Ed moved into our building in South Park and took over the office at the end of the hall — the one with the vintage music posters covering every wall. Bumbershoot. The Backstage in Ballard. Summer Nights at the Pier. Decades of Seattle music history, floor-to-ceiling. I knocked on his door one day, the way you do in a small building, and we started talking.
Ed didn’t just work in music. He lived in it. Before Gigs4U, he owned the Backstage in Ballard, where live music was the draw, not the background. Artists who played there would go on to become legends, including Kurt Cobain. He was also one of the original founders of Bumbershoot, helping shape the kind of music culture Seattle is known for.
When we met him, his business was growing. He had landed a major work with the Port of Seattle, booking live music at the airport, but he didn’t have a clear way to show people what he was doing. No strong website, no consistent content—nothing that quickly explained his value. We helped him build that. A clear online presence, real content from real gigs, and a way for people to find him, understand him, and trust him.
Our marketing meetings had a lot of dialogue about who to target next—municipalities, corporate, or private. The problem is, when you know you’re onto something that everyone can use, it’s hard to pinpoint your target. There’s no one way to go about this. Every client has their own goals, and I always thought that for Ed it was about the musicians.
We’re not here to tell you what to do with your brand. Our role is to build awareness so people will see and choose you.