By Jennifer Layton

What makes a great artist bio? Writing that makes the artist’s personality or style leap off the page at me. Writing that makes me want to play the CD immediately because the artist now has my attention. If I read your bio, and it makes me pull your CD out of the pile of 57 CDs on the floor of my office and play it right away, you’ve written a great bio.

Before you get discouraged, keep in mind that you don’t have to be a brilliant writer to put together an effective bio. When putting yours together, just keep the following issues in mind.

Red Flags

Here are three major mistakes to avoid in writing your bio:

1. Hyperbole. I have actually received bios containing straight-faced statements that this artist is the most creative musician in the history of music. Or the most skilled guitar player in the world. Or (my personal favorite) the most unique artist ever. These statements set the artist up for unfortunate comparisons, because the reviewer will then listen to the album and think, “he’s not the most skilled guitar player in the world! Clapton is much better. So’s Page. In fact, so’s that kid across the street in the garage band ... “

2. Cliches. Artist bios have their own set of empty, tired phrases that get used all the time and tell readers nothing. “Jane Smith is a truly gifted artist.” “John Doe has a unique style all his own.” “This music is a breath of fresh air.” I can usually take sentences like this if they are then followed by specific, descriptive examples, but most of the time, they stand alone, saying nothing.

3. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Start with spell-check. Then get several friends to look it over. Have the guy at Kinko’s look it over. Have your dog look it over. Shell out a few bucks for a professional editor to look it over. You don’t want to make the wrong impression. When I first started writing for Indie-Music.com, I got a bio from an artist who described himself as an intelligent folk singer/songwriter, and the word “intelligent” was misspelled.

Humor

Don’t be afraid to let your sense of humor shine through. When artists use humor in their bio, they’re telling me they enjoy what they do, and while they may take their music and career seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Without humor, your bio can sound like a resume for a regular day job. I get the idea, reading some bios, that the artist is afraid to use any humor because they think reviewers won’t take them seriously. I understand that concern. Just remember that you’re not applying for a job at Citibank. You’re selling something artistic and spiritual, something that reflects your soul. You’re putting yourself into your music, and you’re trying to get someone else to listen. Relax and be yourself.

In some rare cases, humor is not appropriate. If I’m getting a CD from a political folk singer whose songs are about suffering and injustice, then humor in her bio would be a little jarring.

Format

A lot of the bios I read follow the same rigid formats (these are my influences, this is my contact information, this is my CD), and I have a couple of theories on why that happens. It’s not because the artists lack imagination. It’s because:

1. In school, they teach you to write a resume. That’s about it. Unless you go to a school for the arts, the only way you learn to sell yourself is with a professional resume that’s about as rigid and dull as you can get. Here’s where I went to school, here are my skills, here are my hobbies, etc. If an artist is brave enough to ditch the day job and try to write an artist bio, I’m not at all surprised that he goes for what he knows – writing a resume.

2. Again, the artist is afraid that if he doesn’t come across as totally professional, we reviewers won’t take him seriously. So he writes a dry and serious resume and loosens the structure a bit so it’s in paragraph form. But it’s still a resume, just like they taught him in school.

So how can the artist stand out? Simply by ditching the resume and being himself. I’ve received bios in the form of poetry, lyrics, and self-interviews. For a great example of a self-interview, check out comedian Brian Regan’s web site. The direct link is http://www.brianregan.com/q_and_a.html. He’s a goofy yet smart comedian, so he wrote a self-interview that’s goofy and smart. He does have a separate bio on the site with more relevant information about himself and his career, so an artist can just combine the two by writing a self-interview that contains all the relevant information without sounding like a job interview.

Know Your Audience

As a freelance writer, I have four bios. I still get occasional requests for humor columns, so I have the humor bio, and then I have three versions of my indie music journalism bio.

An artist should be ready to tailor the artist bio for specific audiences. If an artist is sending her press kit to a festival promoter in hopes of getting a performing slot, and the festival theme focuses on political songwriting, she could edit her bio to highlight her songs that have political themes. If she’s a political activist, she should definitely make sure her bio mentions it. However, if the festival is about funny songwriters, and she has a bunch of funny songs (this would be a manic-depressive kind of artist), she could tailor her bio to include the fact that she opened a few shows on the last Weird Al Yankovic tour.

On a more basic level, if you're sending the bio to a venue booking agent in hopes of getting a gig, his/her needs may vary substantially from those of a review writer at a magazine, or a radio station DJ, or a concert promoter. For instance, a venue booker needs to know who you sound like, what other shows you've played, if you have a large enough PA, and most importantly, if you have a big enough audience to fill his venue. He may be more interested in your promo photo and demo CD than your bio. The point is, the more you tailor your bio (and entire promo package) to the recipient, the better the results will be.

Get to Know You!

So how do you get started? If you’re at a total loss about what makes you stand out, pick up a tape recorder and interview yourself. Your example here is Jimmy Rabbitte from the movie The Commitments. Rabbitte interviews himself out loud all the time, even in front of other people. You don’t have to be that brash, but interviewing yourself can help you find your angle and what kind of image you want to present.

Write a list of questions you would ask your favorite artist. Then pick up a tape recorder or use your computer’s recording software and answer the questions. Imagine you’re being interviewed for Rolling Stone. Be yourself. Bring up relevant stories from your childhood. Talk about the worst gig you ever had. Talk about the best gig. Talk about what inspires you. Talk about who’s on your CD player right now.

Then play it back. Any common themes in your answers? Any interesting angles? Any ideas for how to format the bio? When I write artist bios, I get my best ideas when reviewing my notes after interviewing the artist.

Still Need Help?

If you’re still stuck, surf around to other artists’ web sites and read their bios for ideas. Ask them who wrote their bios. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions. With the right resources, you can show the world a bio that’s as creative and interesting as your music!