when it rains, it pours

[Joe G]

The guy is a real asshole to musicians and was once overheard by our guitarist saying, "Musicians shouldn't even be paid. They should just be happy to play music publicly".

Talk about playing "behind enemy lines", as our man Duncan would say.

[randissimo]

Time to think outside the box. The board logo has given me an idea for a new canned pasta:

FRANCO-AMERICAN

ORAGANISSIM - Os!!!!

Moms and kids both LOVE this stuff, and guys eat it straight out the can, so you CAN NOT miss!!!

That's f*ckin' brilliant!

[Jazz]

"Musicians shouldn't even be paid. They should just be happy to play music publicly".

Holy crap what a jerk! Maybe club owners shouldn't get paid, maybe they should just do it to provide for the community.

I'm sorry to hear about your woes B-3er. I hope things pick up for you real soon.

[randissimo]

I forgot to mention that our gig Friday was double-booked and our manager didn't stand her ground and get any money, even though it was the owner's fault.  We should've gotten at least half our pay.

And I found out tonight that both gigs next weekend are cancelled including one that was a $500 per man private Christmas party.  So I'm basically making $130 (tonight's pay) the next two weeks.

Great.

That stinks. I love how musicians are always suppose to make the gig, no matter what...sickness, ect. However, club owners can cancel the gig up until the point you've already loaded in.

I picked up a nice payday and a pretty cool gig on New Year's Eve (w/Bob Stewart playing drums, remember him Jsngry) up in Ft. Worth. Other than about 3 dates I landed in Dec., my gig calender still bites and my sudden income drop isn't pretty. I haven't hit the pavement yet, and won't really get a good chance until after the holidays, so I'll be picking up all those sweet Jan./Feb. gigs (you know how great a time of year that is!)

Because the gig scene is so unreliable, I do lessons 2 - 3 days a week.. It really at times, is a pain in the arse but definately takes the angst and worry out of those unpredictable periods of "gig droughts"...

I charge $20. a half hour and most of my lessons are beginners with parents who make sure they show up every week and lessons are payed at the beginning of every calendar month..

[Robert J]

The owner I'm with now has gotten a little better now. When he cancelled a gig WHEN I ARRIVED (OK I am solo piano) at least he fed me and I guzzled about a litre of wine. Things are now good this December. He can't ignore the rapport I have with his customers. I am outgoing with them. Music and a good time comes first. He can see the tips I am making and how I am setting the mood for the night and this translates into bar and food sales so he's less apologetic when he writes the cheque. Some boneheads can be educated, others are sadly lost causes.

But customers can have the same attitude too. How many times I've heard the envy in this phrase: "They are paying you to do something you enjoy?". As if it takes no effort to master an instruments or the repertoire.

[Jim Alfredson]

But customers can have the same attitude too. How many times I've heard the envy in this phrase: "They are paying you to do something you enjoy?". As if it takes no effort to master an instruments or the repertoire.

Yeah, I love that one. Believe me, when you're playing Mustang Sally every night just to make $130, it comes real close to work rather than play.

[Rooster_Ties]

That's one of the reasons I always try to request interesting tunes, when I encounter what I think are real jazz musicans playing under less than ideal situations.

For instance, my wife and I had dinner at the Kansas City art museum on Friday. They have an indoor courtyard with a fountain, in a big space that has quite an echo to it. They normally book just two or three instruments into that space, never with drums. (And no piano ever, either.) Usually it's just an upright bass plus guitar and/or sax and/or vibes.

So the group in there on Friday is sax/guitar/bass, and they're playin' mostly Xmas carols and fairly run-of-the-mill standards. But they're not half bad either. So I ask 'em if they could either play either Nardis, or Beatrice, or Footprints. They didn't think they could manage either of the first two, but they gave Footprints their best shot - and turned in a FINE redition. Put $3 in their tip jar for it too.

Doesn't help much, I realize. But at least they knew there was one guy out there who was listening.

[jazzypaul]

But customers can have the same attitude too. How many times I've heard the envy in this phrase: "They are paying you to do something you enjoy?". As if it takes no effort to master an instruments or the repertoire.

You think it's bad coming from customers? Up until recently, I kept getting that constantly from my own fucking band!!!!! These guys were self-taught, and therefore never took a music business class. This is why I consider the following to have been a blessing in disguise...

About a month ago, we play a gig with a local rock band at an all-ages venue. Right off the bat, I'm leery of this proposition, as we'd be playing to a bunch of people that couldn't see us play anywhere else, and more than likely, wouldn't at all get what we're playing. But the other two kick and scream that we need this gig and besides, one of their friends from high school is in the other band. We're told that we'll get half of the door for the night, and once again, I'm not feeling good about this. Unless we're playing a place with A LOT of walk-in traffic, I have no yearning to play gigs for the door.

So, we get there, and the other band asks us to play last. Okay, fair enough, we get to play for an extra half hour. That's fine. The other band tells us that they'll be bringing in about 100 people with them. Despite my best efforts, sure enough, everyone on our mailing list writes back to say, "what the hell, you're playing a place that doesn't serve alcohol? Hell no, I'm not coming!" By the time we start setting up, there are maybe 40 people in the place. By the middle of our second song, there are now 15 people there. Yeah, ummm, exposure. Right...

So, we finish off the night, and I go to try to find the manager to go get paid. Lo and behold, he tells us that there's a contract, and the contract says that we'd get paid 80% of the door after 70 people pay admission. Can I see this contract? Nope, don't have one here. Who put out this contract? Oh...and he tells me the name that is more reviled than any on the Chicago music scene. I ask the kid who wanted us to play there why he didn't let us in on any of this. Oh, I didn't think it was important. WHAT!?!?!?! So, you had us play for 2 1/2 straight hours for free, because you didn't think it was important to let us know that the most crooked booking agent in town was booking a gig where we wouldn't see dime one until the club was 70% full? Ummm, when you say it like that it sounds a lot more important. No shit!!! Well, because our club manager has still yet to find a contract, I tell him he's got one minute to find the contract or I call the cops. All of the sudden, out comes this horrible, horrible contract which no one should ever, ever, agree to. Not only does the club not have to pay out until they get 70 people in the door, but on top of that, they don't have to provide food or drink for the band, and on top of that, for the privelege of getting to play under such shitty conditions, neither the club nor the promoter have to promote the show whatsoever.

At first, the other two members of my beloved trio were like, "but dude, we got to play for some people that never heard us before!" At which point, I had to point out that those people simply got to ignore a band that they'd never gotten the pleasure of ignoring before (they were talking the entire time). "And what about the fact that we got to see Aaron (the nimrod from the other band) play?" Well, I would have much rather paid $5 to see him, not have to schlep my drums around on a Sunday night, and not have to deal with the fact that I just gave away my music to an ungrateful club owner and a bunch of ungrateful patrons who couldn't have given two shits that we were even there.

I don't necessarily know what part or why that all sunk in with them, but since then, I've yet to hear them ask me about playing incredibly lame places for a cut of the door. However, next friday, we're playing at a pool hall...LOL...thankfully, the owner of said pool hall loves us and pays us out the wazoo, feeds us and lets us drink to our hearts content.

However...this sunday...WE'RE PLAYING THE ELBO ROOM!!!! This is a huge room and an even more huge opportunity for us...wish me luck...

[Robert J]

OK I take it all back. They are all scum!

Guess who just phoned now (while I was practicing piano with my 6 year old daughter) to cancel this Friday? Something about it being really busy, not enough room to bring my piano! (Sorry we will make too much money tonight). It's partially true that the place is small, but that's ****ing LAME!

[maren]

Can't decide whether this is TOTALLY depressing, or uplifting in a misery-loves-company or sour-grapes ("who wants commercial success, anyway?") kind of way, but:

YOU CAN HAVE THE TOP THREE SINGLES OF THE YEAR AND STILL GET CANNED!

From today's New York Times:

Just weeks ago, Antonio Reid was one of the biggest executives in the music business. The top three singles in the country were his: Outkast's "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move" and the R&B singer Kelis's "Milkshake."

In nearly four years as the chief executive of Arista, Mr. Reid, known as L.A., sparked the careers of Avril Lavigne, Pink and Dido. This year alone he brought in 31 Grammy nominations, more than any other label. But he also had a reputation as a big spender on artists and marketing campaigns.

On Jan. 13 he unexpectedly resigned. Arista, which is owned by BMG, the music division of the German conglomerate Bertelsmann, would not elaborate on his departure. But an executive familiar with Mr. Reid and Arista said that during the last two years Arista had operating losses above $200 million.

In an industry desperate for some good news, Mr. Reid's reversal of fortune has done little for morale. His exodus sent a message to many: No one, not even a hitmaker, is safe.

"If he can get fired," said an entertainment lawyer who spoke on condition of anonymity, "what does that say for people who haven't had the year that he has?"

[Jim Alfredson]

The whole major label recording industry can go to hell.

[7/4]

The whole major label recording industry can go to hell.

Amen!

[Robert J]

Re; Major labels, canning, music in our lives:

Perhaps practicing the piano with my 6 year old daughter is the most satisfying thing And now my (non-musical) wife started learning the piano this weekend, her goal is to work her way into musical knowledge and then the saxophone.

Hard to believe that we live in a society where music is now so visible (some irony in that, I am referring to music videos as well) and audible, that the commodification has the potential to ruin it for new music students and their success both material and spiritual. Not that I want to go back 200 years, but at least music was central to families, society and well being and had the potential to polarize rather than marginalize. Something to think about as I prepare for my piano students today.

[jazzypaul]

Had to add this one to the bunch.

Okay, so I had the organ trio that played P-Funk tunes and brought lots of people in the door, and we all had a great time. The band dissolves as the bass player goes to jail, and then moves to Northern Wisconsin. Ummm, okay, I guess.

No worries, I still have my quintet, which is getting ready to record next month, and I am currently in the middle of fighting to get a couple of standards on the CD, as these guys want to do nothing but our tunes. So, that's cool.

But my baby has always been my little trio...The Extra Large Duo. We play every Tuesday night at this little jazz club just down the street from work, and we get the door. Amazingly enough, this little knock-off of the DKV Trio is making some decent coin doing this, making a bunch of money for the club, and slowly, but surely, we're starting to get offers from other places looking for work. Suddenly, this little band that we never thought was going to do anything besides these Tuesday night sessions needs to record a demo! AWESOME!!!

Until...

Arrrggghhh...got the call this morning that the club in question went dark as of last night. And it's really sad, because they were making money six nights a week, and considering that they were only paying out of pocket for two of those nights, and dinners average about $20 a plate, they had to have been making hand over fist. This kills our momentum, not to mention, being able to grow every week in front of a steady crowd. We're looking for another opportunity like this (and it shouldn't be hard), but damn does it suck right now...

sigh...