitted a booking request. When can I expect a response? Unfortunately we don't have the staff/capacity to respond to all submissions. If it has been over a year since your last submission and you want to re-submit with updated music samples, please feel free!
- I am an alumni artist. When can I come back to perform? It may be awhile before we book you again because we produce so few shows per year and have such a long list of incredible artists to showcase. You're on our radar for when we need a pinch-hitter! You're also welcome to reach out to Normal Heights directly to organize your own one-off event - they are great to work with and have reasonable rental rates. Our alumni performers are always welcome to attend as our complimentary guests.
- I'm an artist and I regularly attend the concerts. Can you book me now? We're super thrilled you're here to support, and we do love a good community care moment, but that's not how booking works. We wish it was - we'd buy season tix to the Hollywood Bowl!
Thanks for reading this novel. We thrive on a overly-informed reader. If you read or partially skimmed the above and you're interested in performing, here's a button to press: