Book A Pop-Up Band

Common Hymnal started out as a content creator, with a vision to build a well-stocked library of forward-facing content from the spiritual underground. Hence the name!!!

Each of our contributors have invested deeply in the work, sacrificing both money and time. We have avoided leveraging celebrity and instantly-accessible, fiercely-popular and ‘lyrically-safe’ contemporary worship for quick results. We set our sights on forging a new path, a hard path - dare we say, a prophetic path.

We were initially focused on songs and songwriting. It was a surprise when we looked up and realized that we had some really gifted performers in the ecosystem. Now, a few years later, we have logged an intriguing variety of live events: from touring with Live Free USA to partnering with Red Letter Christians in multifarious ways, from performing at the Grand Finale at Kehinde Wiley’s “Archeology of Silence” Exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco to participating in a series of social justice lectures with Shane Claiborne at the University of Pennsylvania, from closing out The Carter Center’s Human Rights Defender’s Forum to hosting a songwriting session for the Children’s Defense Fund’s annual camp, from performing at the final night of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference to leading worship at CCDA’s annual event, not to mentioned sharing bills with Brian Courtney Wilson, Dee-1, Rev Sekou, Tommy Sims, etc.

When we started getting invites to put together pop-up bands for events, we found ourselves in a quandary because we could not ask our people to sacrifice any more for something that was not in the original plan. If we were going to ask our contributors to travel away from home, we wanted it to be good for them and their families.

We do not yet have the name awareness to warrant the money that is necessary to bring in a team. Therefore, when people ask us to build a custom team for an event, but do not have the resources, we offer to help them build a socially conscious repertoire using our songs, or to give them gratis permission to use our recordings and videos?

If the inviter has resources, we ask the following, whether we send in a small or large team:
(1) $600 per team member per performance day, and $300 per team member per travel/rehearsal day,
(2) $1,000 per performance day, $500 per rehearsal day, and $300 per travel day for MD and the Front Of House Sound Engineer,
(3) $25 per person per day away from home for parking at the originating airport,
(4) reimbursement for air travel, including one checked in bag and a prebooked seat for each person,
(5) reimbursement for ground transportation and parking for each person in the destination city,
(6) single room hotel accommodations for each person for each night in the destination city,
(7) $30 per diem per person per meal while away from home, including while traveling to and from the event,
(8) an additional 10% over and above this tally as a management fee to Common Hymnal.

We can put together a convincing team with as few as four people with piano, acoustic guitar and tracks. However, we will always ask to bring in a sound engineer to ensure a quality experience.

Click here to see our rider.

If you would like to book a team, please email the details to hello@commonhymnal.com and we will send you a more specific quote. If you have challenges regarding the costs involved, please do not hesitate to reach out.