Busy week.

[isaac42]

It's going to be a busy week for me. I've already had a Monday recording session and rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today, Thursday, I have a rehearsal during the day, then I'll be playing at Favorite Mistake in Albany, Oregon with Let It Roll (unplugged). Friday, Halloween party at the Summit Grange with The Deep Woods Band. Saturday, another Halloween party, this time with Let It Roll at the Corvallis Elks.

[DeepEnd]

Sounds like you're in demand. You know the old saying: It's better to wear out than to rust out.

[WRGKMC]

Its funny. When you aren't looking for gigs you get over loaded with them. If you're out looking to score them its like a desert.

[isaac42]

Yeah, I know a couple of bass players who play (or used to, anyway) all the time. Once, one of them posted on facebook a post much like mine above, to which I responded, "That's why none of the rest of us can get a gig!" Now I'm working pretty steadily. In fact, one of my usual gigs is one that was previously held by one of the guys I mentioned above. I didn't steal it from him, though. It was his idea. He's dedicating his time these days to an 80s band. They go full concert. Unfortunately, I don't think this area can support a band like that, and, so far, it hasn't. They consistently lose money on their shows. Fortunately, their drummer is rather well off, and doesn't mind dropping a couple hundred bucks on a show, as long as he's having fun.

[WRGKMC]

Its hard to earn even minimum wage in many towns. Musicians are probably the most exploited worker in any business and that includes most jobs where that hire illegal immigrants.

 

I worked in a number of successful bands where I made decent pay. Its a tough life though. Its not something I want to do full time any more. Its like most jobs, once you do it for a living and know what the whole story is, its much less appealing. Unless you like playing every dive in the state, (most of which don't want to pay you for you're worth) its really a dead end business. So few bands make it to playing decent sized halls that pay some decent money.

 

Running a band is no different then any other small business. if the band has guys used to doing contract work and know how to hustle a buck you can get buy. Seems like I always had a construction worker or carpenter in one of my bands who knew how to go out and score gigs.

 

If the cash coming in doesn't exceed the cost going out, is not going to hold together. There are some perks there that help float you through some tough times, but I wouldn't do it for free any more. Its bad enough you have to spend a minimum of 3~6 months working with some decent talent putting things together rehearsing for nothing. Making enough to cover expenses when you do play out can be really tough. It wasn't so bad when I didn't have a car payment and mortgage, but I cant pull the late hours and function on my day job like I did when I was younger where I could play till 2 in the morning and get buy with only 4 hours sleep. .

[isaac42]

From what I've heard, the drummer is pulling down around half a million a year, so dropping a couple hundred isn't something he'd even notice. For the other guys, playing for free with all of the work involved is getting to be a drag on them. Because of course it isn't actually free. Gas to rehearsals and gigs, for one thing. And the work. For their show, they have to rent a fairly large truck to get all of the gear to the venue. Typically, they play on Saturday. That way, they can load the gear into the truck in the morning, drive to the venue, set up (which takes several hours), and play. They then go home and come back the next day to tear down, load the truck, drive it back to the rehearsal hall, unload the truck and return it. So, for them, every show is pretty much a full two-day effort.

[isaac42]

As for my own busy week, it's almost over. Two gigs down, one to go.

 

Thursday evening was an "unplugged" gig. In quotes because, while we play acoustic guitars, we're all plugged in. Several of our followers showed up, so we had a decent crowd. Thinned out a bit after the NFL game was over, but the Oregon game was still on the whole time we played.

 

Friday evening was a Halloween party in the Oregon Coast Range, in a small - what to call it? Too small to be called a town. Village? Hamlet? - place called Summit. All of the locals came, along with a few band friends. Most wore costumes, and some were pretty cool. It was quite a party, and a good time was had by all.

 

Tonight is another Halloween party at the local Elks' Lodge. Same band as Thursday, but with our drummer this time, and electric guitars for me and the lead player.

 

I'm holding up fairly well. I'm tired, and my fingers and larynx are a bit tender, but I think I'll be fine for tonight. A bit of aspirin to keep the swelling down in the larynx.

[isaac42]

I survived. Didn't even lose my voice, though I could tell that it was tired.

 

We were scheduled to play from 8-11, but the party was still going full blast at 11, so we played til 12. The Elks' bar management threw us a couple extra bucks - another $20, I think - so that was nice. Tips added another $25. A local Elvis impersonator sang a few songs with us. Some pretty cool costumes and makeup.